My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)
HAPPY THINGS:
1. Grooving to Varona tunes (details) at the Milk Bar
2. Volunteer usher duties for Frameline43 - LGBTQ Film Festival - Happy Pride Month!
3. Monthly chocolate happy hour at Fog City News!
I attended this one with the kid. Could not resist and got 3 bars this time around. They are paired with a book, Made for Love from this year's summer reading pile.
June picks:
chocolate - Letterpress based in Los Angeles, California
Bachelor's Hall, Jamaica 70% Dark
Tasting notes: Star fruit, mocha, spice
Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic cocoa butter
Kosher Information: Parve
Ghana, Ashanti 70% Dark
Tasting notes: brownie crust, graham cracker
Ingredients: Cacao, Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter
Kosher Information: Parve
Ucayali, Peru 70% Dark
Tasting Notes: Star Anise, Mocha, Pepper, Cedar
Ingredients: Cacao beans, Organic Unrefined Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter
Kosher Information: Parve
Bought: thrift store finds
by Edward Rutherford
-Historical, France, Paris | Goodreads
PERFECT find at the thrift shop as I am gearing up for a Paris reading binge in July.
by Xu Xi
-Contemporary, Hong Kong | Goodreads
WAS drawn to reading another story with Hong Kong after reading Maurene Goo's Somewhere Only We Know.
by Hanya Yanagihara
-Historical, Magical Realism | Goodreads
HAVE wanted to read more from Hanya after A Little Life
Library:
by Helen Hoang
-Romance, Asian American, Vietnam | Goodreads
by Helen Hoang
-Romance, Asian American, Vietnam | Goodreads
PICKED up these two in the Kiss Quotient series.
AND watched: in theatre for Frameline43 - LGBTQ Film Festival (here)
-Episodes, LGBTQ
Razor Tongue
Director: Natalie Heltzel, Sarah Poynter, Puppett, & Kalena Ranoa (2019) USA | 39m
With a sharp comedic touch and real emotional bite, Razor Tongue explores the complexities of manifesting self-love in a world filled with misogyny and discrimination. Creator Rain Valdez, Sterling Jones, and Alexandra Grey star in this fantastic, no-bullshit web series.
the T
Director: Deven Casey, Bea Cordelia, & Daniel Kyri (2018) USA | 43m
Told through small moments and life-changing ones, two characters' stories—a trans woman and a queer Black man in Chicago—feel wonderfully authentic and intimate. After the first two episodes proved to be an audience favorite at Frameline42, we're pleased to showcase the entire first season of the T at the Festival this year.
Director: Gabrielle Zilkha
-Documentary, LGBTQ | imdb | my rating: 5
Q&A panel discussion with some filmmakers and actors.
Queer nerd alert! Frameline alum Gabrielle Zilkha (Stop Calling Me Honey Bunny, Frameline38) takes us into the cosplay-wearing, fanfic-writing underbelly of queer fandoms. At conventions like ClexaCon, the largest multi-fandom LGBTQ+ event, fans geek out while connecting with like-minded folks. Queer fandoms are undeniably passionate when it comes to LGBTQ+ characters in film and television, but it doesn’t stop there. Queering the Script explores the influence they have in the slow but steady rise of LGBTQ+ characters in the media.
Engrossing interviews with figureheads from Autostraddle and GLAAD Media contextualize the history of queer women in popular media, while Pose actress Angelica Ross, The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken, and Xena: Warrior Princess herself, Lucy Lawless, share their experiences with fans and how they’ve helped to reshape narratives to be queer inclusive. Queering the Script takes a fun and forthright look at the importance of queer representation in mass media and the undeniable influence of LGBTQ+ fandoms on the shows we watch. — DOMINIQUE ONEIL
FASCINATING research on queer fandoms and its history.
Ni d'Ève ni d'Adam. Une histoire intersexe
Director: Floriane Devigne
-Documentary, LGBTQ, France, Switzerland | details | my rating: 5
Often intersex is still dealt with as a pathology that must be treated and repaired. The film reflects on the way intersex people seek to reappropriate their bodies and construct their identities. It questions what our societies are ready to do in the name of social norms and what it means to be a man, a woman or a little of both...
-Shorts, LGBTQ
Q&A with some filmmakers and actors.
Gentleman Spa
Director: Yu Jhi-han (2019) Taiwan | 18m
For Hao, a heavy-set janitor at a gay spa, romantic relationships feel like an unreachable dream. But when he gets the opportunity to massage a handsome stranger, an exciting—but bumpy—ride ensues.
Gamers
Director: Searit Huluf (2019) USA | 10m
A lesbian gamer gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to try out for a pro league team, but crippling self-doubt tests her ambitions.
The Bony Lady
Director: Adriana Barbosa & Thiago Zanato (2018) Brazil, USA, Mexico | 20m
In this captivating documentary-fiction hybrid, transgender Death Cult leader Arely Vazquez attempts to fulfill a promise she made to her saint years after a life-threatening episode.
Wildfire
Director: Bretten Hannam (2019) Canada | 12m
Stalked by his abusive white father, a rebellious Mi’kmaw runaway meets a Two-Spirit teenager drawn to his journey. As he learns the Mi’kmaw language and culture from his new companion, a deeper bond begins to take shape.
MC Jess
Director: Carla Villa-Lobos (2018) Brazil | 20m
Jessica, a lesbian Black woman, goes through bouts of doubt and loneliness, thanks to daily forms of prejudice. But in poetry, she unearths a powerful means of expression that allows her to finally overcome deeply ingrained insecurities.
-Shorts, LGBTQ
Q&A with some filmmakers and actors.
Rani
Director: Hammad Rizvi (2018) | Pakistan, USA | 15m
A poor and socially outcast transgender woman from Pakistan sets out to take care of an abandoned baby in this award-winning short film.
Desperately Seeking Shavers
Director: Emmett Aldred (2018) | Australia | 6m
This insightful documentary shines a light on gender and identity through its candid look at the way trans and gender-diverse people express and actualize their identity through facial hair.
Prisoner of Society
Director: Rati Tsiteladze (2018) Georgia | 15m
Within the strict and repressive atmosphere of Georgian society, we meet a young transgender woman trapped between her personal desire for freedom and the traditional expectations imposed upon her by family.
Tell-By Date
Director: Sarah Ball (2019) USA, UK | 14m
Ryan has something important to tell his seven-year-old son, but an unexpected revelation about his own father forces him to confront his past before he can move forward.
Here with You
Director: Nona Schamus | 2019 | USA | 7m
May meets a boy at a party who piques her interest. She invites him over to hang only to realize that they have more in common than she thought. This film was produced with an entirely trans cast and crew and offers a look at a healthy romantic relationship between two trans individuals.
Homosafe
Director: Lorin Murphy | 2018 | USA | 4m
This fabulous music video for the song “Homosafe” by The Homobiles is shot in and around The Stud and features queer hero Lynnee Breedlove.
Skin
Director: Audrey Rosenberg | 2019 | USA | 22m
A queer teenager (Rhys Fehrenbacher of They, Frameline42) struggling with the onset of puberty discovers a living cave that presents them with a new skin and a chance to explore their identity.
Director/Writer: Neelu Bhuman
Writer: Ryka Aoki, D'Lo, Stefano Gonzalez
Cody L. Makil, Davia Spain, Lida N. Vala
-Shorts, LGBTQ | imdb | my rating: 4
Transfinite is a sci-fi omnibus feature film composed of seven standalone short stories where supernatural trans and queer people from various cultures use their powers to protect, love, teach, fight and thrive.
Q&A with some filmmakers and actors.
Kucumbu tubuh indahku (original title)
Director: Garin Nugroho
Stars: Muhammad Khan, Raditya Evandra, Rianto
-Drama, LGBTQ, Indonesia | imdb | my rating: 5
In Center Java Juno, a pre-teen abandoned by his father, joins a Lengger dance centre where men assume feminine appearances but the political and social upheaval in Indonesia forces him on the road, meeting remarkable people on his journey.
LOVED learning about the culture and the snippets of dance performances.
Season 2
Director: Zak Payne
Stars: Zak Payne, Nathaniel Tenenbaum
-Comedy, Black/African American, LGBTQ, Chicago | details | my rating: 5
Set in the rapidly gentrifying gayborhood of Chicago, two misfit roommates struggle in the local dating scene as they search for happiness. Despite his best efforts, commitment-phobic Cameron finds himself falling for one half of a couple he’s been sleeping with. James, on the other hand, is anxiously trying to convince people to come see his nightclub act after weathering a bad breakup. When a chance encounter with a florist sparks romantic interest, James has to decide if he’s ready for a new relationship.
Through it all, James and Cameron have each other’s back as they navigate the indignities of everyday life.
Q&A with director, Zac Payne and actor, Nathaniel Tenenbaum.
LOVED the fusion of romance, jazzy music and Chicago.
Director/Writer: Lisa Zi Xiang
Stars: Renhua Na, Gaowa Siqin, Zhang Yinyue
-Drama, LGBTQ, China | imdb | my rating: 4
A Chinese family saga, told in different periods of time, commencing with the wife's discovery of her husband's homosexuality. When her adult daughter comes to visit, other secrets slowly come to light.
STORYTELLING included theatre enactments pieced in with past and present scenes which did not gel so much for me.
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently
Thanks for stopping by :-)
