By Dan Allen | LOS ANGELES – Like most issues final yr, L.A.’s most prestigious mainstream movie competition AFI Fest was pressured to go digital—but it surely nonetheless managed to incorporate what proved to be some of the yr’s most critically lauded homosexual movies, together with I Carry You With Me and Uncle Frank. The fest’s prior incarnation in 2019 served up one of probably the most acclaimed and fashionable lesbian films in current reminiscence, Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
So it’s no shock that as AFI Fest pivots again this yr to a pando-transitional screening hybrid of digital and in-person on the Chinese Theatres in Hollywood, the five-day lineup is as soon as once more crowded with LGBTQ+-themed excellence from the U.S. and throughout the globe. Safety protocols will of course be in impact—however for the squeamish, the anti-social, or the simply plain lazy, a digital (albeit extra restricted) AFI Fest schedule will once more be accessible for 2021.
Whether you select stay or digital, listed below are our picks for this yr’s queer (and -ish) flicks to not miss at AFI Fest, which runs November 10 to 14.
tick, tick… BOOM!
Opening AFI Fest this yr is the world premiere of the hotly-awaited adaptation of John Larson’s autobiographical musical, starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his function debut. Larson was of course the creator of the theatrical phenomenon Rent, and tick, tick… BOOM! is its origin story, as struggling New York City composer Larson responds to the pressures of life and the ravages of the AIDS epidemic. (Screening stay with Red Carpet Premiere at TCL Chinese, November 10, 7:30pm)
The Power of the Dog
One of the buzziest movies to come back out of this yr’s Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals is the newest from Jane Campion, that includes Benedict Cumberbatch as a deeply closeted homosexual cowboy in 1925 Montana whose repression manifests itself within the sadistic intimidation of his brother’s new spouse and her teenage son. (Screening stay with Red Carpet Premiere at TCL Chinese, November 10, 7:30pm)
Great Freedom (Grosse Freiheit)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLQZoNZEOVU
Austria’s official submission for subsequent yr’s Best International Feature Film Oscar and a jury prize winner at this yr’s Cannes Film Festival, Great Freedom tells the story of irrepressible German gay Hans Hoffmann (Franz Rogowski) via a number of a long time, from his wartime imprisonment for repeatedly breaking Nazi Germany’s antigay Paragraph 175 regulation, and post-war following his life, loves and an sudden friendship. (Screening stay at Chinese 3, November 14, 4pm)
Petite Maman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdORAHCydyY
While not technically LGBTQ+-themed, Petite Maman is director Céline Sciamma’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to her wildly fashionable interval lesbian romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire. In this movie, Sciamma (who additionally directed 2011’s Tomboy) returns to the themes of childhood and household: Eight-year-old Nelly has simply misplaced her grandmother, and whereas exploring the woods near the matriarch’s dwelling, she meets one other little lady with placing parallels to her mom. (Screening just about starting November 11; screening stay at Chinese 1, November 13, 1:15 pm)
Paris, thirteenth District (Les Olympiades, Paris 13e)
Another movie with a powerful Portrait of a Lady on Fire connection is that this French graphic novel adaptation starring Noémie Merlant (Portrait painter Marianne) as Nora, whose new life in Paris is difficult when she’s mistaken for a cam lady. Céline Sciamma additionally collaborated on the script right here, which encompasses a tapestry of love tales together with that of free-spirited Émilie and her new roommate Camille. (Screening just about starting November 11; screening stay at Chinese 1, November 11, 8:15pm)
Bernstein’s Wall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSodXElSVTQ
Composer and social justice warrior Leonard Bernstein tells his life story in his personal phrases, artfully pieced collectively right here from many interviews performed all through his profession, and augmented by segments from his letters, as printed within the award-winning 2013 ebook The Leonard Bernstein Letters. (Screening stay with director Douglas Tirola in attendance at Chinese 4, November 12, 3:15pm)
The Girl and the Spider
An award winner at this yr’s Berlin International Film Festival, Ramon and Silvan Zürcher’s movie focuses on the interpersonal relationships and behavioral cues surrounding a younger Swiss girl, Lisa, as she strikes out of the house she’s shared with Mara, who’s clearly been extra than simply her good friend. (Screening stay together with a dialog with administrators Ramon and Silvan Zürcher at Chinese 3, November 14, 1pm)
Wildhood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSodXElSVTQ
Seen right here in its American debut, Wildhood follows Two-Spirit Mi’kmaw teenager Link as he units off along with his youthful half-brother Travis in a search for Link’s long-lost mom. Along the way in which they meet Pasmay, one other younger Mi’kmaw Two-Spirit, and what had at first appeared bleak for Link evolves into a stupendous journey of discovery about household, origins, identification and younger love. (Screening stay with producers Gharrett Paon and Damon D’Oliveira in attendance at Chinese 3, November 13, 4pm)
AFI Fest 2021’s quite a few shorts packages may even be peppered with LGBTQ+-themed goodness. Coded: The Hidden Love of J.C. Leyendecker seems to be on the coded ads created by the legendary however closeted homosexual illustrator. In Israel’s Her Dance, estranged transwoman Aya surprises her Orthodox Jewish household by exhibiting up for Shabbat. From Puerto Rico comes Mano Santa, during which a grandfather briefly harbors his runaway grandson after he’s fled dwelling. In Boys of a Certain Age, an adolescent faces hazard and pleasure throughout a weekend of self-discovery along with his greatest good friend. Set in Cyprus, A Summer Place follows Tina on her birthday, as an opportunity encounter stops her from giving up all the things.
And a pair of LGBTQ+ movie icons shall be representing at AFI Fest this yr, albeit in non-queer titles, within the kind of Pedro Almodóvar’s newest Parallel Mothers (starring Penelope Cruz and longtime Almodóvar muse Rossy de Palma), and the arty and meditative Memoria, during which Tilda Swinton performs a Scottish orchid farmer visiting Colombia who struggles to make sense of the sudden-onset sound that solely she will hear.