Michelle Tea’s autobiography Valencia shot by 21 different queer filmmakers?! There's that, and plenty more to love, in the Out Takes features about women who love women.
Opening Night:
Heterosexual Jill
Dir: Michelle Ehlen, USA, 2013
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Jill joins an “ex-lesbian” therapy group, but in order to prove to herself that she is straight she tracks down her butch ex-girlfriend Jamie. Strung along by guilt and desire, Jamie agrees to the plan of “dating” Jill so that Jill can close the lesbian chapter of her life. What could possibly go wrong? Director Michelle Ehlen, who stars as Jaimie, mixes camp humour with sharp observations on sexuality and identity.
Preceded by The Maids from NZ director Kelsey Sutcliffe. What’s Emily to do when her maid of honour confesses that she loves her?
Auckland: Thu 22 May, 7.15pm (Opening Night)
Wellington: Sun 1 Jun, 7.15pm (Lesbian Gala)
Christchurch: Thu 12 Jun, 7pm (Opening Night)
Dir: Virginie Despentes, France, 2011, 87 mins, French with English subtitles
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A punk-infused drama centring on the turbulent reunion between two disparate women who were once teenage lovers. Gloria and Frances first met when they were both patients in the same psychiatric hospital back in the 1980s, and decided to run away together. At the time their love affair was defined by youthful intensity. Over 20 years later their lives have taken very different paths, with nomadic Gloria spending most of her time drifting between record shops and bars, while Frances enjoys success as a TV personality. Can they rekindle their affair?
Auckland: Sat 24 May, 8.35pm
Wellington: Sat 7 Jun, 8.35pm
CHERRY
Dir: Stephen Elliott, USA, 2013, 102mins
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A gritty, erotic drama featuring an all-star cast, Cherry chronicles the troubled journey of a young woman through San Francisco’s fetish pornography industry. Escaping a tumultuous family home filled with alcohol and physical abuse, Angelina hightails it to San Francisco. It’s not long before she meets Frances, a cocaine addicted lawyer who introduces her to a lavish lifestyle, and Margaret, a former porn star who helps Angelina, now known as Cherry, launch her adult film career. And it’s soon obvious Margaret has more than just a professional interest in Cherry’s talents.
Auckland: Mon 26 May, 8.35pm
Wellington: Tue 3 Jun, 8.35pm
MOLLY’S GIRL
Dir: Scott R Thompson, USA, 2012, 125 mins
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Dumped by her girlfriend, gay-marriage activist Mercedes consoles herself at a bar where she meets Molly, a quirky, eccentric soul who has never slept with a woman… until now. At first she is eager to shake Molly’s desperate attentions, but when she discovers that Molly’s father is an influential senator who strongly opposes gay marriage, she hatches a plan to crash the senator’s birthday party. Posing as Molly’s lesbian fiancée she gets herself invited to the mansion. A comedy of deception which encourages us to just be who we are.
Auckland: Sat 31 May, 6.10pm
Wellington: Thu 5 Jun, 6.15pm
TRU LOVE
Dir: Kate Johnston & Shauna MacDonald, USA, 2013, 87 mins
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Tru is a single lesbian who cannot commit to a relationship or a job for long... that is, until she meets Alice, a beautiful widow who has come to town to visit her daughter, Tru’s friend Suzanne. Suzanne leads a busy corporate life-style and asks Tru to look after Alice while she works. A strong bond forms between the two women and tensions escalate after Suzanne witnesses an intimate moment between them. She tries to sabotage the budding romance, but it backfires, as Tru’s love is hard to contain.
Auckland: Tue 27 May, 8.30pm & Tue 3 Jun, 12.30pm
Wellington: Tue 10 Jun, 8.35pm & Wed 11 Jun, 2.50pm
Christchurch: Fri 13 Jun, 6.45pm
TWO MOTHERS
Zwei Mütter Dir: Anne Zohra Berrache, Germany, 2013, 75 mins, German with English subtitles
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Mixing fiction and documentary, Two Mothers follows Katja and Isabella, happily married, who decide to have a child. However, like many lesbian couples, they soon discover how difficult this is as many of the sperm banks and fertility clinics in Germany don’t offer treatment to homosexual couples, citing ‘legal problems’. The toll on their finances and relationship is telling. Refusing to give up, they take matters into their own hands and start casting for potential sperm donors online…
Auckland: Sun 1 Jun, 8.10pm & Wed 4 Jun, 6.40pm
Wellington: Thu 12 Jun, 6.45pm
VALENCIA
Dir: Various, USA, 2013, 105 mins
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Writer Michelle Tea’s autobiography Valencia comes to life in this fun, collaborative production. Twenty-one queer filmmakers each shot a 5–7 minute short based on a chapter from the book. The result is a raucous and colourful film documenting the fun, anarchy and adventure of being a riot grrl punk in San Francisco dyke culture, with all the romance, grit, heartbreak, experimentation, awkwardness and antics. This film is not afraid to laugh at itself and will make you fall in love with the 90s all over again, like, totally.
Auckland: Tue 3 Jun, 8.30pm
Wellington: Fri 6 Jun, 8.30pm