Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 2010

I haven't managed to write about the Festival yet despite having seen a number of films, largely due to the number of events that included drinks before and afterwards and how much these co-incidentally overlapped with the films I attended. This, while lovely for socialising, really doesn't encourage praxis in writing, and unfortunately reviews in the form of serenades wouldn't really be informative or appropriate, so here we are.

The first film I had the pleasure of seeing was the opening gala, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister - but more on that later.

I was really impressed by Beautiful Darling, Jeremiah Newton's documentary tribute to Candy Darling. Candy was one of the circle of trans* spectrum people around Andy Warhol, and was immortalised in song by Lou Reed, as well as being a talented actress in her own right.

Jeremiah was a dear friend of Candy's and has found himself custodian of her legacy, a responsibility he takes seriously as the film both touches deeply and considers Candy and her life fairly from a variety of perspectives. Being a trans woman in 60s New York could not have been easy by any stretch of the imagination, and that Candy survived alone shows her character. That she became known for her beauty and personality is testament to how amazing she truly was, amazing to the extent that her presence and story reaches out from the screen to move and inspire - something that she certainly would have wanted.

Truly an icon, to the extent that I am considering making a set of Candy Darling button badges - watch this space.

(http://www.beautifuldarling.com)

I liked the Wotever Shorts very much, particularly I Want Plenty... And Plenty To Be, the hip-hop musical story of community, seperateness and togetherness in queer Berlin, and Lovely and Slim, Charlotte Cooper's highly entertaining DIY musical short with a real point to make about norms.

I liked all of the short films, and many were very funny indeed, but I did have a couple of caveats: Getting Off, the story of a boi searching for her missing orgasm, made me wish not so much for less emphasis on sex, but for more emphasis on creativity and connection and building on having sex-positive spaces, as well as a little realisation that the inexorable association of sex and the ability to orgasm can be cis-centric and oppressive in effect. Circus Geeks and Sideshow Freaks did concern me a bit due to the ready use of the word "tranny" in the cabaret show, and the lack of realisation that many trans people find the terminology "biological woman" highly offensive - but what we need is more film making and connection rather than taking away from celebration of all that people have already created.

(http://www.woteverworld.com/index.php?view=details&id=54%3Awotever-shorts&option=com_redevent&Itemid=9)

Lastly, I cought the collection of Trans shorts, Trans Love, a really good selection varying from Changing House, about the difficulties of finding trans-friendly housing balanced against the difficulties of communal living, Nobody Passes Perfectly, a documentary about trans men experiences of transition, gender and identity, and Transproofed, Calpernia Addams' and Andrea James' highly entertaining short about the perils and downfalls of choosing to go "stealth" and whether the price might just be too high to pay.

(http://www.bfi.org.uk/llgff/node/275)