Bwakaw

Veteran Filipino actor Eddie Garcia puts on a staggeringly heartfelt performance as Rene, an unimaginably (and hilarious) grumpy old man with a dream-crushing mean streak. Bwakaw is set in an unremarkable (though picturesque) village in the Philippines, Rene spreads his Scrooginess to everyone he meets, even the nice ones. A neighbor delivers a meal to him as a friendly gesture, with a smile. “Perfect timing” he replies, as he as he feeds the offering to his dog, Bwakaw. Why so rotten? Well, he came out of the closet when he was sixty, subsequently realizing he’d been deceiving his sweet girlfriend of 15 years the whole time. What’s worse, he since hasn’t felt the touch of a man, due to coming out at an advanced age. “Do you know how hard that is?” he whimpers in confessional. Constant reminders of death stalk and surround him, exacerbating his bitterness.

“Why do you do nothing but wait for your death?” a friend asks. “At my age, what else can I do?” sighs Rene, hope stripped bare.

Jun Luna should be beaming with pride, as he’s directed a film that swims through you like a chill, striking every nerve along the way. The drama hits hard, charged with elemental power. Despite the emotional heft, it’s also wickedly funny—Garcia’s crotchety snips and insults are certifiably golden. I’ve not seen a better film come out of the Philippines, and I’d urge anyone typically dissuaded by world cinema to give Bwakaw a watch—it’ll stir you to the core.

RATING: 8.1

The Campaign

Documenting the impassioned 2008 campaign to battle Proposition 8—an amendment to California state constitution that states marriage can only be between a man and woman. The Campaign is a surprisingly prosaic documentary about the furious, closely contested and polarizing national debate. Director Christie Herring had her cameras on the front lines in San Francisco during the fight against Prop 8, and was there to capture the heartbreaking defeat as the amendment passed on Election Day. The film simultaneously recaps the history of the struggle for same sex marriage, touching on the trailblazing of the Mattachine, the inspiration of Harvey Milk, and the infuriating antagonism of Anita Bryant.

The subject matter is sure to stir up emotions in just about everybody (though the film ironically explores how voter apathy might have been the campaign’s downfall), but the presentation of the hard-fought battle is so conventional it hurts. We see the heartbreak and tireless work of the campaign volunteers, but the filmmaking doesn’t match their passion. It lacks the sense of urgency to inspire people. Nevertheless, The Campaign is a must watch, for the sake of our country’s future. I just hope it’s effective enough to move the needle.

RATING: 6.5

Big Words

John, James, and Malik, three former members of a ‘90s New York hip-hop crew find themselves stunted by their inability to let go of the past in Neil Drumming’s bittersweet Big Words. The trio had a painful, unexplained falling-out years ago and haven’t kept in touch since—but a party on 2008’s historic Election Night serendipitously brings them together and forces them to confront their old demons while the rest of the country looks ahead, full of hope. If you’re expecting a sentimental reunion flick here, you’re (thankfully) dead wrong.

Director Neil Drummer exhibits a high level of taste in his feature debut. Big Words approaches a slew of interesting ideas—the stunting effects of nostalgia, black alpha-male homophobia, the difficulties of self-reconciliation—and Drumming is tasteful in the way he subtly introduces these ideas, tossing them up gently for us to ponder amongst ourselves. The film doesn’t have an agenda, nor does it feel like it’s trying to be profound. The actors do a good job all around (Darien Sills-Evans is a standout), and where the characters end up at the end is pleasantly unexpected. Big Words is a thoughtful assortment of conversation-starters set to dope ‘90s hip-hop beats.

Stay tuned for our full review and an extended interview with director Neil Drumming.

LGBTQ cinema will get the bright spotlight it very much deserves at Frameline37, the oldest, most respected queer cinema showcase in the world. The festival runs from June 20-30 in San Francisco at the Castro Theatre, Roxie Theater, and Victoria Theater, and in Berkeley at Rialto Cinemas.

Queer cinema is ever-growing, and the issues, questions, and cultures explored in its films are key to promoting acceptance, understanding, and education about the LGBTQ community. There are far too few queer representatives in film, and Frameline helps to change the landscape. It’s also going to be a hell of a lot of fun, with films from across the globe in every genre, from drama to comedy to action to documentary.

Here are a few of the films I’m looking forward to watching at the festival:

Concussion

The festival’s opening night film is the sexy, introspective debut feature of director/writer Stacie Passon, Concussion. Robin Weigert plays a 40-something lesbian stay-at-home mom who finds her cushy suburban life to be unsatisfying, both emotionally and sexually. After getting clocked on the head with a baseball by her son, her motivation to liberate herself from the doldrums of home life is amplified. She starts a project renovating a loft in the city, and an opportunity comes along that allows her to do something she’s never done before—pay for sex. Feeling sexy for the first time in ages, she goes even further by jumping to the other side, becoming a call girl herself. Still, at home her family waits. It’s always great to see a female-dominated cast, and Concussion looks to be a stirring exploration of sexual depravity and suburban melancholy.

GBF

One can get a little emotionally drained at film festivals, shuffling from one life-affirming, gut-wrenching, tear-jerking indie flick to another. I don’t expect this to be the case at Frameline37, mostly due to the number of fun, gaytastic features like Hot Guys With Guns, The Gayanator, and this, director Darren Stein’s GBF, a high school comedy about gay BFF’s Brent and Tanner planning their epically glittery and homo-tacular coming out. Stein’s track record isn’t exactly glowing—his most notable film is 1999’s camp-trash Jawbreaker, which was absolutely destroyed by the critics—but honestly, I don’t care. I’m going into GBF (Gay Best Friend) looking to laugh my ass off so hard I spill my popcorn.

C.O.G.

Jonathan Groff stars as a cocksure city boy who travels from Connecticut to Oregon to get his hands dirty (for the first time) on an apple farm in C.O.G., the very first screen adaptation of a David Sedaris short story. Finally! Director Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut Easier With Practice, C.O.G. has all the trappings of a typical indie flick—a lonely protagonist with a weird job in a small, church-going town, lots of pretty landscape shots, eccentric white people—but with the promise Alvarez showed in his debut, C.O.G. is likely to be another indie treasure.

The Campaign

Same-sex couples won the right to marry in California in 2008, but had their rights yanked away from them later that year in November when Proposition 8—a state constitutional amendment that states only a man and woman can marry—passed. The Campaign takes a close look at the fervent battle against Prop 8 by gay rights activists and supporters. The film also examines the history of the fight for gay rights from the ‘60s to now. Prop 8 has recently been challenged as unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court is reviewing Prop 8 at the time of this writing. The Supreme Court was expected to make a decision on gay marriage this past Monday. Their decision is now expected to be announced on Thursday, opening night of the festival. It’s hard to think of a time this film would be more relevant.

In the Name Of

In the Name Of is a Polish film about a priest wrestling with his homosexuality. One would think the premise would result in a scandalous, high-drama film, but from what I’ve heard, the film takes a disciplined approach. It won the Teddy award at the Berlin Film Festival for best LGBT feature and has been receiving a lot of praise for its beautiful cinematography. It’ll be interesting to see the controversial issue of church and homosexuality explored by Malgowska Szumowska, an Eastern European director.