Painting the Spectrum 8, SASOD’s LBGT annual film festival continues this week with Pariah, Difficult Love, I am, and Tomboy at the Sidewalk Café tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday from 7 pm each day.
Tomorrow, SASOD says, Dee Rees’ award winning film Pariah tells the story of Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur and younger sister Sharonda in Brooklyn. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura, Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike’s development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague’s daughter, Bina, Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humour, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.
On Monday, there will be a double – Difficult Love, followed by I Am.
Zanele Muholi’s film Difficult Love offers a highly personal take on the challenges facing black lesbians in South Africa, SASOD says. The story emerges through the life, work, friends and associates of visual activist and internationally celebrated photographer, Zanele Muholi. The documentary looks at the experiences of South Africa’s black lesbian community, and how they have had to live under the threat of violence and corrective rape.
Sonali Gulati’s I Am, chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker who returns to Delhi, 11 years later, to reopen what was once home, and finally confronts the loss of her mother whom she never came out to. As she meets and speaks to parents of other gay and lesbian Indians, she pieces together the fabric of what family truly means, in a landscape where being gay was until recently a criminal and punishable offence. SASOD expressed thanks to Zanele Muholi and Sonali Gulati for the donation of their films.
On Tuesday, the French film Tomboy will be shown. A family moves into a neighbourhood and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents herself as a boy named Mikhael to the neighbourhood children. It is heavily implied that Mikhael is a closeted transgender boy. This film follows his experiences with his newfound friends, his potential love interest, Lisa, his younger sister and his parents. It focuses on the significance of gender identity in social interaction from an early age, the difficulties of being transgender and young, and how Mikhael navigates these in the background of childhood play and love.
Spectrum 8 began last week with the screening of Children of God and The Secret Diaries of Annie Lister.
SASOD noted that the films were followed by spirited and active discussions on rights, wrongs, good/bad behaviour, discrimination, religion and sexuality.
SASOD expressed thanks to all the persons who continue to support the festival and give their feedback. It noted that admission to all films is free and that the films are for mature audiences only.
