U S F EAT U R E S
C iao
Cthulhu
Su nday June 22 I 2:45 pm
I Castro
Saturday June 2 1 I 1 1 :1 5 p m I Castro
Sun day J u n e 2 2 I 1 2 : 1 5 p m I Castro
$9 members I $ 1 0 general I CTHU21C
$7 members I $8 general I DONT22C
A refreshing new foray into the ensemble cast dram edy, Don't Go is like "The L Word" with more racial and socioeconomic diversity. Featuring Gui nevere Tu rner (/tty Bitty Titty Committee, Go Fish) and Nisha Gana tra (director and star of Chutney Popcorn), Don't Go is funny, fierce and oozing sexual ity and attitude. The program begins with a trio of shorts, from the heartbreaking to the hilarious, east coast to west, butch to femme. In Dive, a cute young thing with a date to impress likes ra pping about "Rimbaud and shit," but is she brave eno ugh to get what she wa nts? Woman in Burka fo ll ows rea l-l ife actress Sa rita Choudhury through fictionalized auditions for a new film. Is it a drama or just a cheap horror flick? None of the audi tioning actresses (each of whom, it seems, have ap peared in "Law & Order" at some poi nt) really know. But who cares? It's a job! This darkly comedic short shines a spotlight on race, aging, gender and the actor's eternal quest for validation-and a paycheck. Two couples, two birthdays, two dildos and a little role-reversal are the highlights of the hilarious Happy Birthday, which plays on "traditional" gender roles in butch-femme relationships when Abigail wants to top her butch girlfriend Jack, and femme Madeline agrees to have a baby as long as her partner Hannah carries it. - KATE CARROLL
FOR A RELATIONSH I P dir Ti m Verburg 2007 Canada 5 min
Adapted from H.P. Lovecraft's novella The Shadow over Innsmouth, this assured debut film from director Dan Gildark transplants Lovecraft's creepy New Eng land setting to the Pacific Northwest - and does for the region what The Wicker Man did for Scotland: It takes an a l ready gloomy, eerie atmosphere and reveals the intense weirdness lurking beneath. Though the mighty Wicker Man can't boast Tori Spelling as part of the package. Following the death of his mother, Russ (Jason Cottle), a respected history professor in Seattle, treks home to his coastal Oregon village. A gay man who's happily moved on from his isolated hometown, Russ hasn't seen or heard from his family in years. His sister Dannie (Cara Buono) gamely tries to reintegrate him into the town, with mixed results. Her staged reconcilia tion for Russ and their father falls flat, but Russ does rekindle his deep (and complex) friendship with the rugged, sensitive Mike (Gus Van Sant regu lar Scott Patrick Green). When Russ spends time with Dannie's friend Susan (a scene-stealing Spelling), things take a particularly weird turn. Stilted interactions lead to frightening encounters, as Russ attempts to piece together the town's frightening, hidden history-and his family's role in it. A product of the same Seattle scene that spawned Robinson Devor's acclai med Police Beat and Zoo, Cthulhu also features the amazing camerawork of Sean Kirby (DP for both of Devor's films) to amazing effect. The approach of the apocalypse never looked so absolutely gorgeous. - JONATHAN L. KNAPP
CI AO dir Yen Tan 2007 USA 87 min i n English, Italian and Mandarin with English subtitles
CTHULHU dir Dan Gild ark 2007 USA 90 min
S P O N S O R E D BY
S P O N S O R E D BY
$7 members I $8 general I CIA022C
Wednesday Jun e 25 I 9:30 pm I Elmwood $9 members I $10 general I C IA025E
Hidden within every ending is the seed of a new begin ning. When Mark dies suddenly, his best friend Jeff is left to tie up the loose ends and is surprised to discov er that Mark was cultivating an intimate online rela tionship with a man from Italy. Andrea is shocked and saddened that he will never get to know Mark in per son, just as he was about to embark on their first meet ing. Curious, Jeff invites Andrea to visit him in Dallas. These two important strangers try to piece together a complete picture of the man they both knew and loved, each in his own way. As Jeff and Andrea fall into an easy rapport around their mutual friend, they find empathy and the spark of desire. Is it a longing to keep Mark alive? Or is it Mark's fi nal gift, to introduce two strangers who never would have met otherwise? Ciao explores our longing to connect in a tran
sient world, among life's many unexpected departures and arrivals. Quiet ci nematography, spare music and smart, natural writing set an intimate tone as di rector Yen Ta n draws us into the slow unwinding of grief, illu mi nating the chambers of the human heart-those we open easily and those we keep closed, even with our dearest friends. First, Tim Verburg sorts through two years of pho tographs to make sense of the relationships in his life in the visually stunning For a Relationship. - CAROL HARADA
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Don't G o
S A N F R A N C I SC O I N T E R N AT I O N A L L G B T F I L M F E S T I VA L '-
hereO Gay Television On Demand
DIVE dir Larin Sullivan 2008 USA 11 min WOMAN IN BURKA dir Jonathan Lisecki 2008 USA 21 min HAPPY BIRTHDAY dir Roberta Marie Munroe 2008 USA 14 min DON'T GO dir Amber Sharp 2007 USA 51 min TOTAL R U N N I N G T I M E :
97 min