One of the summer’s most anticipated films, a documentary about a homegrown C&W star and the story behind Hollywood’s first openly gay feature film are among the attractions of this year’s Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Film Festival scheduled for June 24-30 at the Tivoli in Westport.
But even before the fest gets underway, it’s offering a teaser. “Going Down in La-La Land,” based on the hit novel about a young actor who finds himself a star in the adult entertainment world, will be shown June 16 at the Screenland Armour Theatre in North Kansas City. It’s a benefit for GSP.
For tickets, trailers of all the films and more detailed information visit http://www.kcgayfilmfest.com and www.castromovienights.org.
Here’s the schedule for this year’s Gay Fest:
FRIDAY, JUNE 24
Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor in "Beginners"
6:30 p.m.: “BEGINNERS” — Inspired by his own father’s late-in-life coming out, Mike Mills’ celebrated film centers on a son (Ewan McGregor) dealing with his newly widowed — and liberated — father (Christopher Plummer).
8:45 p.m.: “KICK OFF” — A gay sports comedy? Yep. The gay players of an amateur football team try to seem intimidating; meanwhile their opponents — a squad of macho ex-cons and addicts — are told to either stop playing dirty or get out.
SATURDAY, JUNE 25
5 p.m.: “CO DEPENDENT LESBIAN SPACE ALIEN SEEKS SAME” — Three lesbians from outer space land in New York on a mission to have their hearts broken by Earthlings, thus saving their native planet from their raging emotions
7 p.m.: “GUN HILL ROAD” — Gritty and heartbreaking, this Sundance entry stars Esai Morales as an ex-con who returns home to find his wife (“Scrubs’” Judy Reyes) has another man and his teenage son (an amazing Harmony Santana) is saving up for a sex-change operation.
9 p.m.: “LEAVE IT ON THE FLOOR” — This buoyant original musical follows a homeless gay youth who finds a home in the voguing House of Emminence. Can he help these perennial losers take home their first trophy in ages? Great music and terrific choreography.
SUNDAY, JUNE 26
Chely Wright
5 p.m. : “WISH ME AWAY” — This doc is about Chely Wright, born in Kansas City and reared in a Christian home in nearby Wellsville KS. In the mid 1990s Wright became a country music star, but for much of her career she lived a closeted life, praying to become straight and fearful of a backlash from the conservative Nashville music scene if she came out.
7:30 p.m.: “JUDAS KISS” — Visiting a college campus to judge a student film competition, a veteran moviemaker falls for one of the contestants and sees in this young man a version of himself many years before.
MONDAY, JUNE 27
6 p.m.: A SHORTS ROMANCE: This program of four short films includes Todd Norris’ KC-lensed “Candy Apple Red” (straight woman and gay woman strike up a friendship); Jonathan Lisecki’s “Gayby” (longtime friends — she’s straight, he’s gay — decide to have a baby together), “The Colonel’s Outing” (New Zealand film set in an old folks’ home; a gay military hisstorian becomes roommates with a genuine war hero) and “GaySharkTank.com” (25 strangers log onto a gay chatroom looking for love, lust and other stuff).
7:30 p.m.: “MANGUS” –The spirit of John Waters’ funky comedies hangs over this broad farce set in a tiny Texas burg where the year’s big event is a cheap ripoff of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Mangus hopes to carry on the family tradition by landing the role of Jesus, but paralysis and scheming enemies stand in his way. Look for gay icons Jennifer Coolidge, Heather Matarazzo,Leslie Jordan and John Waters as (we’re not kidding) the real J.C.
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
6 p.m.: “FISHNET” — Shades of “Some Like It Hot”! Two L.A. burlesque dancers witness a mob hit and flee to small-town Texas, where they resume strutting their sequined stuff at a highway truck stop. Think of this comedy as “Thelma and Louise” meet “Sister Act.” Director Brian Pelletier will be on hand to introduce his film.
8 p.m.: “MAKING THE BOYS” — Today it may seem like a quaint Hollywood relic, but in the late ‘60s “The Boys in the Band” was a controverisal landmark, the first studio film exclusively about the gay experience. This doc examines the film, the play that spawned it and the furor that erupted both from moralists and from gays who found it packed with stereotypes.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
6 p.m. : “OUT FOR THE LONG RUN” — This award-winning doc delves into the lives of openly gay high school and college athletes spending time in possibly the most homophobic place on a high school campus: the locker room.
8 p.m.: “AUGUST” — In this uber-romantic effort two former lovers meet for coffee many years after a painful breakup. But the passions of the past haven’t yet cooled; and things are complicated by the other people in their lives.
THURSDAY, JUNE 30
6 p.m.: OUT HERE NOW short film competition — Last year’s popular closing night event returns. Finalists in the 2010 competition (no film is longer than 10 minutes) will be screened; the winner walks off with the $100 cash prize. (FREE ADMISSIONwith your Friends of the Festival card or Producers All-Access — or by donation at the door. Proceeds benefit the Out Here Now filmmaker’s
"eCupid"
fund.)
7:30 p.m.: “eCUPID” — In this comedy with heart a gay man undergoing a crisis (he’s turning 30, his long relationship is winding down, his boss doesn’t appreciate him) turns to a mysterious ap that promises to deliver true love. Suddenly he finds himself an object of desire…and it may be too much to handle. Look for Morgan Fairchild as a waitress/relationship guru who takes our man under her wing.
| Robert W. Butler
Butler's Cinema Scene 
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