Gay Cinema

Gay cinema has crept
valiantly into western cinema over the past decade, ranging from Academy
nominees in the form of The Kids Are Alright and Brokeback Mountain, (near)
real life stories like I Love You Phillip Morris! and critically acclaimed
domestic debuts like last year’s brilliant Weekend. Carrying on the celebration
are a few events coming up this year which aim to bring a little awareness and
explore homosexuality.

The 26^th BFI
London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

From the 23^rd of
March through to the 1^st of April the BFI Southbank will be hosting
the 26^th annual Lesbian and Gay film festival. This month the
opening film for the festival was announced; Thom Fitgerald’s Cloudburst. The
director, who has opened the festival three times before and whose
previous features have targeted
the worldwide AIDs crisis (3 Needles) and gay adolescence (The Hanging Basket)
has set his focus this time on an elderly lesbian couple who travel to Canada
to get married. The film stars academy winners Olympia Dukakis and Brenda
Fricker and promises to be one of the lighter debuts at the festival, which has
sadly had to be chopped down in length for this year’s edition due to funding
cuts.

The full programme for the
Lesbian and Gay film festival will be announced towards the end of February,
visit the BFI’s site for more information here.

The London Lesbian film
festival will be a following just a few weeks behind, from the 20^th
to the 22^nd of April. This year’s programme already includes writer
and actress Poppy Champlin and duo Bitch and Ferron, and although the film line
up has yet to be announced, with previous titles including “We’re Talking Vulva”
“Butch Tits” and “Do Not Bend” expect a fairly in your face bout of feminism.
With the festival also taking place in Canada and Ontario under the
organisation of the Reeling Spinsters and promises a “Celebratory gathering at
which we project our images, challenge our politics, and reflect upon our lives.” The festival homepage can be
found here.

You can find smaller events
nationwide, like the University of Plymouth holding a free screening of A
Single Man in association with Pride of Our Past on the 23^rd of
February. The award winning film will be shown at 8.15, and tickets can be
booked here.