PARENTAL GUIDANCE

PARENTAL GUIDANCE

This issue we look at four new queer indie films all dealing with issues related to either being a parent or with parents and family.

MY STRAIGHT SON (AZUL Y NO TAN ROSA)

Venezuelan writer/director Miguel Ferrari’s debut film MY STRAIGHT SON is equally funny, moving, and heartwarming. The film centers on Diego, a young and successful photographer, who lives in the glamorous but shallow and excessive world of fashion. A tragic accident turns his world upside down when a gay bashing puts his partner Fabrizio into a coma. Unexpectedly, while trying to deal with this tragedy Diego’s estranged teenage son Armando is dropped off by the boy’s mother. Diego is unprepared to raise a teenage boy, and Armando is closed off to accepting his father’s gay world. MY STRAIGHT SON doesn’t just simply tell the story of two opposite people learning new ways of seeing the world; it uses this dynamic to explore deeper issues of homophobia, domestic violence, and transsexuals in Venezuela. Much like Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, Ferrari mixes over-the-top supporting characters, exotic scenery, family values, music and laughter to tell a rich, multi-layered story.

Available at Amazon and TLA Gay

THE DARK PLACE

THE DARK PLACE is the follow up feature from the team who brought us the film Judas Kiss. A suspense thriller, THE DARK PLACE tells the story of Keegan Dark (Blaise Embry) a young gay man with the power to remember his life in video graphic detail—a gift that proves to be a blessing and curse. Keegan returns to visit his mother at their family winery after many years in hopes of rebuilding their relationship and to introduce his boyfriend (Timo Descamps). All plans quickly turn into a dark mystery as he suddenly learns upon arrival that he now has a stepfather and stepbrother (Sean Paul Lockhart, aka Brent Corrigan) with questionable intentions. Soon his mother drops into a coma, his boyfriend disappears and the town’s sheriff sees him as the prime suspect. Left alone and with little time he must try to use his abilities to unravel the mystery. THE DARK PLACE has strong suspense, high stakes, and hot guys.

Available at Amazon and TLA Gay

BIG GAY LOVE

Can a chubby gay man find love in Los Angeles? The new film BIG GAY LOVE explores that question through the eyes of Bob (Jonathan Lisecki), a pudgy, wise-cracking party planner with a great job, a new house, fabulous friends, but no true love. When romance does find Bob in the form of a sweet muscular chef named Andy (Nicholas Brendon from Buffy The Vampire Slayer), he wonders if the relationship could be true love, due to his years of insecurity. Actress Ann Walker plays Bob’s over-the-top and overbearing mother who in trying to advise her son in the ways of love only serves to heighten his own doubts, jealousies and fears. BIG GAY LOVE is simple and light comedic look at gay society’s perceptions of self-image, self-esteem, and self-acceptance.

Available at Amazon and TLA Gay

TWO MOTHERS (ZWEI MUTTER)

This drama from Germany tells the story of happily married couple Katja and Isabella who decide to have a child. While the idea seems simple at first they are confronted with many unexpected obstacles, bigotry, and extreme medical bills, which forces them to explore the idea of doing their own home insemination and finding their own sperm donor. As their quest drags on Katja begins to doubt if she still wants a child while Isabella becomes more obsessed and determined to get pregnant regardless the emotional costs. While TWO MOTHERS has excellent acting from the two leads it could seem slow and dragging if you’re not used to the typical slow pacing of European dramas.

Available at Amazon and TLA Gay