Films
2010 Films
Programme director’s welcome
Gaze has come of age - the festival is 18, emerging from its teenage years with a level of sophistication and confidence that is evident in the range of excellent film on offer this year. As the founder of the festival, I'm proud to see how it's grown over its 18 years and am delighted to return to programming the festival once more this year.
The festival offers a tantalising choice of features, documentaries and shorts from countries as diverse as Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Switzerland, China, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, UK and USA. It is both gratifying and inspiring to see such quality, diversity and invention in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) film.
Our opening night offering, I Killed My Mother is a stunning, semi-autobiographical debut film from Canadian writer/director/ producer/performer Xavier Dolan. This movie is a golden combination of critically acclaimed and highly entertaining. It is fitting that in our 18th year our programme visits some seminal moments in gay history. Stonewall Uprising is a moving and definitive portrayal of what was to become a turning point in the history of the gay rights movement.
One of the recurring themes in this year's festival is the fluidity of gender. We are all a composite of what the Native Americans call the Two Spirits of male and female. This is a theme also visited in films like Strella, To Die Like A Man, Paulista and The Last Summer of La Boyita, along with documentaries Assume Nothing and Regretters.
I am delighted to include so many top-notch films in this year's festival but particular mention must go to the BBC's magnificent costume drama, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, and Jordan Scott's Cracks. The latter was shot here in Ireland and employs the kind of production values we've come to expect from the Scott filmmaking dynasty.
It's an especially strong year for documentaries - including the Toronto Film Festival award-winning film, The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls; Regretters, Two Spirits, and All Boys share its themes of life's humour and pathos. Prima Donna: The Story of Rufus Wainwright's Debut Opera is not only a fantastic record of an artistic process it also gives us some touching insights into the gifted Wainwright family. The documentary includes interviews with his sister Martha, his father Loudon Wainwright III and his mother Kate McGarrigle.
Soundless Wind Chime, Leo's Room and I Killed My Mother are all gorgeous, not-to-be missed debut films while The Man Who Loved Yngve, Loose Cannons, and our closing night film Ander are inspired and heart-warming takes on that old favourite - the coming out story. We are delighted also to showcase the 2009 shortlist for Best International Gay Short Film and, as befits our coming-of-age, we are delighted to present a retrospective of Irish Gay Shorts from the 18 years of the festival, in collaboration with Culture Ireland.
I'm proud to say that this film festival has some of the most entertaining, moving, sexy, quirky and outright best films you'll see anywhere this year. I hope gay cinema continues to flourish and I hope you enjoy the profusion of great LGBT films GAZE 2010 offers.
Yvonne O'Reilly
Programme Director