High-quality gay films raising interest in genre

Gay themes and characters have flourished in mainstream TV series and films in recent years, but you still have to mine film festivals and one-time screenings to experience fresh, edgy and timely breakthrough works.

So says Connie Florez, who has had her gaydar going for years through her work with the Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation, sponsor of the 18th annual Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival, which opened last night and continues through Sunday at two venues.

Florez said the indie films about the alternative lifestyle are seeing an upgraded level of excellence in acting, tech work and writing. And interest, consequently, also is up.

Just a few years ago, productions "might have been at the 3 level, on a scale from 1 to 5," said Florez. "But we're seeing more and more 5 quality films now."

She said South Korea's first mainstream gay film, "No Regret," which launched the festival last night, validates her contention that the gay film genre has matured. "This is the first gay film out of Asia that has star quality and great production values," she said.

With kokua from Chaz Hill, a translator with the Hawaii International Film Festival (who saw "Regret" in South Korea and knew its writer-director, Lee Song Hee-il), Florez felt it was the right fit for a marketplace that is wild about K-drama soaps on the tube.

Six titles we previewed:
"The Year of Paper" (U.S.), 92 minutes
4 p.m. today, Doris Duke Theatre, Honolulu Academy of Arts

A film by Kelly Rouse and Nikki Parker, focusing on three newlywed couples (lesbian, gay, hetero), and how they deal with common challenges, from family acceptance to the question of raising kids. The benchmark is the San Francisco decision on Feb. 12, 2004, that permitted same-sex marriage, and the revisionist "I now pronounce you spouses for life." There are differing takes from politicos, activists, clergy and more.

"A Four Letter Word" (U.S.), 85 minutes
6 p.m. today, Doris Duke

A film by Casper Andreas, about Luke (Jesse Archer), who works in a Chelsea adult sex shop and adores partying ... until he meets Stephen (Charlie David) and vows monogamy, even joining a group encounter to quell his desires. There are surprises along the way — secrets untold, lies denied — and periodic display of, um, skin.

"Nina's Heavenly Delights" (Scotland), 94 minutes
8 p.m. today, Doris Duke

A film by Pratibha Parmar, about a Scottish woman of Indian descent who returns home after the death of her father and reunites with a childhood friend who wants to be a Bollywood drag queen. Part Bollywood musical, part Food Network curry cooking competition, "Delights" tests lesbian emotions amid familial traditions and societal manners with a bouncy soundtrack that features The Monkees' "Daydream Believer" and the logical sentiment: "Always follow your heart, no matter what the recipe says."

 "The Sex Movie" (U.S.), 84 minutes
10 p.m. today, Doris Duke

A film by Colton Lawrence, about four actors who work in porn — a straight male, J.D. (played by Matthew Tyler); a gay man, Rafe (Mike Fallon); a straight woman, Kris (Michelle Mosley); and a lesbian, Heidi (Eleese Longino) — in an evening of truth-or-dare antics. The talk is bold, occasionally peppered with expletives, and the volley of verbal insults recalls the bitter and biting exchange in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

"Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother" (U.K.), 71 minutes
9 p.m. Saturday, Cupola Theatre, Honolulu Design Center

This documentary, on the transition from male to female by the brother of actor David Arquette and actresses Rosanna and Patricia Arquette, is profoundly personal and powerful. Alexis bares almost everything about himself — his sessions with his therapist, his sentiments about his siblings ("they do see me as flawed ... kind of damaged goods") — and when push comes to shove, he clams up ("it's nobody's concern (if he has) a penis or a vagina.")

"Fat Girls" (U.S.), 82 minutes
8 p.m. Sunday, Cupola Theatre

Even a guy has a latent fat girl in him — or so contends Ash Christian, who wrote and directed this comedy and stars as Rodney Miller, a high schooler with lifestyle issues, prom date worries, peer pressure and more. Further, his father dies while having sex; his mother serves up holy burgers for dinner. "Being a fat girl is being comfortable with yourself," says Miller, who is gay and has a thing for a British chum named Joey (Joe Playten). Sabrina (Ashley Fink) is the sole fat girl in the film, inside and out.
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.