SHOUT Schedule

SHOUT 2011 Film Line-up

SHOUT Kick-off Film Tuesday, August 23rd Bottletree Cafe 8:00pm Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Birmingham SHOUT kicks off the 6th Annual Film Festival with the hit Sundance documentary WE WERE HERE, The film is the first to take a deep and reflective look back at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco. It explores what was not so easy to discern in the midst of it all - the parallel histories of suffering and loss, and of community coalescence and empowerment.  Though this is a San Francisco based story, the issues it addresses extend not only beyond San Francisco but also beyond AIDS itself.

 

 

Birmingham SHOUT Special Screening Wednesday, Aug. 24th The Edge 12 8:00pm Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 at the door From the director of iconic indie flicks "Run, Lola, Run" and "Perfume: Story of A Murderer" comes "Three", Tom Tykwer’s latest exploration of human motivation. If you let it, love can be as easy as one-two-three, as Tykwer proves in this atmospheric piece about bisexuality, love and longing in cosmopolitan Berlin. One: appealingly disheveled Simon, all scruff and dimples, who’s ready to move on from tragedy. Two: slyly humorous Hanna, wry and knowing, who wants more than the comfortable companionship she has with Simon. Three: magnetic blonde Adam, impish and confident, an occasional father who looks for connection. Which he finds with Simon. And Hanna. But none of the three knows what the other two are doing. Here infidelity is just what the love doctor ordered. Hesitant first approaches turn voracious, and the affairs pulse with sensuality, especially when Simon and Adam smolder on-screen. As each coupling’s relationship grows more satisfying physically and spiritually, the trio’s palpable chemistry drives the story to a dizzying climax. These spheres must collide eventually—right?

SHOUT Spotlight Saturday, August 27th Red Mountain Theatre Company – Cabaret Theatre (301 19th St. N) Wish Me Away Directors: Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf 96mins/USA/Documentary

Imagine how difficult it might be for an LGBT-person to ‘come out’? Imagine how difficult it might have been for you to come out. Now imagine you’re a best-selling country music artist who has been living with a deep secret for over 30-years. Then you’d be Chely Wright. Before she was making headlines as the first popular country-music artist to announce herself as a lesbian, Chely was living with a secret and doing everything in power to both hide it and deny it. Lucky for us, most of her incredible journal was documented by filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi & Beverly Kopf, allowed us personal and intensely moving access into Chely’s decision to finally make the most important decision of her life. Wish Me Away has been burning up the festival circuit and resonating with audiences all across the country. Once you see it, you’ll know why. – Billy Ray Brewton, SHOUT Programmer

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Closing Night Sunday, August 28th Carver Theatre Hit So Hard Director: P. David Ebersole 101mins/USA/Documentary

The band Hole helped define the 1990’s, as a musical decade and as a decade, in general. And though most people associate Hole with frontwoman Courtney Love, the most fascinating story from the band might belong to drummer Patty Schemel. Hit So Hard follows Patty’s journey as the openly gay drummer from Hole. As a young girl who always knew she was ‘different’ from the other kids in his farm-town outside of Seattle, Patty never dreamed she would one day have her picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. But she also never fathomed how fast she could lose it all. A true survivor of what we now know was the disaffected ‘slacker’ generation, Patty found herself, like her friend Kurt Cobain, embraced by the dark side. Featuring exclusive interviews and insight into the era, Hit So Hard is a raw and intimate portrait of a woman who overcame the odds and remains one of the most influential rock drummers in the world.

*Hole drummer Patty Schemel is scheduled to attend Documentary Features
(in alphabetical order by title)

World Premiere Saturday, August 27th  – 10:15am – Hill Event Center Agile (Good Boy) Director: Audrey Villiard 61mins/Canada/Documentary

Some of the most fascinating and entertaining documentaries are ones that provide an intimate portrait of…well…a person.  Not a movement.  Not an issue.  A person.  Agile (Good Boy) does just that.  Filmmaker Audrey Villiard spent one-year chronicling the life of her older sister, Kathleen.  Kathleen has just turned 30-years-old and finds herself at a turning point in her life.  Kathleen likes women and is embarking on a major step:  the construction of her first home.  Kathleen is also overweight and is training for dog agility competitions with her Australian Sheppard, Oslo.  Agile (Good Boy) follows Kathleen as she makes some important life decisions with her partner, and as she trains for one of the most important events of her life.  Director Villiard’s personal and endearing documentary takes an inside look at one life and all that it entails, giving us uncompromising access to Kathleen, her partner, her life…and her incredible dogs. – Billy Ray Brewton, SHOUT Programmer

Screens with “Touch” (Directed by Amanda McEwan & Emma Higgins) – 6 minutes/Canada
Touch is an engaging film that explores communication between two people without words.

Screens with “When Judith Met Theo” (Directed by Penelope Knockout) – 12 minutes/Canada
A satire that serves as a comment on the treatments of lesbians in film and the intolerance towards gays/lesbians/bisexuals in mainstream society.

I Am Director: Sonali Gulati 73mins/India/Documentary Sunday August 28th – 10:30am – Hill Event Center

Every year there is that one film that sticks with you, that one film that makes you remember why you love programming a film festival.  This year, I Am was that film for me.  From the opening narration of this beautiful documentary, I knew I was watching something wholly original and entirely special.  The film chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker (director Sonali Gulati) who returns to Delhi eleven-years after the death of her mother, to re-open what was once home and finally confront the loss of the woman to whom she never came out.  As she meets and speaks to parents of other gay and lesbian Indians, she pieces together the fabric of what family truly means in a landscape where being was, until recently, a criminal and punishable offense.  I Am is one of the most emotional, personal and impactful documentaries of the year, or any year for that matter.  – Billy Ray Brewton, SHOUT Programmer

Screens with “Our Wedding” (Directed by Marka Mayberry-Gaulke) – 8 minutes/United States
Twin daughters of lesbians collaborate to tell the story of what their mothers’ legal marriage means to them.

This Is What Love In Action Looks Like Director: Morgan Jon Fox 73mins/USA/Documentary Saturday, August 27th – 12:40pm – Alabama Theatre Loft

Filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox returns to The Magic City for his third consecutive year, after wowing audiences in 2009 with his experimental OMGHaHaHa and in 2010 with Blackmail Boys, directed by Bernard Shumanski (whom he assisted in the production of the film).  This year he presents:  This Is What Love in Action Looks Like.  In the summer of 2005, a 16-year-old Memphis teenager wrote on his MySpace blog about how his parents were sending him to a “Fundamentalist Christian” program that strives to turn teens straight.  This documentary follows the inspirational story of the teen’s local community standing up for their friend with daily protests at the facility in what would become an international news story.  This Is What Love in Action Looks Like is a fascinating documentary that shows just how strong and effective the LGBT community can be.  – Billy Ray Brewton, SHOUT Programmer

*Director Morgan Jon Fox is scheduled to attend

Screens with “Suffocation” (Directed By Nick Lieberman) – 2 minutes/United States
A creative look at how bigotry and bullying, even in their slightest forms, can affect another person.
Narrative Features
(in alphabetical order by title)

SHOUT After Dark Saturday, August 27th - 9:20pm Red Mountain Theatre Company Cabaret Theatre Bite Marks Director: Mark Bessenger 84mins/USA/Narrative Starring: Benjamin Lutz, Windham Beacham, David Alanson, Stephen Geoffreys

Gay horror films are difficult to find.  Strike that – good gay horror films are almost impossible to find.  Most are thrown-together messes that make me cringe.  Enter Bite Marks, one of the most entertaining little horror films to come around the SHOUT desk in a long while.  The plot is simple enough:  an attractive young man, Brewster (Benjamin Lutz), takes over a truck route for his missing brother, Walsh (Stephen Geoffreys from “Fright Night”) and ends up trapped with two young gay men, Cary (Windham Beacham) and Vogel (David Alanson), as they fight for their lives against a brood of ruthless…shirtless…very gay vampires.  This film makes the rules up as it goes along but never loses sight of the tongue-in-cheek humor that makes it so memorable.   Bite Marks never takes itself too seriously and even pokes fun at the absurdity of most gay horror films.  It’s rare when you get to sit back and enjoy a film that’s just flat out entertaining and this much fun.  Birmingham SHOUT is proud to finally present a horror film to our audiences that won’t make us hang our heads in shame.  – Billy Ray Brewton, SHOUT Programmer

eCupid Director: J.C. Calciano 90mins/USA/Narrative Starring: Houston Rhines, Noah Schuffman, Morgan Fairchild Saturday, August 27th – 4:20pm Alabama Power Auditorium

Marshall (Houston Rhines) is a cocky young ad-guy working a dead-end job for a boss who constantly overlooks his contributions.  After seven-years with his boyfriend Gabe (Noah Shuffman), Marshall’s love-life has become too comfortable.  On top of that – he’s turning 30!  Desperate for a new life, he goes online and fins a mysterious app called ‘eCupid’ that guarantees to find true love.  From the moment he downloads it, ‘eCupid’ scans every inch of Marshall’s life, turning his world upside down, overwhelming him with sexy gays at every turn.  Enter a wise and thoughtful waitress (Morgan Fairchild) and you have one of the most satisfying and endearing comedies to come around in a very long time – we think you’ll just love it!

*Actor Houston Rhines is scheduled to attend

Screens with “Oh My God” (Directed By Federico Calabuig) – 2 minutes/Spain
Two gay men discuss the implications of what the ‘coming out’ process might be like for one of them.

The Green Director: Steven Williford 90mins/USA/Narrative Starring: Jason Butler Harner, Cheyenne Jackson, Julia Ormond, Illeana Douglas, Karen Young, Bill Sage, Mary McCann and Mark Blum Saturday, August 27th – 3:00pm Carver Theatre

Having left behind a life in New York City for the village charm of shoreline Connecticut, Michael Gavin (Jason Butler Harner), a drama teacher at a progressive private high school, thinks he can live a simple, harmonious domestic existence with his partner Daniel (Cheyenne Jackson), a caterer.  But Michael’s world is turned upside down when he is accused of engaging in “inappropriate behavior” with a male student, who runs away from home leaving behind his financially-strapped mother and her mercenary boyfriend to capitalize on the school’s culpability.  With his job, relationship and freedom in jeopardy, Michael must confront the suspicions of co-workers, the latent homophobia of his friends and neighbors, and Daniel’s doubts about his partner’s innocence after an investigation reveals a secret from his past.  The Green is an intense and powerful drama.

The Wise Kids Director: Stephen Cone 90mins/USA/Narrative Starring: Molly Kunz, Tyler Ross, Allison Torem, Stephen Cone, Matt DeCaro, Sadie Rogers Sunday, August 28th – 3:05pm Red Mountain Theatre Company Cabaret Theatre

The Wise Kids takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers and the future is scarcely wide open.  Set in around a Charleston, South Carolina Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters:  Brea (an introspective pastor’s daughter experiencing debilitating doubt), Laura (Brea’s best friend and a debout believer) and Tim (the open-hearted son of a single father confronting his homosexuality for the first time).  Tensions and buried feelings abound as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly forcing Brea, Laura and Tim to hang on to what they have, all the while yearning to break free.  A powerful new indie film from Stephen Cone, whose In Memoriam has recently been enjoying some well-deserved press and dexterity.

*Director Stephen Cone and actor Tyler Ross are scheduled to attend

Screens with “Alone” (Directed By Russell Sheaffer) – 3 minutes/United States
In this experimental short film, two men go in search of connection with one another, symbolically shedding their clothes along the way.

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