OCTOBER
18-27, 2002

Introduction
Index of Films

10/18, Friday
10/19, Saturday
10/20, Sunday
10/21, Monday
10/22, Tuesday
10/23, Wednesday
10/24, Thursday
10/25, Friday
10/26, Saturday
10/27, Sunday

Print Version

CPArts

Queer Notions
Reel Affirmations Festival

26SATURDAY

In the Name of Allah
American director Parvez Sharma's documentary examines the experiences of gay and lesbian Muslims living in Pakistan, India, Morocco, Indonesia, and the United States.
At 1 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre.

That's My Face
American director Thomas Allen Harris' documentary relates the story of his mother and grandmother's search for their African ancestry. Screening with Complete Abandon, director Kirk Shannon Butts' documentary about a young black man involved in a relationship with a white police officer.
At 3 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre.

Under One Roof
American director Todd Wilson's film follows the blossoming relationship between two Chinese-American neighbors.
At 5 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre.

The Journey to Kafiristan
When ethnologist Ella Maillart and writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach leave their native Switzerland for the "Hindu Kush" (that is, Afghanistan), viewers of this docudrama know something the travelers don't: It's 1939, so the women's expedition is unlikely to be completed before war begins in Europe, disrupting research projects around the globe. Moody Annemarie (Jeanette Hain), who has a taste for morphine and prefers men's clothing, and more pragmatic Ella (Nina Petri) make their way through the vast, mostly empty landscapes of Turkey and Persia before learning that Germany has invaded Poland. There's an erotic tension between them, but the one moment of release comes when Annemarie seduces Jale, the daughter of the Turkish ambassador to Tehran. Much "scientific" talk about inferior races set the tone for '30s European research on the mysterious Orient, so perhaps directors Fosco Dubini and Donatello Dubini's clinical style is apt. Based on Maillart's memoir The Cruel Way: Two Women and a Ford in Afghanistan, the film is scenic but chilly.
—Mark Jenkins
At 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre.

The Trip
Writer-director Miles Swain's feature debut is a bargain of sorts three cliché-laden movies for the price of one. The film begins in 1973 as a coming-out comedy. In the course of researching a homophobic, right-wing book, Young Republican writer Alan (Larry Sullivan) falls for gay activist Tommy (Steve Braun). Swain then leaps to 1977 and socio-political commentary as Alan discovers, to his horror, that the manuscript he long ago disowned has been published, destroying his relationship with Tommy and initiating an ill-advised liaison with older conservative lawyer Peter (Ray Baker). Then Swain jumps to 1984 and AIDS melodrama: Alan learns that Tommy is critically ill, dumps his domineering protector, and reunites with his ex-lover for a long-ago planned road trip, leading to a fadeout filched from Midnight Cowboy. Braun enlivens his role as Tommy with offbeat charm, but Sullivan can't come up with a strategy to make uptight Alan much more than a one-dimensional narrative device. Alexis Arquette, without whose participation no gay film festival could exist, turns up as Tommy's tart-tongued, Eve Arden—ish best friend, but The Trip's liveliest moments are contributed by its female supporting players. Sirena Irwin has a field day as Alan's cast-off girlfriend, reinventing her appearance and persona in each of the movie's time periods, and Jill St. John whoops it up as Alan's Auntie Mame—like mom, looking creepily unchanged since her screen debut nearly a half-century ago. But best of all is a vintage news clip of Anita Bryant, interrupted in the midst of a homophobic rant by a pie-wielding activist.
—Joel E. Siegel
At 9 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre.

back to the top