GAYLETTER

Just in time to battle discrimination at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, The Perez Brothers present their new short film entitled The Weigh In. The brothers are super talented directors best known for their music videos and shorts who are well versed in the cool hyper slick visual language of today’s leading commercial auteurs.

This short, impeccably shot like a “nike inspired” teaser for the next heavyweight prize fight (and no longer than one and a half minutes) has the raw excitement of the original Rocky and a payoff bigger than the secret in the Crying Game…enough said, check this sh*t out!

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From the title of Denis Côté’s latest film, Vic + Flo Saw A Bear, you’d be forgiven for expecting the latest pixar film. Or a wildlife documentary. Or the curious adventures of two women at Folsom St Fair. In fact, it’s the Berlin Film Festival award-winning story of two bizarre women who have just been released from prison and move into a cottage in rural Quebec. Vic craves isolation from everyone except her lover Flo, who increasingly grows restless and entertains herself with the town’s strange locals, including a handsome gay parole officer.

The film begins as a quaint meditation on people who sit on the fringes of society, and how even “true love” can ebb and flow based on necessity. Are these women lesbians, or were they straight women who found comfort in each other behind prison walls? Does it even matter? Denis Côté has created his own film language, and just when you’re settling into Vic + Flo’s offbeat dramatic rhythm, it swerves into an entirely different genre — the revenge thriller. We recently sat down with Côté in New York to discuss creating this unique story, gay audiences and taking his revenge on the film industry.

Vic + Flo Saw A Bear is very different from your previous films, including your last film Bestiaire — a zoo documentary. What inspired you to create this film? Well if you’ve seen most of my films, you can see there’s a big film with a $1m or $2m budget, and then I need to take my revenge over the industry. …

Cruising, cum shots, and murder most foul — there’s quite a lot going on in Stranger By The Lake, and that’s only the first 30 minutes. Alain Guiraudie’s latest film, for which he won Best Director in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, is much like the body of water in its title — serene and quiet on the surface, yet hiding mysterious and murky depths underneath.

This French film follows Franck, a handsome gay man who begins visiting a secluded nudist lake where men spend long hours cruising one another by the water, or (as a result) wandering into the condom-strewn woods for anonymous sex. At first he befriends Henri, a chubby loner who simply visits the lake to watch, but his attention immediately turns to the porn-stached Michel. He’s a total babe, but it seems he has a boyfriend.

Late one afternoon, while returning from an uncomfortable hook-up in the woods, Franck secretly witnesses Michel drown his boyfriend in the lake. However Franck’s infatuation seemingly outweighs the “crazed killer” alarm bells in his head, and he spends the next few days with Michel, quickly falling in love. When the body is found, a policeman begins questioning the men around the lake, while Henri makes futile attempts to warn Franck of the danger he’s putting himself in.

This is a film about the silent rituals of cruising, the illusion of appearance, but most of all about the allure of danger. …

The short film is a truly glorious sub-genre of cinema. It’s like the visual equivalent of bite-sized candy, or overpriced sliders from Shake Shack: when done right, they’re exquisite, quick, but still meaty enough to totally satisfy. I took it upon myself to trawl the Internet for five new short films focusing on LGBT characters, because the only thing better than your everyday, run-of-the-mill short is one that’s homo-flavored, obviously.

These particular shorts cover a wide spectrum of topics (threesomes, meeting the parents, being in the closet, etc.) and come from all over the world (Germany, the Netherlands, etc.). So if you’ve been craving some thought-provoking LGBT work from a new crop of up-and-coming directors, then you’ve definitely come to the right spot.

Some of them are subtitled, some of them are NSFW and all of them are under 25 minutes:

#1. Heile Gänsje, dir. Matt Lambert

Set in a hazy, gorgeously-filmed Berlin, this slightly-NSFW short for Dazed Digital/Channel 4 follows a strikingly pretty, buzzcut teen as he cavorts Skins-like around gardens and bars with his friends, smoking and boozing until he ends up making out with his best friend. From there on out everything gets a little cockeyed and neon-colored. Best watched full-screen with the sound all the way up.

#2. Natives, dir. Jeremy Hersh

An official selection at a number of big name film festivals (SXSW, Outfest) and winner of Best Short at the Seattle LGBT Film Festival, Natives details a young woman bringing her girlfriend home to meet the parents for a weekend. …

We were granted an interview to speak with the director about his new Oscar nominated film ‘HER.’ Instead we ended up talking about a whole range of topics from self doubt to living within your means, to working for fun, not money. In many ways it was a very helpful advice session from one of the most talented creatives working today.

What was the first thing you ever directed? Me and my friends, we were the first generation with home video cameras, so in high school we’d shoot really dumb skits, always involving drug deals, like zip lock bags with flour in them and cop show re-enactments. I don’t think I ever used the word ‘directing’, but they were the first videos I ever made.

Did you keep the videos? They’re somewhere, at least I hope I still have some of them. It’s funny ‘cos I did them when I was 14, 15, and then when I was 24 we did the Beastie Boys video ‘Sabotage.’ A couple of years later I found one of those videos and I realized that ‘Sabotage’ is a lot like what we made in high school: weird glasses, fake moustaches, using flour as fake coke, it was all the same stuff. And it was just funny to realise I was making the same stuff all over again but just much better, and with much more fun actors and the Beastie Boys who are easily the most charismatic band ever made. …

Israeli film director Eytan Fox is a true gem. His pioneering gay films, like ‘Yossi and Jagger,’ ‘Marylou‘ and now ‘Cupcakes‘ have done much to better the social landscape for homosexuals in his home country and abroad. His latest installment, Cupcakes is premiering at the New York Jewish Film Festival on January 16. Set in a 1970’s suburb of Tel Aviv, Cupcakes tells the joyous light hearted tale of a group of friends who enter the Eurovision song contest representing Israel. The group consisting of five diverse woman and one gay male nursery school teacher (Ofer Shechter) unwittingly get sucked into a professional entertainment vortex of stylists, producers and choreographers who attempt to force their concepts on the troupe.

A battle ensues and the group stays true to their grass roots ethic and all comes out well in the end. Even though Eytan made a “feel good” movie this time around the film still delivers an insightful moral commentary on Israel in the 70’s and by comparison also the present day. Thankfully Eytan took a minute to answer some pointed questions and shine a light on his persona and work in cinema:

Was the teen reporter job on the TV show for the IBA (Israel Broadcast Authority) your first professional
 step into entertainment? If yes describe the experience. Yes it was. My best memories are from the 1979, Eurovision song contest that was held in Jerusalem. I was Just a young boy at the time. …

Before there was Lynda, Christy, Cindy, Naomi, Ru Paul’s Drag Race, The Face, Funny Face and even Voguing there was this gem of a film ‘A Life Of Her Own.’ Released in 1950, this fabulous drama tells the tale of a small town girl (brilliantly played by a drop dead gorgeous Lana Turner) who comes to New York to become what I believe to be the first super model portrayed in film. She gets cover after cover climbing the ranks at mach speed, booking out for days-I lost my breath just watching her meteoric ascent. The head of the modeling agency is deftly played by Tom Ewell who teaches the girls how to walk, sit and behave at castings, a moment so surreal and modern the advice still holds true to this day. Of course Lana can’t keep her legs shut and opens them up to a married man played by a suave Ray Milland, and well you know that doesn’t end so well. George Cuckor directs this masterpiece that is sure to become a cult classic just as soon as you bitches get out there to see it then tell ALL your friends to as well. A perfect post Christmas present from the folks at The Film Society at Lincoln Center… unwrapped and ready for your enjoyment.

$10, Thursday, Dec. 26 at 9:15PM & Saturday, Dec 28 at 4:10PM. $10, Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, 144 W. 65th St. …