Rainbow Film Festival opens with diverse program

Advertiser Staff

Cmdr. Burt Hable (Adrian Paul, right) deals with damage to his submarine and the loss of his longtime partner in "Tides of War." Christina Simpkins

Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival Thursday through May 29 Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts $6 for Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Cultural Foundation members, $8 for nonmembers 381-1743 or www.hrff.org

Tonight's opening flicks, at 7:30, are Marc Moody's "Almost Normal,"and "Holy Matrimony Billy." The former is about a gay man approaching a mid-life crisis. He just wants to be normal. Suddenly, he is yanked back in time to when he was in high school, but with a difference — the world is now gay. To be straight is considered deviant behavior. Then something unexpected happens — he falls in love with a woman.

"Holy Matrimony Billy" is about a gay man who dreams of marrying George W. Bush, then cleverly — and humorously — questions current anti-gay marriage rhetoric.

The complete schedule:

THURSDAY

7:30 p.m.

• "Almost Normal" (world premiere)
• "Holy Matrimony Billy"

MAY 27

4 p.m.

• "I Will, I Do, We Did"

  On Thursday, Feb, 12, 2004, the city of San Francisco, under the direction of mayor Gavin Newsom, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. By the following Monday, more than 2,400 same-sex couples had been married at city hall. Through a series of intimate discussions with same-sex couples who were among the first to be married, and location footage shot at the height of the activity, the film involves the viewer first-hand, delivering a compelling tapestry of stories.

• "Just Regular Kids" (world premiere)

  Through the lighthearted innocence of children's voices this film reveals what it's like to have to keep a secret about your parents and to worry about people finding out.

• "100% Woman"

  Michelle Dumaresq is Canada's reigning national champion in the adrenaline-charged sport of downhill mountain biking. For her first 20 years, Michelle was Michael. As the first transgendered athlete named to a national team, Duaresq is testing limits.

6 p.m.

• "White(ness)"

  A visual essay on the cultural construction of race, whiteness and the power of privilege.

• "Zona Rosa" (sneak premiere)

  A documentary about the strippers who work in gay clubs in Mexico City's famous Zona Rosa district.

8 p.m.

• "Girl Play"

  A hilarious, refreshingly original, candid story of love between two women. Based on the stage play "Real Girls, Girl Play," writers/lead actors Lacie Harmon and Robin Greenspan share the true story of how they met and fell in love eight years ago in a theater while rehearsing for a play in which they were cast as lovers.

10 p.m.

• "Pimp & Ho: Adventures in Queersploitation"

  Inspired by the blaxsploitation films of the '70s, this campy short focuses on issues of gender and sexuality.

• "Hellbent"

  The film follows five gay men fighting to stay alive at one of the most outrageous celebrations of the year — Halloween in West Hollywood.

MAY 28

2 p.m. (boyz shorts)

• "Painting"

  "Painting" begins when a handsome youth arrives. A price is agreed upon. Clothes are removed. Angels sing and demons are unleashed. An intimate ritual leads deeper into mystery.

• "Feltch Sanders"

  1970s private detectives Feltch and Blossom are searching for a rich man's lost boy toy, and doing some personal re-evaluating of their own, in this comedic queer homage to Starsky & Hutch.

• "Kansas City Here I Come"

  You've had a stroke and can see and hear but cannot respond (expressive aphasia). Your daughter, son and grandson visit in the ICU. They tell you long-hidden secrets. You're alive, but your life is over, and you can do nothing to change it.

• "Stag Party"

  The best man at a wedding admits to once having feelings about the groom, but the fiancee insists he still watch over her future husband at the stag party.

• "Dare"

  High school senior Ben (Michael Cassidy of "OC" plays Zach) secretly lusts after bad-boy classmate Johnny. After Ben gives Johnny a ride home one night, the boys end up in Johnny's swimming pool and have an encounter ...

• "The Intervention"

  Steve's friends offer smiles and hugs as they lovingly force him to confess the truth about Bill Parcels and, hopefully, one other pressing issue.

• "Ryan's Life"

  Did you ever think that life would be a lot easier if you could just buy an over-the-counter test and know for sure whether you're gay or straight? Ryan Harris, a 16-year-old high school student, certainly thinks so as life at home, at school and with his friends is getting more and more complicated.

4 p.m. (girlz shorts)

• "Small Town Secrets"

  A highly textured film that travels back to the early 1980s, when the filmmaker was growing up with closeted gay parents in a small Midwestern town.

• "Desert Motel"

  On a weekend trip to the California desert with her girlfriend, Leslie runs into Conner, a friend from back home. She is soon faced with a serious crisis as she tries to come to terms with Conner's new masculinity.

• "Bed of Fear"

  A sexy look at assumptions and expectations.

• "Hoi Maya"

  Two elderly ladies meet unexpectedly at a hairdressing salon one day. Their meeting reawakens memories of their youth together and the two women find themselves confronted with a story from way back in their past.

• "Neil and the Nun"

  Covert investigations, expert spy techniques, and a flawed teacher all contribute to a fun and serious film on growing up.

• "Hearts Cracked Open"

  An in-depth look inside the world of lesbian Tantra, with its ancient ecstatic practices and sexual techniques.

8 p.m.

• "Ka Nohona Pili Kai"

  Vocals by Keali'i Reichel.

• "Tides of War"

  Cmdr. Burt Hable (Adrian Paul) must contend not only with his sub having to withstand tremendous damage, but the loss of his longtime partner, Tom.

MAY 29

4 p.m.

• "Pimp & Ho: Queer Fashion Crime Models"

  Inspired by gangster/crime films of the last century, this campy and stylish short focuses on issues of gender, sexuality, religion and film genre.

• "That Man: Peter Berlin"

  A feature-length documentary that recounts the life and times of photographer, filmmaker, model and gay male sex icon Peter Berlin.

6 p.m.

• "Shop Until We All Drop"

  In a campy critique of the Western world's obsession with consumption, hosts Deb and Sisi of the Shop Until We All Drop Network inadvertently explore the drawbacks of corporate globalization.

• "Loggerheads"

  Inspired by true events, "Loggerheads" tells of an adoption "triad" — birth mother, child and adoptive parents — in interwoven stories in the days leading up to Mother's Day, each in one of the three distinctive geographical regions of North Carolina — mountains, Piedmont and coastal plain.

8 p.m.

• "Pimp & Ho: License to Queer"

  Having joined the International Queer Secret Service, the infamous Jonny Pimp and Honey Ho are back traveling the world in a race against time to stop the evil Dr. Normal and his "breeder bomb."

• "Transamerica"

  Bree (Felicity Huffman of "Desperate Housewives") is a conservative transsexual who takes an unexpected journey after learning that when she was a he, he fathered a son. The executive producer is William Macy ("Fargo").