U.S. Premiere!
ROSIE:
The Devil In My Head
at 2:00pm
(Belgium, 1998) directed by Patrice Toye w/Aranka Coppens, Sara de Roo, Dirk Roofthooft, Frank Vercruyssen, Joost Wijnant
Print Source: New Yorker Films
Patrice Toye is sure to join the ranks of other internationally acclaimed women directors, based on the power and complexity of this debut feature. ROSIE: THE DEVIL IN MY HEAD is the touching story of a young teenager’s unconditional love for her mother. Rosie is a precocious and bright 13 year-old, who’s longing for her mother’s love mirrors the latter’s struggle to reconcile the events of her past to the consequences of the present. While Rosie’s mother demonstrates absolute love for her daughter, she is in constant conflict over the fact that Rosie came into her life at an enormously young age. In fact, the two are only 14 years apart and, like most 27 year-old women, she is struggling to deal with the insecurities in her own life. To the outside world they are sisters with a mysterious past. But to each other, there is an unbreakable mother/daughter bond that links them together. In an attempt to make sense of the emotional chaos that surrounds her, Rosie creates a bright and imaginative world with her one and only friend Jimi. Together they embark on a reckless journey intensified by Rosie’s drive to help her mother achieve happiness. At it’s world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, Variety praised this stirring and very poignant film as “The most incisive look at adolescent angst since Heavenly Creatures.”

PATRICE TOYE was born in 1967 in Belgium and has directed several short and documentary films. ROSIE: THE DEVIL IN MY HEAD is her debut feature.

 

Premiere!
REGRET TO INFORM
at 4:00pm
(U.S., 1999) directed by Barbara Sonneborn
Print Source: Sun Fountain Productions
REGRET TO INFORM superbly portrays the lasting devastation of the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of women, both American and Vietnamese, who lost their husbands. This is the story of one women’s journey to Vietnam, twenty years after her husband was killed there, and the women she encounters who were affected by the war. Hoping to find some closure for her pain and loss, Barbara Sonneborn wants to see and feel the places where her husband spent his last days. By intercutting emotional testimonials from women on both sides of the war who share their suffering, she makes us understand how real this war remains. Through seeing many different women’s perspectives, we recognize how their emotions contrasted: helplessness on the part of women in the United States versus inevitable participation by North and South Vietnamese women. A very powerful, yet quiet, film, REGRET TO INFORM develops a yet unseen perspective: that of those left behind. Focused on Vietnamese and American women, the film is filled with exceptional interviews which are revealing and poignant. Testimony to Sonneborn’s uncommon ability is the remarkable level of honesty and openness the women are willing to share on camera. The viewer is taken on an exceptionally well crafted journey, which includes beautiful camera work and a seamless mixture of new and archival footage. Deeply personal and vastly universal, REGRET TO INFORM is an involving and moving lesson about the painful legacy of war. - Lisa Viola

BARBARA SONNEBORN has been a visual artist for twenty six years. She received an MFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries. REGRET TO INFORM is her first film and has been nominated for an Academy Award for 1998 Best Documentary Feature.

 

Premiere!
LOOSE ENDS
at 5:30pm
(Germany, 1997) directed by Sandra Nettelbeck w/Nettlebeck, Regula Grauwiller, Jasmin Tagatabai
Print Source: Frameline Distribution
This hit of the 1997 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival had a few rare U.S. screenings and sadly went back to Germany without a distribution deal in this country. Only recently (within the past few weeks) it was picked up by Frameline Distribution and is back for much-awaited screenings in America. That being said, check out this erotic and complex portrait of straight and lesbian love (both funny and dramatic), and an all-too-familiar farewell to innocence. The story centers on three women friends in their late twenties who all share a quest for happiness. Sara is in the midst of making plans for her wedding to popular radio DJ Robert when she stumbles into a passionate affair. Nina is a playgirl who hardly ever wakes up with the same woman twice - until she takes a ride in Ella’s (played by director Nettelbeck) taxi cab. She finally meets her match and surrenders to love, but not without putting up a fight. And, having been single for several years, Katherine falls for her ex-boyfriend, Nick, who walked out on her and his friends four years ago. In the end they all, in their own way, face the same feeling: that they are too young to be old and too old to be young. LOOSE ENDS is at once passionate and sexy, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, complex and always engaging.

SANDRA NETTELBECK was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1966. Her short film, A Certain Grace, won an audience award at the San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1992. LOOSE ENDS is her feature debut.

Shows with
Premiere!
BELOW THE BELT
(Canada, 1998) directed by Dominique Cardova and Laurie Colbert; Print Source: Filmmakers
Two seventeen-year-old girls fall in love with each other. Just when their minds are completely preoccupied with themselves, one of the girls makes the astonishing discovery that her mother, whom she always believed to be happily married to her father, is having an affair of her own. The filmmaking team of Cardova and Colbert brought us the wonderful 1992 documentary Thank God I’m a Lesbian. BELOW THE BELT is their first foray into narrative and 35mm filmmaking.

 

Closing Night Selection!
Sneak Preview!
Director Rose Troche will introduce
BEDROOMS AND HALLWAYS
at 7:40pm
(England, 1998) directed by Rose Troche w/Kevin McKidd, Jennifer Ehle, Hugo Weaving, Simon Callow, Harriet Walter, Tom Hollander
Print Source: Pandora Cinema
Director Rose Troche drew immediate attention to her talent with the release of her debut feature Go Fish. Since then, we have patiently awaited her next film and are delighted to present a sneak preview of the soon-to-be-released BEDROOMS AND HALLWAYS. This charming romantic comedy centers on the story of two gay friends/roommates and their respective adventures into love and sex. The film was shot and produced in London and boasts bright performances from both leads. Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting) is the lovable Leo who is more than ready for a real relationship. He’s even willing to join an all straight new-age men’s group to get in touch with his feelings. When he declares his attraction for Brendon (a fellow skeptic of the group), their budding romance sets off a series of sexual identity crisis’ amongst some of the other members. All-the-while Darren (Tom Hollander) is content for the moment to continue a casual relationship with his real estate agent boyfriend, who gets a nasty thrill from engaging in naughtiness at his clients’ abodes. A sort of gay soap opera for the nineties, BEDROOMS AND HALLWAYS is a refreshing tale of romantic mishaps and sexual entanglements.

ROSE TROCHE has produced, written, and directed a number of short films. Her 1994 feature Go Fish won several awards at festivals worldwide. BEDROOMS AND HALLWAYS is her second feature.

 

Sneak Preview!
The RIGHTEOUS BABES
at 10:00pm
(England, 1999) directed by Pratibha Parmar
Print Source: Women Make Movies
In this new documentary, acclaimed filmmaker Pratibha Parmar explores the intersection of feminism with popular music, focusing on the role of female recording artists in the 1990s and their influence on modern women. Parmar argues that, far from being dead, feminism has thrived and expanded its reach through the direct, aggressive, and revolutionary medium of rock music, and through the role models of performers like Madonna and Ani DiFranco. Intercutting performance footage with interviews, Parmar explores her thesis with some of the most outspoken female musicians, feminist theorists, and journalists of the UK and the US. Included are Sinead O’Connor, Skin (Skunkanansie), Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Tori Amos, Ani DiFranco, Camille Paglia, and Gloria Steinem. With critical insight and candidness, this powerful and timely documentary demonstrates the vibrancy and relevance of feminism to women and young girls today.

PRATIBHA PARMAR has been an independent director for many years working in documentary films and more recently in drama. Her films have shown at international film festivals and been broadcast in many countries. They include Khush (1990), A Place of Rage (1991), Jodie: An Icon (1995) and Warrior Marks (1993) which she made in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker. All of these films have premiered at the Boston International Festival of Women’s Cinema.

Shows with
WOMEN IN ROCK MUSIC VIDEOS
A selection of music videos directed by women and/or featuring women rockers will be shown. More details to follow.