6th EROS Film Festival

November 17 - 21, 2004

Admission:  $8 general, $6 students*/seniors

*All Trinity students get in free to all shows with a valid student ID.


Visit the EROS website

Wed, Nov. 17  7:30pm

With its hot jazz score, and stunning depiction of the hey-day of the Harlem Renaissance, which includes luminaries such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, director Rodney Evans transports the viewer from certain trappings of contemporary gay culture to an era rife with art, possibility and hope.  Perry, who is battling racism and homophobia at home and in the classroom, meets Harlem Renaissance painter and poet Bruce Nugent whose recollections of that groundbreaking era transport Perry out of his own, complicated life, and back to the 30’s when artistic and personal expression flourished.  Through his juxtaposition of present and past, Evan’s illustrates the profound influence of culture, art and history not just in Perry’s life, but in the communal struggle for self-acceptance that is the enduring legacy of the Harlem Renaissance innovators.  www.brothertobrotherthemovie.com 

Shahar Rozen presents a moving portrait of two women who forsake convention and acceptance to share a deep love and friendship.  Round Trip is a story from Israel that depicts a blossoming relationship amidst the stark outskirts of Tel Aviv, between Nurit a mother of two separated from her husband who drives a bus for a living, and Mushedi, her live-in nanny from Ghana .  Soon, Nurit’s husband infers that the two women are engaged in an un-orthodox relationship, and challenges their committed and abiding love.  This thoughtfully created narrative serves as a gentle reminder that throughout the world, people continue to struggle for love, but that the journey of self-discovery makes the trip worthwhile.

Dorian Blues
Dir. Tennyson Bardwell, USA, 2004, 88 min.

Imagine a coming of age, coming out, comedic and touching tale with a domestic spin, in which a handsome, sensitive gay teen battles family, religious guilt, therapy and generalized teen angst, yet manages to find himself.  In Dorian Blues, director Tennyson Bardwell proves that he has his finger on the pulse of contemporary teen comedies, while illustrating the exasperating life of young, misunderstood Dorian (Michael McMillian).  The film chronicles several years of growth in Dorian’s life, beginning with Dorian’s moment of epiphany, when he first decides to disagree with his hyper conservative dad, to his subsequent tutelage with a gay therapist, to the sweet but misguided attempts of his straight, jock brother, through to Dorian’s ultimate moment of enlightenment when he meets a stripper/impersonator with a heart.  Dorian leaves behind his small town in upstate New York , the lone seat in the high school cafeteria where he ate day after day ostracized from the popular kids, and the homophobic Neanderthal high school bullies and heads for the arch of Washington Square Park .  Although Dorian is completely himself at his newfound, progressive, safe haven at NYU, he cannot escape the harsh realities of city life and dating.  Dorian Blues is a witty and thoughtful portrait of a search to find oneself, while juggling family obligations, college and men.  

Fri, Nov 18  9:30pm

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Dir. John Cameron Mitchell, USA, 2001, 95 min.

John Cameron Mitchell has created a cult phenomenon with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which began as a sly, subversive off-Broadway fave and morphed into a smash film.  By now it is a familiar tale.  An East-German girly-boy –glam-rocker goes in for a sex-change operation in order to marry the man of his eastern bloc dreams, and when the docs botch the job, leaving only and inch of a reminder, she puts her pain to music and takes it on the road.  Through wickedly scathing dialogue and a scintillating score that boasts homage to bubble-gum pop and punk rock, Mitchell regales the viewer with Hedwig’s search for fame, and a manner in which to come to terms with that bothersome inch.  Complicating Hedwig’s life further is his erstwhile lover, band mate and whipping post Yitzak, and his uber-successful musical protégé and true love, Tommy Gnossis.  Mitchell’s at once heart-rending and exuberant Hedwig is a gender-blending celluloid icon to rival the alternative legacy of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s Dr. Frank-n-Furter.   www.finelinefeatures.com/sites/hedwig 

Sat, Nov 20  2:30pm

- AND -

Years before Stonewall, a fearless group of gay and lesbian activists carved out the trenches for what would lead to the Gay Rights Movement, and to contemporary Pride celebrations.  Director, Glenn Holsten melds together archival footage of early gay rights demonstrations with present day marches, honoring the early pioneers of the movement, while illustrating that the movement toward equality is linear, and far from over.  The film focuses on the handful of brave men and women who stood in solidarity to picket for their rights amidst a hostile climate in front of Philadelphia ’s Independence Hall.  Although the early activists adopted a conservative dress code that bears little resemblance to the glorious self-expression of today’s Pride activities, the debt of thanks paid to these groundbreaking innovators by the post-Stonewall generations is evident in the legacy of hope that pervades the film.  www.gaypioneers.com 

Rainbow Pride
Dir. Marie-Jo Ferron, Canada, 2003, 52 min.

Director Marie-Jo Ferron recaptures the flag in this documentary that traces the roots of the rainbow flag and its subsequent impact as one of the most widely recognizable symbols of queer pride.  Ferron’s film pays homage to the flag that was created more than a quarter of a century ago by Gilbert Baker, and reintroduces the viewer to the history and meaning that is often lost amidst the marketing frenzy that the un-copyrighted, highly reproduced image has spawned.  In addition to interviews with Baker, the film explores the genesis of the image and the solidarity it has helped to form through its presence at Pride celebrations to bumper stickers and front yard flags.  The culminating moments of the film evoke a sense of community and honor as a group of hundreds marches from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico waving a two kilometer rainbow flag that was conceived by Key West Florida Pride organizers and flag creator Baker.        

Sat, Nov. 20  7:30pm

The comedy Goldfish Memory thrives on the notion that a goldfish forgets everything it has just learned, or rather faces life with a fresh palette, and creates new memories hundreds of times in single day, which is a bit like dating.  After all, a fish has to forget how treacherous the dating pools can be in order to get back in.  Director Liz Gill examines the intricacies, possibilities and twists of finding the perfect girl, boy or both amongst a group of twenty-something fresh catches in modern day Dublin .  Whether the characters of Goldfish Memory are looking for the one, or maybe just a one-off, the film offers a tasty mélange of gay, straight, lesbian and bi eye candy, while exploring the deeper need for human interaction and true love.  www.goldfishmemory.com     

Please join us for our closing night dessert reception after the screening of Goldfish Memory.

Sat, Nov 20  9:45pm

American Eagle Christian High School in Brian Dannelly’s Saved! is a typical school, teeming with cliquey girls, hot jocks, nerds and outcasts, but in this mildly sardonic study of teen angst, the self-righteous rule the school.  When Mary’s boyfriend announces he is gay, she, as a devout martyr to the cause of “saving” him from himself sacrifices her virginity to him.  In accordance to what the nuns in Catholic schools say about becoming pregnant the first time, Mary becomes pregnant with her gay boyfriend’s baby, which labels her a pariah with the Evangelical “in-crowd”.  Along with her wheel-chair ridden brother, the school’s bad-girl, and the son of the preacher man, Mary is determined to make it through her nine months of pregnancy and to her graduation, while remaining unscathed by the school’s resident do-gooder hypocrite, and her former Clique friend, Hilary Faye.  The film boasts a stellar cast of up- and- comers including Jena Malone, Macauley Culkin, Mandy Moore, Heather Matarazzo and Eva Amurri.  Not to mention, Saved! provides the naughtiest scene of speaking- in –tongues this side of Pat Robertson’s ministry.  www.savedmovie.com 

Sun, Nov 21  2:30pm

Moises Kaufman and members of his Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie Wyoming in 1998 to interview the members of the town who bore witness to the aftermath of the brutal attack on Matthew Shepard by two of Laramie ’s own, and who endured the impact the ensuing media blitz had on the community.  The film relives more than sixty interviews that Kaufman culled from the more than 200 interviews conducted by his theater company.  From University of Wyoming students, to the doctor who treated Matthew before he died, to the young killers themselves, the town folk weigh in on the tragedy.  The Laramie Project is a breath-taking film that paints a portrait of Matthew through those who knew him, while examining the role of community in claiming responsibility for its citizens.  A group of Hollywood heavy-hitters, such as Laura Linney, Peter Fonda, Clea Duvall and Christina Ricci comprise some of the ensemble cast who help to deliver a range of emotions from searing indictment of the killers, to poignant recollections of Matthew.   www.hbo.com/films/laramie   

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