GALHA Film Festival 2007

Central London, Saturday 10 March to Sunday 18 March

GALHA’s second film festival takes place from Saturday 10 to Sunday 18 March 2007, and a great line-up of features will ensure that every seat is taken in the exclusive private screening room at the five-star One Aldwych hotel in Covent Garden, London. One Aldwych is one of the finest contemporary boutique hotels in the world and its delightful Lobby Bar is the perfect location for meeting fellow GALHA members before the shows and dissecting the cinematography afterwards. The screening room itself is a world away from your usual cinema: every comfortable blue leather Italian seat has its own small table for that dry martini.

The carefully selected programme of films has been chosen to appeal to a gay and humanist audience, with a mix of the intriguing, fantastic, disturbing, thought-provoking, and comforting. The festival takes place just before the famous London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival kicks off, and so it is GALHA’s very own fringe event.

Read on to see the full programme and a synopsis of each film.

THE MAGDALENE SISTERS

Set in Ireland in the sixties, The Magdalene Sisters is a true story of the renowned Magdalene laundries, run by the Catholic Church for supposedly ‘fallen’ women. The story centres around four young women: two unmarried mothers; a girl who was accused of flirting with boys; and a girl who was raped by her cousin at a family wedding. They are kept in appalling conditions by the nuns who run the institution, and endure humiliation and abuse on a regular basis. With fantastic performances by stars including Geraldine McEwan (Miss Marple, Love’s Labour’s Lost) and Anne-Marie Duff (Shameless, The Virgin Queen), it’s an awful yet compelling depiction of the abuse of power in the name of religion.

Yet another apology-in-waiting from the Pope!

Best picture, Venice Film Festival

TWENTY CENTIMETRES

A fantasy musical comedy, 20 Centimetres combines Amoldovarean camp with neo-realism to introduce us to Marieta, a pre-op male-to-female transsexual (originally born Adolfo).

Marieta yearns for the day that she can be a ‘proper’ woman by getting rid of the appendage to which the film’s title refers – the 20 centimetres (8.3 inches in old money) that she’s hiding under her dress. She works the streets to earn enough money for the operation, as she can’t hold down a proper job – thanks to narcolepsy.

These unfortunate narcoleptic episodes provide a great spectacle for the viewer though, for when Marieta suffers such bouts she enters a fantasy dream world where she’s the star of musicals, surrounded by hoards of delicious men. The surreal dream sequences are cleverly juxtaposed with a thoughtful depiction of day-to-day life and its grittiness, while following Marieta’s romance with Raul – a man who rescues her after a particular narcoleptic episode. They begin a passionate relationship and Raul falls in love with her – 20 centimetres and all – leaving Marieta wondering what to do after all.

20 Centimetres was showcased at the closing night gala at New York’s 2006 LGBT film festival, and went down a storm.

[In Spanish with English subtitles]

MOSCOW PRIDE 2006 – UNCUT

On 27 May 2006 Moscow held its first ever Gay Pride event. It was banned by city officials but that didn’t dampen the steely resolve of the Pride organisers – notably Nikolai Alekseev – of making sure that it happened all the same.

You may recall that Nikolai was guest of honour at GALHA’s Annual Lunch in November 2006, and received a bravery award for his courage in combating homophobia in Russia and beyond. GALHA is delighted to showcase this film as a UK exclusive – not shown in Britain until now. The film depicts (in English) events before, during and after Moscow Pride, and offers a unique and fascinating insight into what happened – including Nikolai’s arrest by the city police.

The Moscow Pride film lasts around an hour and is being shown for free. It’s followed by a screening of The God Who Wasn’t There (see below).

THE GOD WHO WASN’T THERE

The God Who Wasn’t There does to religion what Super Size Me did for fast food and Bowling for Columbine did for the US gun culture. It holds modern Christianity up to a bright spotlight through an eye-opening documentary fronted by former Christian fundamentalist Brian Flemming. This provocative film includes input from luminaries such as Richard Dawkins and really takes the gloves off in affronting religion for all its inconsistencies, untruths and lies. Hailed as “a stimulant for free thought” it’s a must-see for the humanist in us all.

Voted best documentary film, Grassroots Cinema Film Festival

BOYS BEWARE!

Boys Beware! is a short public information film from the 1960s warning boys about the evils of homosexuality and sex. In retrospect it’s almost comical, but of course it contributed to the demonisation of gay people. This thought-provoking vignette is great at making you realise just how far attitudes have evolved in recent history, and conversely, how they really haven’t in certain quarters.

This film has only just been released into the public domain so we’re lucky to have secured its showing.

BRIEF ENCOUNTER

Brief Encounter is a timeless classic and what better way to enjoy the film than with friends in a luxurious private screening room – with a drink in hand and your complimentary popcorn of course.

Originally a one-act stage play by Noel Coward, Brief Encounter is a film masterpiece that depicts the ultimate affaire de coeur between a respectable housewife (Celia Johnson) and a handsome married doctor (Trevor Howard) who meet by chance in a railway station café. Brilliant performances – particularly by Johnson – depict how ordinary life can be turned upside down by unexpected passion. Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto makes it simply sublime.

Often described as one of the ultimate gay films, it speaks directly to a gay audience, for whom the subject – forbidden love in ordinary lives – has special resonance.

This is a real Sunday afternoon cinema treat – book now to avoid disappointment!