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NewFest · 2020

NewFest 2020

Documentary Feature Competition

Programme

13 films · 4 reviews

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Ahead Of The Curve

With a fist full of credit cards, a lucky run at the horse track, and chutzpah for days, Franco Stevens launched Curve, the best-selling lesbian magazine ever published. Years later, learning that it will fold within the year, she questions the relevance of the magazine in the face of accelerating threats to LGBTQ+ community.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Jen Rainin, Rivkah Beth Medow; Stars: Franco Stevens, Melissa Etheridge, Jewelle Gomez, Lea Delaria)

Always Amber (Alltid Amber)

Review preview for Always Amber

Conversations about internal and external experiences of gender provide structure, but there's much more to Amber as a person.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary about youngsters with fluid identities.

(Country: Sweden; Year: 2020; Director: Hannah Reinikainen Bergeman, Lia Hietala; Writer: Lia Hietala)

Cured

A look at the campaign behind the American Psychiatric Association's 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Patrick Sammon, Bennett Singer; Writer: Patrick Sammon, Bennett Singer)

The Flashpoint (Punkt Zapalny)

An eerie snapshot of rising right-wing bigotry in Poland, this galvanising documentary examines the symbolic meaning of rainbows and public art.

(Country: Poland; Year: 2019; Director: Wojtek Jankowski)

If It Were Love (Si c'était de l'amour)

Documentary charting the creation and performance of Gisèle Vienne’s dance piece Crowd.

(Country: France; Year: 2020; Director: Patric Chiha; Stars: Philip Berlin, Marine Chesnais, Kerstin Daley-Baradel, Sylvain Decloitre, Sophie Demeyer, Vincent Dupuy, Massimo Fusco, Núria Guiu, Rehin Hollant, Georges Labbat, Oskar Landström, Theo Livesey, Louise Perming, Katya Petrowick, Anja Röttgerkamp)

Julia Scotti: Funny That Way

Review preview for Julia Scotti: Funny That Way

Whatever your own personal circumstance, if you are trans, there is much here that you are likely to find very recognisable.

Jane Fae · 3.5 out of 5
Documentary tracking Julia’s comeback, the rough life on the comedy circuit, and the return of her children after a 15-year estrangement.

(Country: US; Year: 2020; Director: Susan Sandler; Stars: Julia Scotti)

Keith Haring: Street Art Boy

The story of the artist and activist in his own words.

(Country: UK; Year: 2020; Director: Ben Anthony)

Kelet

Review preview for Kelet

Susani Mahadura's documentary tells a very personal story whilst teasing out related themes.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Kelet is a young Somali trans woman who dreams of becoming a Vogue model. Leaving her family in Manchester to return to her childhood home in Finland, she draws on the support of her friends in the Vogue community to immerse herself in Helsinki's glamour.

(Country: Finland; Year: 2020; Director: Susani Mahadura; Writer: Susani Mahadura; Stars: Kelet, Lola, Ofimja, Amanda, Max)

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story

After his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies is re-discovered, a black trans musician recounts his life, from the lonely 1960s to the joy of witnessing the present.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Posy Dixon)

Killing Patient Zero

Review preview for Killing Patient Zero

Writer/director Laurie Lynd does a good job of bridging the gap between LGBTQ and straight audiences.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
The story of the man wrongly identified as patient zero in the AIDS virus crisis.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Laurie Lynd; Writer: Laurie Lynd)

Making Sweet Tea

Six black gay men in North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Washington DC explain how to make the perfect cup of sweet tea.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: John L Jackson, Nora Gross)

Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back

Consideration of the life and career of the song-and-dance man.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: John Carluccio; Writer: Tracy E Hopkins; Stars: Debbie Allen, Elise Neal, Chita Rivera, Mel Johnson Jr., Shaun Baker, Maurice Hines, Charles Randolph-Wright, Mercedes Ellington, Zachary Hines, Debbie Allen, Elise Neal, Chita Rivera, Mel Johnson Jr., Shaun Baker, Maurice Hines)

Your Mother's Comfort (Aconchego da tua Mãe)

With the impending election of an extreme-right wing president in Brazil, trans activist and politician Indianara Siqueira fights to defend the LGBT homeless shelter she founded called CasaNem.

(Country: US, Brazil; Year: 2020; Director: Adam Golub)