Week four of the SASOD Film Festival, Painting the Spectrum 6, features films which reflect voices and stories of gay and lesbian people who have to face family, society and country.
On Monday, the programme ‘Family Secrets’ is screened for Father’s Day. It features the film Cadillac Blues from Lebanon which tells the story of two brothers Omar and Ryan, one of whom uses the Cadillac in his secret life.
The second film Marionettes is a puppet show around Proposition 8, which ended same sex marriage in California.
The third film is the award winning Innocent, about a Hong Kong teenager who is newly immigrated to Canada and who stands at the brink of adulthood, against the backdrop of conflicting cultures, familial discord and the exploration of his own emerging sexuality.
On Tuesday, the programme ‘Home Away From Home’ features the film Voices of Witness Africa – described by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a brave tribute to a God of love. In this film, Anglican women and men from across Africa tell their stories of intolerance and community, of secrecy and hope, of facing challenges and seeking dignity as LGBT people of faith.
In This Way Out, two gay men, one from Kenya and the other from Pakistan, and a lesbian from Brazil, recount their journeys to seek political asylum in the United States.
In the third film, These Shoes Were not Made for Walking, film maker Paul Lee explores the lives, loves, and social roles of four generations of Chinese women in his family through the stories of their shoes.
On Wednesday, the film Gymnast will be screened. Dreya Weber stars as a former top gymnast who discovers love and a new life path when she teams up with a dance for an ambitious Las Vegas aerial act show. A visually compelling film that challenges notions of both ability and identity, Gymnast is foremost a story about hope and taking the necessary risks to fully become yourself.
All films start at 7 pm at the Sidewalk Café. Admission is free and all films are intended for mature audiences.
