Yesterday Sundance revealed the list of non-competitive films that will be playing in Park City this January, and there’s not a lesbian movie in sight — at least not that I can tell from the descriptions. Usually Sundance has at least one film with a major lesbian theme (last year it was Puccini for Beginners, the year before it was Saving Face), but this year it looks like the gays have been largely shut out.
Not that this is going to stop me from running through the most interesting-looking offerings with my own personal commentary:
Grace Is Gone — A father takes three days to tell his daughters that their mom was killed in Iraq. Probably a downer, but a story about women in the military is rare.
Broken English — Parker Posey (For Your Consideration) falls for an “offbeat Frenchman.” As long as it’s not Gerard Depardieu.
Rocket Science — From the director of the Oscar-nominated spelling bee documentary Spellbound comes this new documentary about a 15-year-old stutterer who becomes a competitive debater after he falls for the star of the debate team. OK, I’m only listing this because I was (briefly) a competitive debater in high school (cross-examination, not Lincoln-Douglas). The fame! The glory! More importantly: the power!
Snow Angels — Catch Amy Sedaris (Strangers With Candy) in this film about a bunch of dysfunctional people.
Starting Out in the Evening — It’s about a grad student and a writer (demographics I identify strongly with), but more importantly, it stars Lily Taylor (Julie Johnson, The Haunting).
Teeth — Described as “a conceptually provocative yarn about a devoutly Christian high school girl (Jess Wexler) who finds she possesses a ‘physical advantage’ over men when she becomes the victim of a sexual assault.” That just sounds intriguing to me.
Everything’s Cool — A documentary about global warming activists trying to take action on behalf of alternative energy. OK, could be boring, but it gives me a chance to plug the newly released DVD of Al Gore‘s An Inconvenient Truth, which everybody should watch. Really! It’ll give you instant cool points with lesbians everywhere — or at least, with me.
For the Bible Tells Me So — Another documentary about how conservative Christians have used the Bible to justify homophobia.
Nanking — A documentary that examines the Rape of Nanking by the Japanese in China in 1937-38. Another downer, but an important chapter of Chinese history. (I have to find use for my master’s degree sometimes!)
How She Move? — A Canadian film about a private school student who comes home to her former crime-ridden neighborhood and begins competitive step-dancing. Save the Last Dance goes north, eh?
The Monastery: Mr. Vig and the Nun — This film from Denmark “is about how an 82-year-old male virgin and a Russian nun transform the former’s castle into an Orthodox Russian monastery.” OK, isn’t that enough reason to watch it?
