The Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower Latino gay, bisexual, and questioning men by providing support, advocacy, and leadership opportunities. ALMA has a twenty-one year history of continuous work bringing together the Latino and GLBTQ communities in Chicago. Recognizing ALMA’s leadership, The City of Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame inducted the organization in 2000 as it’s first Latino member. To advance its mission, ALMA continues to develop innovative programming and key partnerships with numerous local, state, and national communities and organizations. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@almachicago.org or visit our website for more information regarding our current projects: http://www.almachicago.org
Watch the trailer for Criminal Queers, the new film by Eric Stanley and Chris Vargas. CQ is a sequel their first collaboration, Homotopia, (2006) where they tackle the mainstreamification of queer politics through the cloud of gay marriage. The new film uses the same protagonists as Homotopia, but addresses the Prison Industrial Complex as a systemic gender oppressor. Local writer and activist Yasmin Nair interviewed the film makers for Bitch Magazine, read it here. Above is the trailer for Criminal Queers,Homotopia‘s below. Set up a screening with friends and get you queer, anti-new establishment learning on!
In case you were REALLY interested in seeing an NYC muscle bottom aggro queen star in a low budget sci-fi film as a supervillian (which, obviously, I am) Multinauts is your film. David Mason, bless your articulate, purple bruiser heart! Over at his mouthpiece, House of Vader (NSFW) he wrote that Multinauts also stars Leslie Hall, but she isn’t in the trailer. Here is Mason’s character’s bio:
Oysters Rockafeller became the Supreme Executive of Nork Corp after the Wars of Cancellation. In order to gain complete control of the Multiverse, he manufactured NORKS, mutant warlords designed to spread chaos and destruction.
Watch the lasery, geo-cities inspired trailer here, and be on the look out for screenings near you?? (Maybe?)
The 28th annual Queer Film Festival in Chicago, Reeling 2009, is set to go from November 5th -15th and I’m happy to say the roster includes two movies made by folks who have been getting TPR support for years. Fish Out of Water, the documentary by Ky Dickens about the bible and homosexuality, will have its Chicago premiere on Sunday November 8th at 5pm at the Music Box Theater, with post-film reception hosted and sponsored by In Fine Spirits (5420 N. Clark St.). On Wednesday November 11th at 7pm, The Landmark will screen the world premiere of Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance, a documentary about trans musicians by Chicago’s very own Actor Slash Model. I’m busy combing through the other entries to see what else I’m excited about, but I’m SO HAPPY about these two that I had to post. Stay tuned, will have ticket giveaways soon!
Grumpy Films, a Brooklyn-based film company has been hitting it out of the park with their ‘Short Shorts’ series. A smirky tone reminiscent of the best sketch comedy (think Benny Hill without the sexism, or MAD TV without the filler), they always pull off a setting and mood distinctly their own. Head on over to their site and their youtube channel for more.
Kansas City, Ssion‘s home, was the scene of some sort of pink carpet premiere when Casey Spooner, Jeppe, Hunx and Chicago’s Rita Bacon attended the unveiling of BOY, Cody Critcheloe’s new movie. I’ve been trying to find official details (length, starring, plot, etc) but it’s not jumping out at me on these internets right this second. What we do know is that Cody’s been wetting his whistle making a slew of music videos for his band, each getting more interesting and more entertaining than the previous ones. This extended player should be rewarding, if not downright brilliant and Chicago’s getting it chance October 1st, when BOY screens at the Smart Museum in Hyde Park. SEE YOU THERE! Cody’s also DJ-ing at Berlin that night.
“This SNEAK PREVIEW of a new reality show gives you houseboys like you have never seen them before, in their natural environment, unadulterated by logic or reason. This Fall on a liberal cable network near you, THE REAL HOUSEBOYS OF BROOKLYN is set to turn your entire world upside down.”
Remember when you were a baby gay and Michael Novotny’s mother from Queer as Folk was the not-so-silent hero of the show, because she always brought the self-centered gays down to earth, and also her disdain for Brian was tempered but fair? Well fast forward to 2009 and Sharon Gless is still fighting the good fight on camera, this time as the title character in Hannah Free. What we’ve got here is secret midwestern life-long love affair and thank GOD one of them looks real butch, not L-Word butch. Shot entirely in Chicago and produced by our very own Tracy Baim, the film has already gotten some awards and the Chicago screenings have begun to sell out. The film will have a one-week limited engagement in Chicago Sept. 25-Oct. 1 at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 164 N. State. On September 26th, there will be a gala featuring Sharon Gless and other cast members, along with live music by Lucy Smith. More information is available at hannahfree.com. Trailer below, tickets here.
Still Black, the documentary directed by Kortney Ryan Ziegler and produced by Awilda Rodriguez Lora exploring the life of six black transgender men, has had a world wide treck since I first blogged about it. Several awards and countless sold-out screenings later, you can now buy the DVD over at stillblackfilm.org
