Annually, the Chicago International Film Festival highlights queer voices in their OutLook program. Each year, they amplify a wide range of stories, voices and genres from around the world, culminating in an expertly curated lineup. Recently, I had the privilege of talking to OutLook programmer Sophie Gordon about this year’s program, which only amplified my excitement about the lineup.
Not only are these films highly anticipated films in queer space, but they truly are some of the best and most highly anticipated films of the year overall. From the New York City club scene, to rural Missouri, to Nepal and Faroe Islands, this year’s OutLook doesn’t subscribe to the belief that there’s one way to tell a queer story. Instead, it explores the wide range of ways to tell queer stories, while still highlighting queer joy.
Club Kid
If you’ve heard the recent buzz about “Club Kid”, I’m certain that every good thing you’ve heard is correct. One of my best friends saw the film a few days before I did at the BFI London Film Festival, and she told me she sobbed. She never cries during movies. And sure enough, while the credits rolled, I also found myself in a stoic silence, tears rolling down my face.
The film follows Peter (Jordan Firstman), a gay New York club promoter and drug-user. When he discovers that he has a biological son, a result of one fuzzy night at the club, and he’s thrust into his care, his life is forced to change overnight. Peter navigates his new found fatherhood while trying to find a true sense of self for the first time.
While it’s confrontational in forcing audiences to reflect on their own flaws they’ve neglected, it’s also a glimmer of hope, authenticity and love. The film serves as a lovely reminder that the good we fail to see in ourselves, someone else may be able to see in us. It’s simultaneously heart warming and gut wrenching, and uniquely modern. With fantastic music as the cherry on top, “Club Kid” will go down as a defining film of the 21st century.
I, like many others, cannot wait to see what comes next from Firstman.
Trash Mountain
Ever since it’s announcement, “Trash Mountain” has been highly anticipated by many, myself included. Starring and co-written by gen-z comedian and internet sensation Caleb Hearon, and directed by Chicago’s own Kris Rey, the film checked every box for me before it was even released. And it did not disappoint.
Hearon stars as Gavin, a young Chicagoan who returns home to his rural small town after the death of his hoarder father. He’s forced to reckon with everything he ran from, but along the way finds many reasons to stay. With an incredible cast, including Hearon, Zooey Deschannel, Jacki Weaver, Kyle Marvin and Jabouckie Young-White, the film feels like a warm hug after a good cry.
As someone in their early 20’s who is also from a tiny midwest town, moved to Chicago, and now has to face the emotional challenges that come with going home, this was an extremely visceral, relatable, and emotional watch for me. At the same time, the film has mass appeal and audience members are certain to see parts of themselves or their loved ones reflected on screen.
It’s rare a film is able to balance wit and cleverness with emotionally complex conversations and themes, but “Trash Mountain” does so with an expert touch. While navigating complicated family dynamics, queerness, and grief, the movie still manages to capture the hilarity within the lowest moments as life. Sometimes, all we can do is laugh.
I can’t wait for this to come out to general audiences. It’s going to be so beloved, and a gauarnteed laugh for those who need it most.
Elsinore
When live theatre is captured or represented within movies, something really special happens. Not only do we get to see actors playing one character, but two. Some of the most impressive performances have come from theatrical productions within movies, and “Elsinore” is no exception.
“Elsinore” is an intense, heartbreaking drama, and confrontational look at how far artists are willing to go for the sake of their art. Based on a true story, Andrew Scott plays Scottish actor Ian Charleson, who was diagnosed with AIDS in the late 1980’s. When Daniel Day-Lewis walks out of the National Theatre’s production of Hamlet, Charleson is then offered the role. Determined to make his dying dreams come true, Charleson accepts the role and ends up giving an unforgettable 24 performances in the role before he became too ill to continue.
Though the formula and strucutre of the film is familiar and comfortable, Scott’s performance as Charleson, as well as Hamlet, makes the film a sensation. If Scott was not already solidified as one of the most talented actors working today, he certainly is after this film. The phrase “stealing the show” could have been created based on Scott’s performance in this, as it’s so incredibly apt.
“Elsinore” adroitly portrays the experience of a true artist, one that is willing to push the limits of their physical and mental health to do so. As any artist knows, the desire to create is overwhelming, and must not be ignored. The film forces audiences to tackle their own feelings towards art and passion, and how far they’re willing to go for it.
Elephants in the Fog
I firmly believe that film and the arts is one of the best ways to better understand cultures outside of our own. I was absolutely delighted to view “Elephants in the Fog”, as I had never seen a film from Nepal before, and it blew past every expectation I had going in.
Pirati is the matriarch of her village’s Kinnar community, a spiritual group of third-gender people whose blessings are historically considered sacred. Though the Kinnar must adhere to a strict vow of chastity and a commitment to protecting their own, Pirati secretly dreams of running away to Delhi with the man she loves and is torn between her heart’s desires and her concern for her daughters. When the newest initiate—the charmingly rebellious Apsara—disappears into the forest, Pirati must fight to find the young woman, confronting the rules of her community and the village’s mounting indifference and animosity.
Set against the gorgeous, lush forests of Nepal, “Elephants in the Fog” is truly a battle between traditional ways and modernity. The community within the film is so liberated, spiritually and sexually, living in an undefined space that most Western audiences doesn’t know exists. It’s eye opening, beautiful, and haunting, and also reminds viewers that prejudices are ever changing, and have yet to be distinguished.
The film also examines chosen family with a close lens. Sisterhood, motherhood, and womanhood are all thrust into conversation within Abinash Bikram Shah’s film in an incredibly inimitable and striking way. This film has infiltrated my thoughts frequently since I saw it, and I can’t recommend it enough.
No Rest For the Wicked
Growing up as a part of the prime demographic during peak “Twilight”-era fandom, I am always drawn to vampire content. Now, being 23, I’ve grown past my Edward phase and into recognizing the beauty and rich metaphorical implications that can be used in vampire tales. “No Rest For the Wicked” may not have a vampire with sparkly skin, but it certainly approaches a familiar trope in an unexpected, innovative way.
The young fisherman Baldur lives a peaceful life with his mom in a small Christian communitiy on the Faroe islands. That is, until Danish whaler Helge washes ashore. He’s charming and worldly, and Helge offers Baldur a chance at a more fulfilling life outside of the islands. Stolen glances soon develop into a full-blown romance as touching as it is transient, as Baldur’s sense of duty and the secrecy around his same-sex desire keep him from joining Helge on his next expedition. After a tragic accident makes their reunion even more impossible than it already had seemed, Baldur offers up his own blood in exchange for his beloved’s return.
Sexy, sensual, and full of a desperate desire that’s suffocated by society and religion, “No Rest for the Wicked” reinvents the Gothic environment and trope in many ways, while also including enough convention to keep modern audiences engaged. Yearning and longing drips off of every word, in every shot, and every shared glance between Helge and Baldur.
“No Rest for the Wicked” reminds audiences of the inherit sexuality and desire that is inherit to the horror genre. It’s insatiable, irresistible and truly brings this movie to another level. Plus, it’s always a pleasure to see that the vampire genre is alive and well for the future generation of team Edward fangirls.
Rose
With a very unusual and distinctive approach to queer storytelling, “Rose” is a film that is truly unforgettable and will be a defining queer film in the future.
In the early 17th century in rural Germany, a mysterious soldier arrives in a Protestant village. The odd stranger claims to be the heir to an abandoned farmstead, yet the document he provides to support his claim doesn’t quite convince the suspicious villagers. As he revives the dead farmland with his hard work, he begins to become a part of the community, marrying into a leading family. But the village’s trust is wavering, and their skepticism threatens to reveal the stranger’s true identity.
Sandra Hüller cements herself as one of the most gifted and versatile actresses working today, and is a true powerhouse within this film. She captures the complexity of womanhood and gender, while also simplifying it in such a striking way; is gender really anything more than what we decide it is for ourselves? It plays in the grey area of gender, restraining it’s commentary and opinion in an impressive manner.
Highlighting the complexities and simplicities of womanhood and manhood, gender, and religion, “Rose” captures one person’s journey of living their truth, as complicated or as easy as that may be. The visual aesthetic also matches the tonal one, existing in a stark black-and-white space that serves as a constant reminder of that grey area.
Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building
I had no idea what to expect when going into this film, and it was such a wonderful surprise. Filmmaker Bruno Santamaría Razo returns to the Chicago International Film Festival with “Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building” after winning the Gold Hugo award in 2020 for his film Things We Dare Not Do.
It’s the early 1990s in Mexico City, and Bruno is turning 11. Amid the celebrations, Bruno’s father’s sudden HIV diagnosis throws the family into limbo. The boy’s blossoming feelings for his best friend Vladimir and the confusion around his father’s diagnosis collide with the social stigmas of the moment, while his parents try to sing and dance their collective pain away. Now, thirty years later, Bruno tries to remember these hazy moments, while reimagining what he couldn’t process as a child.
Oddly enough, this film perfectly fits into the conversations about “You Can See Everything”. Both films utilize documentary filmmaking and recreations of real events. “You Can See Everything” is mostly documentary footage, and reserves that recreation technique to play with honesty and manipulation, while this film uses recreation to further enhance the story being told in the documentary clips.
This technique also helps create the dream-like, child-like atmosphere surrounding Bruno and his prespective. While letting his imagination wander throughout the narrative, Razo is able to critically examine this pivotal point in his life.
Engaging, entertaining and meaningful, “Six Months in a Pink and Blue Building” is one of those films that feels really special. The audience is aware that what’s happening on screen is unprecedented, and an authentic, intimate look into someone’s life. It weaves together the harsh realities of queerness and the HIV/AIDS epidemic, while also including pockets of unforgettable joy, love and togetherness.
These films were screened as a part of the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival.
