5th Annual
DAMN THESE HEELS!
FilmFestival
Presented by the SLC Film Center
and the Utah Pride Center
                                         
Friday June 13th - Sunday June 15th
DAMN THESE HEELS SPONSORED BY;
B.W. Bastian Foundation - Dancing Llama Foundation -
John K. Patton, Associate Broker, Patton Group Properties, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, The Utah AIDS Foundation,Representative Jackie Biskupski and Holly Henrie, Brewvies, Q Salt Lake, SLUG MAGAZINE

(Please note some films present material which may be considered of a mature nature)
Fri June 13th

Brewvies    (21+)
677 S. 200 W. 

8:00pm
THE WALKER
Directed by Paul Schrader, starring Woody Harrelson, Lilly Tomlin, Lauren Bacall, Kristin Scott Thomas
Everyone loves a good scandal!
A contemporary drama set in DC, Carter Page (Harrelson)--a well-healed, openly gay socialite who serves as confidant, companion, and card partner to some of the capitol’s leading ladies (Lilly Tomlin, Lauren Bacall, Kristin Scott Thomas)--finds his loyalty and morality tested when he is implicated in scandal, blackmail, and murder.
108 min, Rated R for language, some violent material and nude images.

Sat June 14th

Tower Theatre

876 E. 900 S. 

12:00pm
SHE’S A BOY I KNEW
Directed by and featuring Gwen Haworth
Audience Award Vancouver International Film Festival, Women in Film Artistic Merit Award, Best of Fest Audience Award Kingston’s ReelOut9 Queer Film + Video Festival, London Lesbian and Gay Festival
A film about love, family, and trans-sexuality.
Honest and intelligent SHE'S A BOY I KNEW is not only an exploration into the filmmaker's process of transition from biological male to female, from Steven to Gwen, but is also an emotionally charged account of the individual experiences and struggles that her two sisters, mother, father, best friend and wife brought to Gwen's transition.
70 min 2007 Canada, Documentary, unrated with brief and graphic nudity relating to gender transitioning
 
1:30pm
LOVE MY LIFE
Directed by Koji Kawano starring Japanese supermodel Asami Imajuki
Girl meets girl, girl looses girl, girl gets girl back in this charmingly offbeat, colorful and always upbeat love story from Japan. Ichiko is a happy go lucky girl who falls in love with Eri, a fellow student. Ichiko wants to tell the world about their love – beginning with her father. But gay romance is not as easy as Ichiko envisions. When she comes out, she learns some very surprising family secrets.
Adapted from a Japanese manga by Ebine Yamaji and infused with an indie-rock soundtrack by NOODLES.
96 min 2006 Japan, unrated but with some sexual nudity
 
3:30pm
SEMPER FI: ONE MARINE’S JOURNEY  + With Special Guest Jeff Key
Directed by Vince DiPersio
Jeff Key tells his true story as a Marine who served in Iraq by concealing his homosexuality. Returning home with shattered ideals and a broken heart he turned his experiences into a riveting one-man play, “Eyes of Babylon.”  SEMPER FI, weaves interviews, voiceovers, Jeff's personal footage from Iraq and scenes from his play revealing, the power and dignity of this American who is a US Marine and a gay man.
73 min + 30min discussion, USA documentary, unrated
 
Sat June 14th
Brewvies (21+)
677 S. 200 W.
7:00pm
EDGE OF HEAVEN
Directed by Fatih Akin
Germany’s entry to the 2007 Oscars, Winner of Best Screen Play at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and 16 other international cinema awards
“The point at which a good director crosses the career bridge to become a substantial international talent is vividly clear in THE EDGE OF HEAVEN an utterly assured, profoundly moving fifth feature by Fatih Akin.” ….Derek Elley, Variety
The picture is perfectly cast weaving the lives and emotional arcs of four Turks and two Germans through love and tragedy between (the beautiful countries of) Turkey and Germany.
120 min, German, Turkish, Unrated

9:00pm
KISS THE BRIDE
Directed by C. Jay Cox  (LATTER DAYS) starring Tori Spelling, James Karner, and James O’Shea
When Matt receives an invitation to high school best friend Ryan's wedding he's surprised - especially that Ryan is marrying a woman! Matt plans to rescue his former love from whatever "she-devil" has trapped him into     this huge mistake.  To his dismay Alex Played BY Spelling is very cunning, disarmingly ditzy, or completely adorable - Possibly all three?

    "Kiss the Bride" is a sexy, fun, romantic comedy, proving the boundaries of love, sexuality and identity are never constant. 115 Min Rated R for sexual content and language  2007 USA www.kissthebride.com
 
11:00Pm
XXY
Directed by, Lucia Puenzo, Starring Ines Efron
Winner of the 2007 Montreal Best Picture Award, 2007 Cannes Critics Week Grand Prize plus 9 other awards and 16 nominations
For just about everybody adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as those facing 15 year-old Alex (Ines Efron) who was born an intersex child. Played with extraordinary forthrightness, Alex fearlessly explores her possibilities and the psychological fallout for her and those she touches is both raw and subtle.
91min, Argentina, Unrated, contains brief sexual nudity
 

Sun June 15th

City Library

210 E. 400 S.

1:00pm
SHORTS
QUEEN OF LINCOLN ROAD
Directed by Eric Smith
Winner of over a dozen awards from festivals across the country
A little kitsch and a little kindness. The wild and colorful handmade outfits of Irene Williams caught the attention of Eric Smith on Lincoln Road during one of his frequent trips to South Beach Miami.  Shades of HAROLD AND MAUDE and GREY GARDENS come together in this sweet, funny, and thoroughly endearing portrait of a rare bird in paradise.
Short Doc 23min
 
SISSY FRENCH FRY
Directed by JC Oliva
Grand Prize  and Audience Award Planet Out Short Movie Awards, Audience Award Barcelona Int’l Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Audience Award, Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Welcome to wildly eclectic and diverse West Beach High, where the annual Student Body President election will pit the quirky, much-beloved incumbent Sissy French Fry against a handsome, charismatic – and socially intolerant – transfer student with a devious plan to restore the “status quo.”
Short comedy 28min
 
2:00pm
PANEL:  BIG LOVE, QUEER THEORY AND THE OUTSIDER IN TELEVISION AND FILM. WHAT'S QUEER ABOUT POLYGAMY?
 
Dustin Lance Black, writer of many BIG LOVE episodes and the now in production HARVEY MILK feature, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Sean Penn
Kathryn Stockton, Professor of English and Director of Gender Studies, University of Utah
Troy Williams, Local activist and KRCL Radio Active Producer
 
In HBO's popular television series Big Love, a suburban polygamist family lives "in the closet" afraid of being "outed" to neighbors and the broader society.  What are the similarities between both of these outsider groups and what are the differences?  How does freedom of religion intersect with sexual freedom in 21st Century America? The panel will examine how these issues are explored, complicated and unpacked in HBO's Big Love.  Group participation is encouraged.  
 

3:00pm
A JIHAD FOR LOVE  + Special guests Director Parvez Sharma and Producer Sandi Dubowski (TREMBLING BEFORE G_D)
Winner of the 2008 Torino International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival award for Best Documentary, Official Selection Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals
After Premieres in 15 countries, being banned in Singapore, selling out everywhere including India and Turkey and five international awards, A JIHAD FOR LOVE comes to the U.S. Parvez Sharma travels the many worlds of Islam discovering the stories of its most unlikely storytellers: lesbian and gay Muslims.  Filmed over 5½ years, in 12 countries and 9 languages, Looking beyond a hostile and war-torn present, this film seeks to reclaim the Islamic concept of a greater Jihad, which can mean “an inner struggle” or “to strive in the path of God.”
81 min + discussion