6TH ANNUAL DAMN THESE HEELS!
From the U.S. military’s don’t ask don’t tell policy to a love story inspired by “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”, from films that explore discrimination to a touching comedy about a gay couple unexpectedly faced with raising a child, this year’s Damn These Heels! will challenge, enlighten, encourage, and arouse.  The 2009 Damn These Heels! LGBT Film Festival runs June 10-14 at the Tower Theatre.

Wednesday, June 10 Opening Night!

7 pm - VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR (96 min)
Opening this year’s festival is a special advance screening of director Matt Tyrnauer’s VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR with the director in attendance. The film charts the mutual dependency and tensions in Valentino’s 45-year association with Giancarlo Giammetti, his sometime lover and constant life and business partner. VALENTINO THE LAST EMPEROR follows them for the final two years of their careers, and shows the struggles the two men face as they confront the final act of nearly 50-years at the top of the world's most glamorous, competitive game. In the end, however, the story proves to be not one about money or expensive clothes, but about love.
http://www.valentinomovie.com/


Thursday, June 11

7:30 pm - BREAKFAST WITH SCOTT Canada (Director: Laurie Lynd) (95 min)
A touching comedy that tells the story of a very “straight” gay couple, Eric, a former pro hockey player, and Sam, a lawyer, who end up with temporary custody of recently orphaned Scot, a budding 11-year-old queen. BREAKFAST WITH SCOTT caused a stir when the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL team officially endorsed it.
http://www.breakfastwithscotmovie.com/


Friday, June 12

6:30 pm - ASK NOT (Director: Johnny Simons) (73 min)
ASK NOT explores the tangled political battles that led to the infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and reveals the personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy. Brought to you in Part by KUED7
http://www.vierminuten.de/en/trailer/
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/video/?page=&video_id=157&filter=


8 pm - U PEOPLE (Directors: Hanifah Walidah and Olive Demetrius) (90 min)
Gay and straight women, and trans-folk are caught on camera behind the scenes of a music video shoot adding a candid and human voice to the debate of gay/straight relations in the Black community.
www.iloveupeople.com

10 pm - WERE THE WORLD MINE (Director: Tom Gustafson)(95 min)
“With vibrant imagery, a first rate ensemble cast and innovative music rivaling the best of pop/rock and contemporary Broadway, WERE THE WORLD MINE attempts to push modern gay cinema and musical film beyond expectation.” - Stephen Holden, NY Times
http://www.speakproductions.com/

12 am - ITTY BITTY TITTY COMMITTEE (Director: Jamie Babbit) (87 min)
ITTY BITTY TITTY COMMITTEE is a rockin love song to the heady rush of sex, freedom and rebellion.  Anna eagerly joins the ranks of C(i)A - Clits in Action - and starts her rollercoaster ride from meek and mousy to bad-ass bravado.
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1077543705/

Saturday, June 13

4:30 pm - SCREAMING QUEENS (Directors: Victor Silverman & Susan Stryker) (57 min)
This film introduces viewers to street queens, cops and civil rights ministers who recall the riot that was on the forefront of the LGBT fight for equal rights. They paint a vivid portrait of the wild transgender scene in 1960s San Francisco.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDefl11mCGk&fmt=18

6 pm - BE LIKE OTHERS Canada/Iran/UK/USA (Director: Tanaz Eshaghian) (74 min)
An intimate and unflinching look at life in Iran, seen through the lens of those living at its fringes, BE LIKE OTHERS is a provocative look at a generation of young men choosing to undergo sex change surgery.
http://www.belikeothers.com

8 pm - SHELTER (Director: Jonah Markowitz) (89 min)
If nothing else, we think we know ourselves - until one day, we don’t. SHELTER is an intimate love story with remarkable, contagious chemistry between actors.  Winner of more than 10 major awards in film festivals from Brazil to Vancouver, this beautiful and emotionally gripping film is, at its heart, a story about family.
http://www.heretv.com/sheltermovie/

10 pm - FOUR MINUTES (VIER MINUTEN) Germany  (Director: Chris Kraus) (112 min)
Explores the mutually enabling relationship between a stern, repressed piano teacher and a profoundly talented violent young inmate she teaches at a women's prison.  This powerful film is the winner of 21 international and US awards.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3719430425/

12 am - OTTO: OR UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE Germany/Canada (Director: Bruce LaBruce) (94 min)
This is Bruce LaBruce’s latest controversial, post gay zombie movie with a multicultural cast. A young, gay zombie named Otto appears on a remote highway uncertain of his own past and future. When he runs across a poster for an open casting call for — “Up With Dead People” the "epic political-porno-zombie movie" he finds himself on the road to personal re-discovery.
http://www.ottothezombie.de/trailer.html

Sunday, June 14

  1pm - SCHOOL BOY CRUSH Japan (Director by Kotaro Terauchi) (86 min)
This Japanese film is spiraling game of erotic pursuit with beautiful actors. Told  in the style of Japanese manga of the yaoi genre it is a cultural and cinematic treat.
http://www.tlareleasing.com/details/product_details.cfm?id=270845  

  3pm - LOOKING FOR CHEYENNE (OUBLIER CHEYENNE) / France (Director: Valérie Minetto) (85 min)
A story of love and longing between Sonia and Cheyenne holds a delicious array of emotions and characters played out against the social and political framework of France today.  A contemporary tale about the fragility of modern life, the need to make changes, and the power of love.
http://www.lookingforcheyenne-themovie.com/video.html


5 pm - OUTRAGE (Director: Kirby Dick) ( 80/87 min)
An exploration into the ethics, media coverage, and double lifestyle of closeted politicians with appalling gay rights voting records against the LGBT community.
A discussion with the director will follow the film.
http://www.outragethemovie.com/

This years festival is co-presented by the Salt Lake Film Society and the Utah Pride Center, with special support provided by the  B.W. Bastian Foundation, John K. Patton, Weinholtz Family Foundation, Dancing Llama Foundation, Utah AIDS Foundation and Q Salt Lake.