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 ZENOBIA FROST speaks with American film director GWEN WYNNE about her film’s premiere at Queensland’s premier queer film fest.
This year sees Brisbane Queer Film Festival celebrating its 11th birthday. Since its conception, the festival has well and truly established itself as bold and brilliant in its selection of local and international films.
Sure to win hearts at this year’s festival is American Primitive, an honest and endearing film set in Cape Cod in the 1970s. The story follows two sisters who, following the death of their mother, move to the US with their father and his business partner, Theo – looking for a slice of that American Dream. When the girls – and the rest of the town – realise what Harry and Theo are really up to, their world is turned upside down.
The film is inspired by events in life of its creator, first-time feature filmmaker, Gwen Wynne. “Growing up, I was really bothered that there weren’t a lot of female protagonists in films,” she tells me, “and I’d certainly never seen a story from a teenager’s point of view about growing up in a gay household.”
Wynne hopes American Primitive will help dissolve the taboos associated with gay parenting and gay adoption – a topic still very relevant in Australia as well as America. “In the late ‘70s, it was still very much a taboo to be in that situation. I feel like I now have the courage to tell the story. When I was growing up, we kept it a secret; my father was afraid we’d be taken away from him. The film plays out what might have happened if word had gotten out.”
Along with American Primitive, my picks for the festival include An Englishman in New York, and German film To Faro (Mein Freund Aus Faro). The latter is the story of Melanie – gorgeous, androgynous and bored with her life working in a factory. When she is mistaken for a boy by a vibrant young girl, Jenny, she creates a new identity for herself in Miguel, a sensitive Portuguese boy. To Faro is a tightly-plotted drama about the lengths we go to for love – and to keep up appearances. Anjorka Strechel is fantastic in the lead role as Mel, bewildered in the face of the sudden challenges to her sexual and gender identities. Alas, Mel’s deceptions must, at some time, be exposed, but not before she falls in love with Jenny.
In An Englishman In New York, John Hurt reprises his role from The Naked Civil Servant as the modern-day Wildean figure, Quentin Crisp, a writer and public speaker renowned for his wit. Directed by Richard Laston, the film explores Crisp’s later years. It is a delightful, meandering biopic, by turns witty and poignant, about a generous, colourful man who gave as much to life as possible, and never asked for anything in return.
BRISBANE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL runs at the Powerhouse from Apr 9 to 18. The full program and movie times can be found at www.bqff.com.au, or phone 3358 8600.
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