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NewFest Brings Gay Sports to the
Big Screen
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Out in Sports
NewFest 2005 Info |
Filmmakers Forum
June 5, 1pm-2:30pm
Cyd Zeigler (moderator), Ryan Quinn, David Secter, Jeff
Kagan, Spencer Windes
New Yorker
Hotel Gramercy Park Conference Room
$5 admission
For film ticket
information,
click here
For the festival
schedule,
click here |
Outsports.com is proud to be a
supporter of this year's sports-in-film focus at the
2005 New
Festival, New York City's premiere gay film festival.
In addition to presenting six
gay-sports-themed films this year, the festival is also presenting a
Filmmakers Forum about gays in sports (specific information in
sidebar). Moderated by Outsports.com co-founder Cyd Zeigler, the
panel will feature filmmakers David Secter and Spencer Windes,
former NCAA skiing champion
Ryan
Quinn (also a writer for Outsports.com) and Jeff Kagan,
commissioner of
Gay Hockey International and one of the most prominent faces of
New York gay sports. Topics discussed will include the Gay Games,
the role of gay people in all levels of sports and the role of
sports in the gay community.
The sports films in the
festival are:
100% Woman
Karen Duthie
Diana Wilson
(Canada, video, 59 min, English, NYC Premiere)
This tour de force documentary details the controversial
inclusion of Michelle Dumaresq, a transgender woman, in the
adrenaline-charged sport of women’s downhill mountain biking.
Michelle’s story highlights the complexities surrounding the
struggle for transgender inclusion in sports.
Erik(a):
The Man Who Became Women's Downhill
Kurt Mayer
(Austria, 35mm, Mayer, German with subtitles, US Premiere)
In 1966, 18-year-old farm girl Erika Schinegger won the hearts
of all Austrians by winning the world championship title in women's
downhill skiing. But her success was short-lived: the next year, the
International Olympics Committee introduced tests to verify
participants' sex. Erika and her teammates were shocked to learn
that the tests revealed her to be a man. Discovering she was born
intersexed, she elected to have surgery to transform her outer
appearance, renaming herself Erik. But, having been raised a woman,
how was Erik to adjust to his new life? Through interviews with
Erik, his old teammates, his ex-wife, and family, the former ski
champion's remarkable story is revealed in Kurt Mayer's absorbing
portrait.
A Knock Out
Tessa Boerman
(The Netherlands, video, 53 min, English, NYC Premiere)
In the world of women’s international boxing, a sexy, feminine
image sells over talent. Where does this leave an out black lesbian?
Despite a 21-0 record, including 18 KOs, boxing champion Michele
Aboro finds her contract terminated prematurely. A Knock Out
powerfully demonstrates the importance of remaining yourself and
following your passion.
Straight Acting
Spencer Windes
(USA, video, 56 min, English, World Premiere)
Gay men and contact sports? Two concepts at odds? Director
Spencer Windes leaves the closet behind for the rugby pitch, the
rodeo circuit, and the hockey rink, meeting other men who defy both
gay culture and straight expectations to demonstrate that there’s
more that unites us than divides us.
Summer Storm (Sommersturm)
Marco Kreuzpaintner
 (Germany,
35mm, 98 min., German w/English subtitles, NYC Premiere)
European coming-out films have long had a refreshing
matter-of-factness, depicting sexual orientation as just one more
hurdle adolescents face. Marco Kreutzpaintner’s highly accomplished
Summer Storm renders its teenage gay characters and their issues in
gorgeous full relief, placing them in context right alongside the
turbulent confusion of their straight peers. Achim and Tobi are best
friends and stars of their Bavarian high school rowing team. Things
are heating up between Achim and his girlfriend Sandra, but Tobi
can’t seem to muster the same interest in beautiful, patient Anke.
He clearly has eyes for Achim - though he doesn’t yet have the
courage to name his love, even to himself. This uneasy foursome will
have plenty of opportunity to mix it up at the national rowing
regatta, where the delightfully familiar mainstays of adolescent
drama pack on a host of unexpected additions. Most prominently, a
last-minute change in the competition lineup substitutes the
much-anticipated Berlin girls’ squad with an all-gay-male team
that’s stacked with muscle and the last word in pride. As Tobi and
his friends make bold moves toward self-discovery, director
Kreutzpaintner is never coy about the intensity of teen libido. The
final race approaches as a huge storm descends on the regatta camp,
propelling the characters to the charming conclusion of this
resolutely good-natured film. A crossover box office hit in Germany,
Summer Storm is a sexy, evocative coming-of-age story. A here! Films
release.
Take the
Flame! Gay Games: Grace, Grit, and Glory
David Secter
(USA, video, 85 min, English, World Premiere)
Take the Flame chronicles the 20-year history of the Gay Games,
a celebration of sports and LGBT people. Founded in 1982 by Dr Tom
Waddell, who competed in the decathlon in the 1968 Olympics, the Gay
Games was designed to encourage lesbian and gay participation and
inclusion in the homophobic world of sports. Director David Secter
traces the evolution of the Games from Waddell's initial conception
into the world's largest sporting event, drawing almost 14,000
athletes from all over the world. At the same time, this engaging
documentary tells Waddell's personal story, including his motivation
to become a father and his death from AIDS. It also examines the
continuing homophobia in sports that has resulted in the sad fact
that no athlete has ever come out of the closet while still playing
on a major sports team in America.
______________________________________________________________
 Founded
in 1988, The New Festival, Inc is a non-profit media arts
organization dedicated to showcasing the newest and best LGBT media
for the greater New York metropolitan area. Programming includes the
annual NewFest:
The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival,
one of the most comprehensive forums of international LGBT
film/video in the world; NewFest@BAM, an annual "Best of
NewFest" showcase at the landmark Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rose
Cinemas; and NewFest Wednesdays at the Pioneer Theater, a
twice monthly LGBT programming series in Manhattan's East Village.
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