Despite some heavy uncle duty this weekend (Disneyland AND a birthday party), I did manage to make it to the opening night gala Friday of Outfest Fusion: Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival. My friend Eddie is still in town and I invited him along to see the program of seven short films at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre followed by a terrific party.

The shorts ranged from a few minutes long to about 20 minutes in length. The most accomplished were the effective "She Kills Me," which tells the love story between a tough street boy who falls for a transgendered woman, and the dramatic and well-acted "Sarang Song." which is set in the 1970s and forces a young college student to choose between her involvement in the student protest movement and then woman she loves.
This 23-minute film, directed by and starring Tamika Miller, has received distribution from Frameline. "This movie was made with a lot of love from a lot of people," Miller told ther audience prior to the screening.
My favorite short was called "My Crazy Life" which was this unique and amazing little movie (just 6 minutes!) created by this irrepressible kid named Enzo Ybarra who walked out to introduce his work wearing a pink tiara. "Oh my God! There's a lot of people here!" he said before proceeding to introduce his mother to the audience. She stood up for warm applause and just kept standing and waving, standing and waving, standing and waving. It was a hoot. You can see that she nurtured her young son's spirit and embraced him as he is. Loved it.
Other shorts shown were 'Do the Math," "Modern Day Arranged Marriage" (very funny!), "Two Nights," and "Group of Seven Inches."

All were well received on a night that was filled with creativity and positive energy. Because I was busy meeting Mickey Mouse and going on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on Saturday then photographing my precious niece's 8th birthday party on Sunday, I didn't make any more of the Fusion Films. BUT, i did see some of them on DVD over the past week. I enjoyed "Cut Sleeve Boys" which screened Saturday evening, a British-Chinese film about two young guys on the prowl for sex and love.
And "the DL Chronicles, Episode: Robert" which screened Sunday afternoon as part of a program of five short films. "The DL," which runs 35 minutes, is about a closeted talent agent who falls for a hot health store manager. Both actors in this movie are very effective...and absolutely HOT. And their love scene, while very tastefully done, is a scorcher!

And finally, I watched "Hotel Gondolin" which was part of tonight's closing program at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The documentaryfrom Argentina is about a hotel that is home for 30 transgender and transsexual sex workers in Buenos Aires who create a safe environment for themselves and band together to effect social change. Directed by Fernando Lopez Escriva, the film shows the harsh reality of their lives and the interviews are compelling. I expected that I would maybe watch a few minutes of this movie then maybe move on but it was quite absorbing and is one of the rare works that humanzes transgendered people who can be so little understood and too often forced to live on the franges of society. Most of the girls here make it plain that 'sex worker' is not their first career choice, but the only possibility allowed them in Argentinian society. But it is so impressive how Monica, the self-proclaimed leader of these women, has such a strong sense of self. She is a real hero.