“Shindig: A Southern Celebration of Queer Cinema” comes to The Palace Picture House
There’s nothing more encouraging right now than the Chattanooga Film Scene. Maybe it’s just whistling in the dark, what with a mad Tweeter in charge of our armed forces and neo-Nazis marching across the country, but the advent of a new and exciting film festival in the Scenic City is something to celebrated.
That it’s an LGBTQ film festival is just icing on the cake. It sends a certain message to the world—Chattanooga, a city in the heart of Trump country, has people ready and willing to celebrate our differences in the face of those trying to divide us.
From Friday through Sunday, The Palace Picture House will host “Shindig: A Southern Celebration of Queer Cinema”. Presented by The Chattanooga Film Festival and Tennessee Valley Pride, the festival will showcase queer cinema with narrative features, shorts, and documentaries from across the country and around the world.
“We are thrilled to be bringing an LGBTQ film festival to Chattanooga,” says festival director and curator Billy Ray Brewton. “It’s not something a lot of people expect when they think of Chattanooga and we want to change minds one film at a time. It’s also an amazing opportunity to partner with Tennessee Valley Pride, who are committed to raising awareness, educating and strengthening the community and improving the human condition.”
The festival will feature nine films over the course of three days. Here are just some of the films:
Princess Cyd
Written and directed by Stephen Cone
Eager to escape life with her depressive single father, 16-year-old athlete Cyd Loughlin visits her novelist aunt in Chicago over the summer. While there, she falls for a girl in the neighborhood, even as she and her aunt gently challenge each other in the realms of sex and spirit. Cone is best known for his features The Wise Kids and Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party, both currently available to stream on Netflix.
Alaska Is A Drag
Written and directed by Shaz Bennett
Tough, but diva fabulous, Leo, an aspiring drag superstar, is stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska. He and his twin sister are trapped in the monotony of fist fights and fish guts. Out of necessity, Leo learned to fight back, which catches the attention of the local boxing coach. When a new boy moves to town and wants to be his sparring partner, Leo has to face the real reason he’s stuck in Alaska. Based on the hit short film and co-starring Matt Dallas (Kyle XY) and Margaret Cho. Shaz Bennett will be in attendance for a Q&A following the film
Thelma
Co-written and directed by Joachim Trier
In Trier’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Louder Than Bombs, shy college student Thelma moves away from her religious family to attend college in Oslo. After experiencing a violent seizure, she becomes powerfully attracted to Anja, another woman on campus. As her passion becomes all-consuming and her behavior increasingly reckless, her seizures—a manifestation of some inexplicable paranormal abilities—intensify. Soon, Thelma must confront the terrifying implications.
A Closer Walk With Thee
Directed by John Clark & Brie Williams
Like The Exorcist as directed by Gregg Araki, this queer erotic horror-comedy follows Jordan, a young Christian missionary who gets caught watching his handsome pastor Eli in the shower. The house church ostracizes him until Eli (who happens to be a fledgling exorcist) suggests it may be demonic possession that’s giving Jordan his ungodly urges. What starts as an exorcism to save their friendship quickly descends into psychosexual madness. John Clark will be in attendance for a Q&A following the film
Quest
Directed by Jonathan Olshefski
Filmed with vérité intimacy for almost a decade, Quest is the moving portrait of an American family living in North Philadelphia. Beginning at the dawn of the Obama presidency, parents Christopher “Quest” Rainey, and his wife, Christine’a “Ma Quest” Rainey raise a family while navigating the poverty and strife that grips their neighborhood. They nurture a community of artists in their basement home music studio, but even this creative sanctuary can’t always keep them safe. Epic in scope, Quest is a vivid illumination of race and class in America, and a testament to love, commitment, healing and hope.
Alabama Bound
Directed by Lara Embry & Carolyn Sherer
Alabama Bound explores the legal roller-coaster ride of LGBTQ family rights in the South over the last decade. The film offers an intimate view into the lives of three lesbian families in Alabama as they set precedents and fight the courts for their children during the time that federal marriage equality comes to a head. This is the story of a powerful community living with both frustration and hope in a conservative state, where the line between church and state is often blurred.
Wristbands can be purchased for $35 and individual tickets for $10. For more information, visit shindigfilm.com. Support local film.