The 2009 Miami Latin Gay Film Festival
unspools April 16 with the U.S. premiere of director Francisco
Franco's Quemar Las Naves (Burn The Bridges).
Franco's movie explores the lives of a
pair of teenage siblings living in a secluded village in central
Mexico. Sebastian and Helena are isolated from the world as they
tend to their dying mother. But tensions erupt when Sebastian mets
Juan, a tough new student in his school that awakens new desires and
possibilities. Their lives implode when the matriarch of the family
dies and the siblings must confront the limits of family loyalty.
Franco and Angel Onesimo Navares, who
plays Sebastian, will lead a discussion panel on the film after the
film's screening.
It's the inaugural launch for the
nascent film festival which organizers say came about due to large
demand for Latin-flavored queer cinema in Miami.
“Through my six years of working with
the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, I have noticed a huge
demand for Latin gay films and programming that was not always
possible,” said festival Director Jim Dobson. “The few Latin
films programmed were always the first to sell out which proved a
definite demand by the community.”
Another treat for audiences attending
the four-day festival will the screening of Director Nacho G.
Velilla's Fuera De Carta (Chef's Special).
Restaurateur Maxi prefers an
uncomplicated and unattached love life. All this changes when a hot
Argentine ex-football player moves in next door. Comedy ensues as
Maxi struggles to remain in the closet to his staff and family. The
Spanish newspaper Diario El Mundo called the Spanish film
“inspired.”
Fuera De Carta closes the 2009
Miami Latin Gay Film Festival.
On the Net: More information at the
festival's website www.miamilatingayfilmfestival.com.
Gay Entertainment Report is a feature
of On Top Magazine and can be reached at
ontopmag@ontopmag.com.