The Thousands

Gay Christmas, i.e. Mardi Gras, is almost upon us. But before you madly text your personal trainer and drug dealer, buy some Mardi Gras Film Fest tix. This year’s program is huge, varied, and promising. I’ve extracted the best looking prospects from the program so you have more time for spray tanning, chest waxing or a quick anal bleach.

Dirty Girl and Au Pair Kansas (featuring former porn star Traci Lords) look like promising indie comedies. A few incredible underground features are screening including the feminist-porn-art flick Community Action Center, 1991′s Flaming Ears (mixing super 8 and claymation), and the early 80s NYC feminist experimental rock sci-fi film, Born In Flames.

In Their Room Berlin shows real male couples having sex (part of an ongoing series featured previously on Butt). Circumstance follows two teenage girls coming out within Iran’s underground youth culture. Gun Hill Road examines homophobia in the ‘hood when a gang-banger dad comes home from jail to an openly gay son.

Queerdoc, the documentary section, has so much great stuff it needs its own review. I’ve seen We Were Here, about the effect of AIDS on San Francisco, and it is really fantastic. And the film about New Orleans gay Mardi Gras in the 70s, Sons of Tennessee Williams, looks awesome.

There’s also Francois Sagat, that gay porn star who looks like a GI Joe doll with his ridics sculpted muscles and hair tattoo, in Man At Bath with Dennis Cooper. And a retrospective screening of Fassbinder’s Querelle.

It’s going to be super gay.