The 16th annual Cineffable Lesbian Film Festival ended last week in Paris—an event that typically is held over the Halloween weekend each year when France is on holiday. This year the festival located at the Trianon theatre below one of Paris’ most famous landmarks the Sacre Couer was home to over 720 lesbian women. The high quality of the films this year distinguishes this Cineffable from others. This is a showcase of cutting edge work by lesbians either funded by film schools, state film boards or privately. The Cineffable team wants to bring to the screen films that represent a broad range of topics, with workshops on some of the subjects of the films such as Drag Kings.

This year there was a Drag King competition followed by the screening of one of the best short features at the festival, a remake of the graduate called "The Undergrad" by Michele Mahoney from the US.

The Grand Prix feature film award went to "Goldfish Memory" by Liz Gill from Ireland, a film with multiple characters including Angie a broadcast journalist who falls for Clara a protestor in the Dublin St Patricks parade, who carries a sign claiming that the patron saint of Ireland was Egyptian. More to come, the relationship fails, with rebounds, as doe the relationships of several other characters,. The feature films this year primarily from the US were a disappointment but wonderful to watch with this alert public who supplied all the necessary comments to make the screenings worth their time. My favorite was watching "Inescapable" with the Cineffable crowd a film about two couples who go on holiday over a weekend. While their mates are off at a seminar the other two women embark on an affair with no end in site, a film intended to be passionate but that wound being comical. When the credits started rolling with the banner lesbianentertainment.com, the crowd roared with laughter at the irony.

"Don’t you Worry It Will Probably Pass", by Cecilia Neant Falk from Sweden is a compelling documentary making its way round the lesbian and gay film festival circuit about young lesbians coming out to their family and friends. The film won the best documentary feature award. Each women films her story like diary making the film a unique and personal document. The Short fiction film award went to Alexandra Czok from the UK for "P-P-P-Pick-Up" about a woman dressed like a penguin who tries to pick up a woman at a swimming pool. There was also an animation award that went to Allison Sweeney from the UK : A cow walks into a bar -- an enchanting film about a lesbian bar for cows decorated with a portrait of Annie Lennox kissing two cows, and a floor show with a Marlene Dietrich look alike cabaret singer who falls for the cow.
"Liberty : 3 Stories About Life And Death" by Pam Walton from the US won the short documentary prize, a film that captures the lives of three close friends , two of which are dying of cancer interwoven with documentary footage of through their long friendships.

There was other excellent work in this panorama of 60 films by lesbians. Boyskout, that’s spelled with a K , a musical clip from a young boyskout band , Kristen Wolf’s "CLUB Q: THE LEGENDARY DANCE PARTY FOR WOMEN", from San Francisco, started by Page Hodel, Guinevere Turner’s short film debut Hummer-the actress from "Go Fish" who is scriptwriter for the "L Word", "Is your Wife a Secret Lesbian", an experimental film of found footage stage films complete with text from a 1966 men’s magazine from the 50’s. Szu Burgess from the US. "The Red Apple" by Christina Kallinikoy from Greece , a film made in the German expressionist style on aabout a the oppression of a lesbian.

The Cineffable team is made of volunteers who work all year long to bring films from all over the world. The even is open only to women and funded by ticket sales and the City of Paris.


For Movie Magazine This is Moira Sullivan Paris FRANCE

© 2004 - Moira Sullivan - Air Date: 11/2004