Socially Significant: ‘Bruno’ offers mixed messages on gay community
Sasha Baron Cohen’s first large scale movie, “Borat,” was a tremendous financial and critical success.
It both entertained audiences and also functioned as a tongue-in-cheek examination of xenophobia in the United States.
Those looking for that same combination in Baron Cohen’s new film, “Bruno,” are going to have to look a little harder. “Bruno” does challenge American society, but its attempts to lampoon homophobia while generating laughs confuses more than it enlightens.
If you’ve heard anything about the movie during the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard some rather polarized opinions on it.
Most people seem unable to find a middle ground with the film and can’t decide if the movie hurts the national view on the gay community and culture, empowers it or does nothing except make people laugh at the movies excessive use of penises.
Baron Cohen plays Bruno, a German fashionista trying to get work in the U.S. after his fashion commentary show is canceled in his home country. Bruno’s campy actions throughout the film attract the derision of nearly everyone he meets until he figures out the problem — he’s gay. The remainder of the film involves more wacky escapades as Bruno tries to straighten-out and eventually embrace his homosexuality. See Socially Significant: ‘Bruno’ offers mixed messages on gay community
LSU The Reveill
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BLACK GOLD: A New Film by Nick Francis and Marc Francis
THE SYNOPSIS
As westerners revel in designer lattes and cappuccinos, impoverished Ethiopian coffee growers suffer the bitter taste of injustice. In this eye-opening expose of the multi-billion dollar coffee industry, Black Gold traces one man’s fight for a fair price.
THE STORY
Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.
But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.
Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.
Against the backdrop of Tadesse’s journey to London and Seattle, the enormous power of the multinational players that dominate the world’s coffee trade becomes apparent. New York commodity traders, the international coffee exchanges, and the double dealings of trade ministers at the World Trade Organisation reveal the many challenges Tadesse faces in his quest for a long term solution for his farmers.
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GLAAD: `Bruno’ reinforces negative gay stereotypes
(Los Angeles) The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said that “Bruno,” the new film starring Sacha Baron Cohen, reinforces negative stereotypes and “decreases the public’s comfort with gay people.”
GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios, who saw the film Friday, said that “the movie was a well-intentioned series of sketches - some …
Tags: Amp, Bruno, Film Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Gay Lesbian, Gay People, Glaad, Jarrett Barrios, Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Negative Stereotypes, New Film, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sacha Cohen, SketchesBrüno’ Actor Shucks Clothes for Gay Mag Cover
Homophobic Film Ever Made?” That’s the blurb on the cover of Attitude, a British gay magazine, where comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, posing nude to promote his new film, appears.
The film in question–and the name of the character, whom Cohen continues to portray in live promotional appearances–is Brüno, in which Cohen plays a gay fashionista seeking redemption during a global road trip.
The production reportedly drew trouble for Cohen, who was arrested several times during the shoot.
But the film’s reception has also been mixed, with dubious and even hostile reactions coming from the GLBT community.
Though the film reportedly seeks to skewer homophobia, some GLBT equality advocates worry that “Brüno” will actually threaten social progress made by gays in the last several years by presenting audiences with a flamboyant gay character.
A July 1 article at the UK newspaper The Daily Mail reported that Cohen’s appearance on the cover of Attitude was meant to “appease” gay audiences.
The article pointed out that Cohen also appeared nude on the cover of GQ magazine.
Last month, Cohen appeared at the film’s London premiere in character, and in a revealing costume that riffed on the traditional uniforms of the Queen’s Guards, drawing headlines in the process. See Brüno’ Actor Shucks Clothes for Gay Mag Cover
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Philadelphia Cinema Alliance Announces 2009 Gay Icon Award Recipients
The Philadelphia Cinema Alliance is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s awards. They are - 2009 Gay Icon Award: Sharon Gless; the 2009 Rising Star Award: H.P. Mendoza; the 2009 Artistic Achievement Award: Chad Allen; and the 2009 Barbara Gittings Award: Dr. Dee Mosbacher. Each honoree will be present to accept his or her award at one of four special ceremonies during the 15th Anniversary of Philadelphia QFest, July 9 - 20, 2009.
Actress Sharon Gless will receive the Gay Icon Award on Sunday, July 19 at The Prince Music Theater before a screening of her new movie Hannah Free. Gless entered the national consciousness as detective Christine Cagney on the classic series “Cagney & Lacey”, a show unafraid to tackle difficult issues like AIDS, abortion and racism. In 2000, Gless created the role of the beloved PFLAG-Mom Debbie Novotny for the groundbreaking series “Queer as Folk”, remaining with the series throughout its five-season run. She recently completed an Emmy-nominated, multiple-episode arc in the hit series “Nip/Tuck”, and currently stars in “Burn Notice”. Her current project, Hannah Free, finds the actress playing a free-spirited lesbian trying to reunite with the love of her life. Off-screen, Gless is an active participant in the ongoing struggle for reproductive rights and a consistent supporter of national and international human rights.
The multi-talented H.P. Mendoza will receive the Rising Star Award on Thursday, July 16 at the Ritz East Theater, preceding the screening of his new film Fruit Fly. An innovative, musical and prodigious talent, H.P. Mendoza returns to QFest this year with his bubbly directorial debut. Born in San Francisco to Filipino immigrants, he studied film at the College of San Mateo, where he met Richard Wong. Wong went on to direct Colma: The Musical which Mendoza wrote and composed. Colma was one of the highlights of PIGLFF 2007. H.P. has also released several CDs over the past few years, including the new “Nomad”.
Hollywood mainstay Chad Allen will receive the Artistic Achievement Award Thursday, July 9 at The Prince at QFest 09 Opening Night celebration, following the screening of Hollywood je t’aime. Many know Allen for his impressive body of professional work on family dramas ranging from “St. Elsewhere” to “Our House” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women.” Equally important to Allen is his personal life, being one of the few openly gay actors working in Hollywood today, one willing to speak candidly about his sexuality. Allen has most recently gained recognition as the sexy, shrewd and resourceful gay detective Donald Strachey in the series of films Third Man Out, Shock to the System, On the Other Hand, Death (all of which screened at PIGLFF) and Ice Blues. Allen is a solid supporter of AIDS/LIFECYCLE, in which he recently rode 545 miles to help raise more than $11 million for the fight against AIDS. See Philadelphia Cinema Alliance Announces 2009 Gay Icon Award Recipients
Broadway World
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Chinese director Lou Ye braves ban risk at Cannes
Chinese director Lou Ye brushed off fears he may face problems with the authorities when he returns home after showing his new film “Spring Fever” at the Cannes film festival.
The film, a graphic drama that deals with the taboo subject of homosexuality, was shot in secret after officials slapped a five-year banning order on Lou preventing him from making films following his last feature “Summer Palace.”
That film, shown in Cannes in 2006, examined the protest movement that led to the brutal repression in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and earned Lou international acclaim as well as ostracism from the official world of Chinese cinema.
But speaking on Thursday after the press screening of “Spring Fever,” he played down the furor that has surrounded both the film’s subject matter and his problems with the powerful Chinese Film Office.
See Chinese director Lou Ye braves ban risk at Cannes
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Zamora is subject of new film
Film tells the story of star of MTV’s Real World SF. Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black.
Tags: Film Film, Mtv, New Film, Real World, Screenplay, World Sf, ZamoraSigourney Weaver hopes new flick will help gay teens tackle their parents
American actress Sigourney Weaver hopes that her first TV movie Prayers for Bobby will help gay teens when they come out about their sexual orientation to their parents.
Weaver plays the real-life mother of tragic gay youth Bobby Griffith, who committed suicide in the 1970s after his religious parents spent years trying to ‘cure’ him.
According to the actress, Leroy Aaron’s book of the same name, from which her new film was adapted, has become a tool some gay youngsters use to help their parents come to terms with their child’’s sexuality.
See Sigourney Weaver hopes new flick will help gay teens tackle their …
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