EROS Pride Festival 2001

November 7-10, 2001

Present in conjunction with

EROS - Trinity College Gay Straight Alliance

EROS WEB SITE

EROS Film Festival Schedule

all films presented at Cinestudio

Film Descriptions

Click on pictures for link to film web sites

Burnt Money (Plata Quemada)

(Marcelo Piñeyro, Argentina 2000, 125 min)

Set in Argentina in 1965, the film follows the tumultuous relationship between two gay lovers who become ruthless bank robbers in a notoriously famous footnote in the annals of true crime. Known as “the twins” because of their matching good looks, Angel and Nene are actually involved in a steamy romantic relationship. After a large-scale heist goes horribly wrong, the two flee to Uruguay with Cuervo, their partner in crime. Awaiting phony passports, the men hide out in cramped quarters. As the confines of the apartment – and the authorities – close in, jealousies and misunderstandings begin tearing Angel and Nene apart.

Director Marcelo Piñeyro, the producer of the Academy-Award-winning The Official Story, brings a sexy seediness to the portrayal of this scandalous real-life event. Spanish screen star Eduardo Noriega, winner of last year’s Best Actor at the Spanish Goyas, gives a spellbinding performance as Angel. This torrid crime thriller scorches the screen with action, drama, and erotic passion.                                                            Wednesday, November 7 @ 7:30pm        Thursday, November 8 @ 7:30pm

Princesa

(Henrique Goldman, Italy/Germany/Brazil 2000, 96 min)

Milan’s seedy red-light district, the world’s largest market for transsexual prostitution, provides the backdrop for this unique Cinderella fable. Fernanda, a nineteen-year-old Brazilian transvestite, longs to undergo a sex-change operation, find an ideal husband, and lead the life of a normal middle-class housewife. On the streets of Milan, she transforms into “Princesa”, a stylish and alluring prostitute. When handsome client Gianni succumbs to her charms and offers her the means to realize her dreams, Princesa is forced to reexamine the person she hopes to become.

Winner of the Best Foreign Film Award at Outfest, this film is a provocative and moving exploration of love, community, and the journey toward self-acceptance. Sharply observant of the social dynamics of Milan’s street life, director Henrique Goldman relies on  an extraordinary cast of mostly nonprofessional actors – many of whom are well-known transvestites in Italy – to tell a story of lives crowded at the busy intersection of gender and class.  

                                                Friday, November 9 @ 9:30          Saturday, November 10 @ 7:30pm

The Monkey’s Mask

(Samantha Lang, Australia 2000, 91 min)

Based on the acclaimed novel in verse by Dorothy Parker, this erotic thriller accompanies Jill Fitzpatrick, a street-smart private detective, into a world of literary rivalry, seduction and murder. Investigating the disappearance of a young female student, Jill is instantly drawn to Diana, an alluring and sexually aggressive poetry teacher. As the two women embark on a steamy affair, the case takes a dark turn. Blinded by passion and enmeshed in Diana’s elite intellectual underground, the detective fails to see the mounting menace until her own life is in danger.

            Director Samantha Lang’s Sydney emerges as a stylish city of glittering, duplicitous surfaces, and her sapphic sex scenes, set to the lush sounds of Groove Armada, are pulse pounding. As Diana, audience favorite Kelly McGillis (The Accused, Top Gun) is unabashedly sexual.  Susie Porter (of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode Two) creates an alternatively tough and tender detective who deserves her own movie franchise.                                                              

    Friday, November 9 @ 7:30pm                Saturday, November 10 @ 2:30pm

Drift

(Quentin Lee, Canada 2000, 86 min)

Accompanying his boyfriend Joel to a party, Ryan, an Asian-Canadian screenwriter, meets Leo,  an aspiring novelist and college student. As the two writers converse, Ryan becomes infatuated, imagining that Leo is the one person who can completely understand his intellectual and artistic passion. Unable to sever this visceral connection, Ryan ends his three-year relationship with Joel, ignoring the fact that Joel loves him unconditionally. Out on a limb, Ryan leaves home one fateful morning and drifts into three different possibilities of a love triangle.

Following in the tradition of such films as Sliding Doors and The Mexican, indie-favorite Quentin Lee’s latest offering allows the audience to see how a character’s life would have turned out had they made different decisions.  This structure provides some fascinating twists and ample opportunity for Lee’s ruminations on the nature of desire and attraction. Shot on digital video, the film has a rough documentary appearance, adding extraordinary aesthetic depth.                                                                                                  

Saturday, November 10 @ 9:40pm