TRUTH SERUM PRODUCTIONS

"making the world smaller since 1995-ish"


history... working on archine...

CineMental
Please go to the Truth Serum main page for updated information of future CineMental events. Occasionally, I give away free tickets to CineMental and other related events. Please join the mailing list by hitting this link.

Aliza Shapiro, who has been involved with programming for the Boston LGBT Film Festival and other independent film/video presentations, has created a series that explores the fringes of queer film, video and groundbreaking performative work with a decidedly alternative perspective. CineMental showcases the best of independent queer media in a way never before seen in Boston. CineMental is the convergence of film, video, performance and music. It will change the way you think about what is queer, what is art and what is queer art! In a world where "The Gay" is becoming mainstream, we celebrate the radical. CineMental is every third Wednesday at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square Cambridge.

CineMental was co-founded in 2007 with James Nadeau who stopped working on it in May 2009.

If you'd like CineMental to put together a program for your college, organization or film festival, we'd be happy to. Please email: cinemental (at) truthserum.org Thanks.




Friday April 1 and Saturday April 2, 2011 at 11:59pm
CineMental presents: Bike Porn 4:PLAY
at Brattle Theatre
tickets available in advance here!
Facebook event here. RSVP!

Want to read about how Rev. Phil got detained at the Canadian border with the film program? Go here!.

Bike Porn 4:PLAY is the fourth installment of this amazing traveling film festival. It's an evening of short films made by folks of all genders and sexualities with the common theme of bikesexuality, bikeuriosity, and bike objectification. The short films are submitted from around the world, compiled and then the tour comes to us and features bonus live performances! You won't ever get to see these films any other time.

Last year one screening sold out. This year we're doing two midnight screenings! Do Not Miss Out! There will be a bike ride planned before one of the screenings, stay tuned for info on that. In the mean time, check out the trailer and info here and here.

CineMental is a program from Truth Serum Productions that explores queer, experimental, and sexy film and performance. CineMental has been on hiatus, but is coming back to life!





Sunday March 27, 2011 12pm
CineMental Gets BUFF: short film program
Boston Underground Film Festival
at The Kendall Square Cinema
Facebook event here. RSVP!

CineMental is a program from Truth Serum Productions that explores queer and/or experimental and/or sexy film and/or performance. CineMental has been on hiatus, but is coming back strong with this program for BUFF and the return of BIKE PORN on April 1+2 at the Brattle. Join us: www.truthserum.org

CineMental Gets BUFF features films that satisfy all of our interests. There's the sexy, the queer, the intellectual, the experimental, the mainstream love, and best of all horror and singing nuns!

Freak by Eric Casaccio 19min
Change Me To Me by Federica Gianni 10min
The Collector by Ryan Kipp 6min
Remission by Greg Ivan Smith 14min
I Give You Life by Latham Zearfoss 12min
The Men by Charles Fairbanks 6min
All Flowers in Time by Jonathan Caouette 14min
All That Sheltering Emptiness by Gina Carducci and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore 7min
Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School by Peter Bolte 14min
Systyr Act: Under the Habit by E. Lisette Murphy 9min

TRT 111



Saturday May 8, 2010
Truth Serum and CineMental are sponsoring several films at the Boston LGBT Film Festival
at Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle Street Harvard Sq. Cambridge
for advanced tix hit this link.
facebook fan page for CineMental. join it!

So, it looks like I'm going to be at the Brattle all day Saturday! Truth Serum and CineMental are presenting 3 programs of the Boston LGBT Film Festival. I'm especially proud and excited about What's in the Experiment which I programmed. Featuring experimental work, music videos, animation and new narrative explorations, this program surveys the strange and beautiful, the super-saturated, the sensually textured, the intimate, the uncomfortable and the wacky. Reworked film and video footage and still images are collaged to reclaim and queer gender and sexuality. Masculinity is exposed through domestic tasks and poetry. Femininity is celebrated through strength, the knowing gaze, and cake. BDSM intoxicates. The experiment is a delicious mix of subversion, sexuality, and humor. This program features men, women and trans folks as well as animals and inanimate objects. The films are from all over the world and will leave you speechless.

Fans of Gina Carducci and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore will get to see their new film collaboration based on Mattilda's writing. Fans of Athens Boys Choir will get to see their new video. People who remember Amber Dawn from The Sex Worker's Art Show will get to see some of her other creative work. Justin Kelly's Girl! will captivate and confuse you. Local filmmaker Gina Kamentsky's new animation will make you smile. J. Bob Alotta ruminates on butch hotness on the train (featuring NYC DJ Tikka Masala). Lezzie Flick from Austria will make you wonder why you threw out that old porn. Fans of animated Bambi, porn stars and action films will be mesmerized by Project B*mbi. The program is so good, so visually beautiful, and so full of creativity, it's definitely a MUST SEE of the festival!

At 4:00pm Play In The Grey

At 6:00pm What's in the Experiment

At 9:00pm Hell on Wheels: Gang Girls Forever and More: Films by Katrina Del Mar

CineMental is a monthly queer and/or experimental film/video/performance program at the Brattle on third Wednesdays. CineMental is sponsored by Video Underground in JP. Go by and say HI.


Wednesday April 21, 2010 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Bike Porn 3: Cycle Bound Backlash Tour amateur bicycle erotica


media, click images to download high res versions.

CineMental is thrilled to be hosting the Boston stop on Bike Porn 3's Backlash Tour! Bike Porn 3 features sexy films with people and bikes of all genders and sexualities! There's something for everyone, except maybe folks who aren't into sexy, bikes, and films!

PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! PRINT THESE AND HAND THEM OUT/POST THEM AROUND!
hand flyers
posters

Check out the trailer for the program HERE (nsfw).

Want to read more about the program and the people involved? Go here for descriptions of the films and performances and bios of the folks in the van!

You can find out more at their blog site!


Wednesday March 17, 2010 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Graphic Sexual Horror with Q+A with Model 912

media, click image to the right for high res. download

THIS SCREENING IS NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH OR JUDGMENTAL. The film shows and discusses graphic bondage, BDSM, and sex. If you are of delicate disposition we kindly ask you to consider enjoying some of Boston's other amazing cultural offerings this evening.

Graphic Sexual Horror (official site)
Written, Directed, Edited, and Produced by Anna Lorentzon and Barbara Bell (2009)

Insex.com, the brainchild of ex-Carnegie Mellon professor and artist, Brent Scott, began broadcasting torture imagery in 1997, long before the recent upsurge in mainstream depictions of so-called "torture-porn." In 2005, as the Bush administration increased its own market share in real torture, the government used the Patriot Act to block Insex.com's ability to process credit cards, thus forcing Insex to close its doors. Graphic Sexual Horror chronicles the rise and fall of this subculture phenomenon, wowing crowds at Slamdance, Hot Docs, and FantasiaFest Montreal in 2009. The documentary becomes an inquiry into consent and government intervention, asking hard questions about the role of money and personal responsibility.

"Graphic Sexual Horror is sexy and seductive. The images are raw, dirty and poetic." New York Press feature by Linnea Covington

For full press text: Click Here!


Wednesday February 17, 2010 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: BloodSisters and a sneak peek of Dorian By Michelle Handelman

media, click image to the right for high res. download

CineMental is excited to present the work of Michelle Handleman in collaboration with The MIT List Visual Arts Center.

BloodSisters, a groundbreaking look into a piece of hidden feminist history, suppressed and taken out of circulation in the 1997 congressional censorship battles and now back in release through the Tribeca Institute's Reframe collection. It's a feature-length documentary about the political activities and sexual choices of the San Francisco lesbian SM community. This community is a highly organized group of women who interact through an intense exchange of physical body play, master/slave relationships, and a commitment to political activism. Featuring interviews with several gender-bending leaders of the scene including Pat Califia, (now Patrick Califia) an author and activist who's collection of erotic fiction Macho Sluts broke open the field of lesbian erotica; Skeeter, a young British ex-pat who has been part of the SF leatherdyke scene for several years as a performer and fetish gear maker; and Queen Cougar, an African-American activist and titleholder of the 1993 Ms San Francisco Leather contest. By following these women and cutting between their personal lives, political activities and candid interviews, BloodSisters illuminates the intelligence behind the sensation; providing an in-depth picture of the leather SM community as a progressive grass-roots organization that challenges fixed ideas of gender identity and fights against discrimination as sexual outlaws within the queer community. Through their own words, we will hear about the serious business that goes on in this group of women trying to better understand themselves and better the community at the same time. "A ground-breaking documentary!" Time Out, New York

Opening the night a sneak peek at Handelman's new mulitmedia work, Dorian now on exhibition at The MIT List Visual Arts Center in the show: Virtuoso Illusion: Cross-Dressing and the New Media Avant-Garde" curated by Michael Rush. Through April 10. 2010.

Dorian, based on Oscar Wilde's 19th century novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, employs the queer undertones of the original novel as a starting point for a feminist reworking of the tale through a new queer identity. Told by means of fragmented dialogue and music, each character utilizes their own instrument: Theremin, synthesizer, viola, voice. The cast is a who's who of NYC performance and art worlds.


Wednesday January 20, 2010 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Fruit Fly


Fruit Fly is a musical comedy about Bethesda, a Filipina performance artist finding home in the unlikeliest places. She moves into an artist commune in an attempt to workshop her latest piece which deals with finding her biological parents. In the process, she finds an artistic family, clues of her mother�s whereabouts, and the startling possibility that she just might be a fag-hag.

Subplots include Bethesda's relationship with her roommates in the artist commune, and their relationships with each other.

Featuring 19 new songs that has the Chicago Sun Times calling them "catchy, randy confections" by writer/director H.P. Mendoza, Fruit Fly is "flashy, trashy, and brazenly fun" (Barbara Scharrer, Gene Siskel Film Center)

Facebook Page
Website
Starring: L.A. Renigen, Mike Curtis, E.S. Park, Aaron Zaragoza, Theresa Navarro
Screenplay By: H.P. Mendoza
Directed By: H.P. Mendoza
Produced By: Donald Young, Chihiro Wimbush, Ethan Gunning, Amy Y. Chan, H.P. Mendoza
Awards: Best Narrative Feature - Audience Award - SFIAAFF 2009
Best Film - Ft. Worth QCinema - 2009
Rising Star Award - Philadelphia QFest - 2009


Wednesday December 16, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Todd Verow's Anonymous


Anonymous is graphic, uninhibited story of a man whose sexual addiction threatens to take over his life. After 5 years, Todd (played by director Verow himself) escapes from his stale relationship by secretly prowling public toilets and the Internet looking for anonymous sex. When his boyfriend John (Dustin Schell) catches Todd in flagrante in the bathroom at his workplace, he beats Todd up and throws him out of their apartment. Homeless, Todd is forced to live at his office, but his compulsion for sex throws his job into jeopardy too.
-written, produced and directed by Todd Verow
-executive producer Jim Dwyer

official website

"A sexy and original psychological portrait, Todd Verow�s provocative feature maps the region between monogamy and sexuality free of constraints. It�s a precarious zone, especially when happiness is assumed to be lurking behind the scenes."

"The real love story here may be between Todd the exhibitionist and Mr. Verow the voyeur, peeping in on his character's activities. They look to have a long and happy future together." -New York Times

Todd Verow is called "New York's underground cinema poster boy" by Time Out New York and "the Spielberg of film's new digital age" by CBS's 48 Hours, Verow is one of the country's most noted and prolific independent filmmakers.


Wednesday November 18, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Maggots and Men with filmmaker and actors present

Media folks, click the images to the right for high res. versions


We're really excited to about this screening. Over a few past years many local folks came together to raise money, offer talent, act, make costumes, take photos and in many other ways help get this film made. MAGGOTS AND MEN is finally here! Join us for a celebration and screening of Cary Cronenwett's MAGGOTS AND MEN...the filmmaker and many of the local folks who helped out will be at the screening for q+a.

Painting the brief success of communal society at Kronstadt as a fanciful utopia, MAGGOTS AND MEN transports us to a realm where we can dream of alternatives to capitalist society.

The Kronstadt sailors had a long tradition as radicals and fierce warriors, which began with the failed revolution of 1905 (the subject of Battleship Potemkin). MAGGOTS AND MEN dramatizes the tragic events of March 1921 that ensued when the Kronstadt sailors drafted a resolution that supported the factory workers who were on strike in St. Petersburg.

Through an imagined love story between their leader, Stepan Petrichenko, and another Sailor, Yuri Kilgast, the viewer experiences the pain of the break-up of the cohesion at Kronstadt as the island community is torn apart by the Bolshevik government's oppressive response to the sailor's resolution.

MAGGOTS AND MEN positions the struggle for gender equality within a larger struggle for peace and justice. Cast with female-to-male transgender actors, the film documents a rapidly evolving transgender community and illuminates the gender revolution currently taking place in our society.

Official Website: www.maggotsandmen.com

About the filmmaker: Maggots and Men is Cary Treadwell Cronenwett's second film. His first film, Phineas Slipped (2002, 15 min., Super8/Video), played extensively in the international LGBT film festival circuit.

CineMental is a series that explores the fringes of queer film, video and groundbreaking performative work with a decidedly alternative perspective. CineMental showcases the best of independent queer media in a way never before seen in Boston. CineMental is the convergence of film, video, performance and music. It will change the way you think about what is queer, what is art and what is queer art! In a world where "The Gay" is becoming mainstream, we celebrate the radical. CineMental is every third Wednesday at The Brattle (though sometimes we move around.)


Wednesday October 21, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Forever's Gonna Start Tonight with Get Happy
at Brattle Theatre
Forever's Gonna Start Tonight (2009, 60min. Directed by Michelle Lawler)
Chronicling the remarkable experiences of Vicki Marlane, a drag performer still strutting it on stage in her seventies, Vicki takes us on the ride of her life � from rollerskating crossdressed in her youth, to carnival sideshow girl, to her sex reassignment surgery, her loves and roadtrips. We hitchhike through the adventures that led to her being San Francisco's "Toast of the Town" in the early '70s, and Vicki even shares her tips of the trade acquired from decades of drag experience at hot-spot venues including Aunt Charlie's in the Tenderloin District. Directed by Michelle Lawler, and produced by archivist and historian Kim Klausner (It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues In School) and Emmy Award-winning Susan Stryker (Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria) this film is a loving tribute to a living legend.

Get Happy (2008, 30min. Directed and Produced by Mark Payne)
Get Happy is a coming of age musical extravaganza about a child allowed to express himself in a most unconventional way. This short documentary includes actual archival film footage of a teenage drag savant's jawdroppingly intense early performances as captured by his mother and grandmother. By age 13, Mark Payne was a superb female impersonator, booking himself and working with many luminaries including Bob Hope and Milton Berle! Early in his life, Mark designed clothes and established a successful singing career. He has become one of the most sought after makeup artists in Hollywood and has won two Emmy Awards for his work. This unique documentary tells an amazing and inspirational story.

Official website: http://www.gethappythemovie.com



Thursday October 15, 2009 8pm
Film Screening and Discussion featuring: Luckey
Truth Serum is embarking on a new collaboration with The Boston Society of Architects and The Emerging Professionals Network which will bring quarterly screenings of films with design/architecture themes and discussions to The Brattle.

Our first screening features a locally made film about a local artist/designer:
Luckey

(2009) dir Laura Longsworth, w/ Tom + Spencer Luckey [82 min]
Tom Luckey is a world-class sculptor of children's abstract climbing structures. But a fluke fainting spell leads to a tragic fall: abruptly, the master craftsman becomes a quadriplegic, struggling to redefine himself as a husband, a father, and an artist. The art must go on, however, and Tom's son Spencer - a professional architect - accepts his "filial duty" to act as his father's hands. Together, Tom and Spencer must complete a high-profile project for the Boston Children's Museum in which Tom was fully submerged prior to his accident. As similar and as devoted to one another as the pair may be, their strange new partnership is anything but simple. � adapted from notes for Independent Film Festival Boston 2009

RELATED LINKS
Official Site
Boston Society of Architects

The screening will be followed by a discussion with architects from Cambridge 7 Associates (whose Boston Children's Museum is featured in the film) and filmmaker Laura Longsworth.


Wednesday September 16, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Slippery Mess: Short Films and Videos

Slippery Mess: Short Films and Videos
Programmed by Matt Johnstone and Heather Cassils

A subversive, lispy, hairy, hormone induced explosion of videos and shorts that confuse, annihilate, and open up what it means to be transgendered. Discover the cinematic vision of the �gender dysphoric� as they slice open clinical labels, botox the boundaries, and stitch together their own self-determined, exquisite corpse.

Program:

Operation Invert Directed by Tara Mateik USA, 2003, 13 min.

You Will Never Be a Woman. You Must Live the Rest of Your Days Entirely as a Man and You Will Only Grow More Masculine with Each Passing Year. There Is No Way Out Directed by Van Barnes, Zackary Drucker, Mariah Garnett, A.L. Steiner USA, 2008, 9 min

Fix My Dick - CHRISTEENE Featuring DJ Jaunty Directed by PJ Raval USA, 2009, 4 min

Oookie Cookie Directed by Barry Morse USA, 2009, 3 min

Video Portrait #4: The Infamous Boom Boom Directed by Austin Young USA, 2009, 3 min

Somethings Gonna Soon Directed by Dylan Mira & Math Bass USA, 2008, 4 min

Study of Repetition to Achieve: The New Now Part #2 Directed by Samuel Vasquez USA, 2009, 3 min

Untitled Peter Berlin Project Directed by Mariah Garnett USA, 2009, 2 min

N Train Directed by Rhys Ernst USA, 2009, 2 min

Lovesong Directed by Jenn Kolmel USA, 2009, 4 min

Sexi Directed by Juan Carlos Zaldivar USA, 2008, 16 min


Wednesday July 15, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: By Hook or By Crook with shorts and trailers from Steakhaus Productions.
"One of our experiments was to make a movie where the characters in the story could be played interchangeably by a man or woman, gay or straight. We wanted to make a piece that would be dealt with on it�s own artistic and emotional terms.... This is a movie about a budding friendship between two people. The fact that they happen to be queer is purposefully off the point. If you call them something, other than sad, rambling, spirited, gentle, sharp or funny�you might call them 'butches'." Harry Dodge

BY HOOK OR BY CROOK is a buddy film that chronicles three weeks in the life of a handsome, gender-bending, small-town butch with a nagging messiah-complex. Emotionally defeated since the death of her father, SHY heads to the big city to sink herself into a "life of crime". She is quickly distracted by VALENTINE, a deliriously expressive, wise-acre adoptee on a misguided search for her birthmother. The two freaky grifters join forces and learn the true meaning of "poise under pressure" in this visually stunning and wonderfully acted, anti-authoritarian tale of friendship, trust and redemption.

A true tragic-comedy, BY HOOK OR BY CROOK is like a butch queer version of MIDNIGHT COWBOY�hilarious, poignant and brave, bringing grace and humor to its socially insightful subjects. It is also the first of its kind: It�s a movie about butches by butches and gives voice to a powerful new creative sensibility.

Shot at over 64 locations by indie vet D.P. Ann T. Rossetti (Go Fish) and directed with lush detail by first-time directors�the artist/rockstar duo Dodge and Howard�BY HOOK OR BY CROOK opens a carnival peephole into a world almost never before captured in a narrative film: the lives of real, working class butches (and the ladies who love them). A lucid piece of cinema verit� with fearless moments of magic realism, this film is as rowdy as it is tender in its groundbreaking gender exploration and treatment of human fallibility, resilience and dignity. Sketches of mental illness and money troubles are made fresh with the rough and touching combination of rusty hot-rod glamour and unselfconscious vulnerability.

Exploiting the full potential of digital video, the film�s vibrating colors and luminous presence sustain a photographic vision, relaying imagery from an American gothic landscape without dipping toward sentimentality or the voyeur�s wink. The main characters, SHY and VALENTINE, live in and around this world with the intimacy of insiders, as well as the wariness of those who have been relegated to the outside. These characters are thus hauntingly familiar and completely original. With acutely unique stories and styles, this film deftly circumvents stereotype and posturing and rises to the task of portraying gorgeous human intricacy, with the incisive, self-reflective wit and generosity of a great novel. The premiere feature from Steakhaus and NGB Productions, the film also introduces acclaimed writer/performer Stanya Kahn, who brings original dialogue and a powerful performance as BILLIE. True grit and the sexiness of a naked landscape: BY HOOK OR BY CROOK is utterly post-post-modern, a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

the film will be preceded by these shorts:

What I Love About Dying: A Tribute to Kris Kovick
Directed by Silas Howard (2006) 10 Minutes
An irreverent tour guide for dealing with the inevitable. a short documentary about the life and untimely death of story-teller and political activist, Kris Kovick.
http://www.steakhaus.com/kovick/
http://www.steakhaus.com/kovick/synopsis.htm

Billy�s Dad is a Fudgepacker
Director: Jamie Donahue (2005) 7.44 min.
starring Robert Gant, Cady Huffman and Alex Borstein
Billy's essay assignment causes him to take a look at the world around him. What will he be when he grows up? Does he want to be a policeman or a fireman? Or will Billy turn out to be a fudge-packer like his father? An official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, made through the POWER UP film grant program.

Goodnight Vagina
Directors: Stacy Sherman (Academy Award Nominee)
& Brie Turner-Obanian (2006)
starring Cheryl Hines, Gary Cole and Magda Szubanski
A woman decides to have some very specific work done in this short comedy satirizing America's obsession with plastic surgery. Meg turns to a life of crime to foot the bill for her un-needed labiaplasty operation. On the day of the surgery, things don't go according to plan.



Wednesday, June 17, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Happy Endings?
media folks: hit the thumbnail to the right to download high res image.

With the Rhode Island legislature getting ready to vote on changing the "indoor prostitution" loophole, CineMental is thrilled to bring this insightful documentary to the Boston area. Filmmaker Tara Hurely will join us for Q+A following the screening. This should be a rousing discussion of sex worker's rights and privacy as well as informative about her filmmaking process.

Happy Endings? is an intriguing exploration of the Asian massage parlor industry in Providence, RI, where a 25 year-old loophole has made the exchange of sex for money legal � as long as it happens behind closed doors.

As the documentary follows a recent Korean immigrant, "Heather", working to operate her spa, the city's mayor fights to change the law that allows her business a legal existence.

The film includes interviews with Korean women who work in spas, clients who frequent the spas, politicians from 1980 and today, police, local news footage, radio call-in shows and "voiced" reviews from internet escort review boards.

Official Website
Official Blog
Film Trailer
Facebook Group for film


Here are some films and programs Truth Serum recommends at the Boston LGBT Film Festival May 6-17
go to http://www.bostonlgbtfilmfest.org for full schedule, parties, details, and online ticketing.

Saturday, May 9 2pm Brattle
Films of Barbara Hammer: A Horse is Not a Metaphor (30min, 2008) and Diving Women of Jeju-Do (30 min, 2007)
Director Present (these films are amazing!!!!! plus barbara is a genius.)

Saturday, May 9 4:30pm Brattle
The Lollipop Generation G.B. Jones, 70min, Canada, 2008, English
(this film is a who's who of indie artists and musicians. it's so gorgeous and fun. great soundtrack...and it was 15 years in the making...from the maker of Riot Grrrl anthem, "Yo Yo Gang" !!!)
here's the trailer!

Saturday, May 9 7pm Brattle
The Lovers and Fighters Convention Mike Wyeld, 66min, UK, 2009, English
(kind of like TraniWreck but more proper, professional and British! my pals from the international drag scene are in it!)

Sunday, May 10 6:00pm Brattle
Queerment Qu�bec: New Voices (Shorts)
(see what's up in Qu�bec!)

Wednesday, May 13 9:30pm Brattle
CineMental Presents: Channeling curated by Ethan White and Latham Zearfoss
(we screened this a couple of months ago and it was so amazing we wanted to make sure it hit a bigger audience. seriously beautiful, witty and artful short films about queer bodies, the spirit, and weirdo stuff.)

Friday, May 15 11pm Brattle
Otto; Or, Up With Dead People Bruce LaBruce, 94min, Germany, Canada, 2008, English, German w/ subtitles
(BLaB is known for making hot art/porn films like "Rasberry Reich" and "Hustler White". I love his work and he's a doll. I've been trying to see this queer zombie love/sex film since I heard it was making the curcuit, so I lobbied hard to get it into the festival. If the Brattle doesn't have their beer and wine license by this screening...take matters into your own hands...but don't say I told you so. Meet me in the balcony.)
here's the trailer

Sunday, May 17 2:45pm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Times of Harvey Milk Rob Epstein and Richard Schmeichen, 90min, USA, 1984, English
Preceded by 575 Castro Street (Jenni Olson, 7min, USA, 2008, English)
(perfect timing for both films! so excited to see them. and a great way to celebrate the history of our festival!)


Wednesday, April 15, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Pansy Division: Life In A Gay Rock Band with live performance!
Join us on April 15th for an extra special CineMental. We will be screening the new documentary Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band with an appearance by founding member Jon Ginoli and Joel Reader who will do a brief acoustic performance and a Q + A.

Undeniably one of the most important and influential gay music acts in the last twenty years, Pansy Division pioneered the "queercore" genre long before other gay musicians had the confidence to come out of the closet, and without major record label support or mainstream radio airplay.

Using original and archive footage and covering over fifteen years as a group, Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band is a fast-paced, intimate and humorous account of one of rock�s most fearless acts. From their first days in San Francisco's underground music scene to a full-fledged stadium tour with Green Day and beyond, founding members Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman overcome increasingly difficult line-up changes, prejudice and near-poverty to keep the band together and create music that has truly made a difference.

Prior to our screening, at 7:30, Jon Ginoli will be reading from his new book, Deflowered: My Life In Pansy Division, at Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner. Stop by there to hear him read and pick up the book. Then come to the screening and have him sign it!

go here for more info
here's the trailer for the film


March 19-26, 2009
BUFF Boston Underground Film Festival

CineMental Does BUFF
Saturday March 21, 2009 2:45pm in Theater 3 at the Kendall
Official Fest Website


We've partnered with BUFF to help them in their mission to bring underground film to theaters. CineMental filtered through the BUFF submissions to find the dirty queer underbelly of independent film and surprisingly we didn�t find much garbage. This year�s selections are varied in theme but all very high production values�in the world wide recession, are underground artists making money somehow?

In "Diva" a gay man flees his repressive hometown for the big city and births his inner femme and she gives him the strength to fight back. "Delores Del Rio" tells the story of an obsessive drag queen brother whose lesbian sister's lover decides she likes his illusion of femme better than the sister's reality of femme. "Shadow of at Fire" is a story of lesbian love gone bad complete with clich� dancing in leaves and the devil stealing the girl, typical, right? "The Cowboy" is more of a visual delight and horror film than a gay film, but there's some hot gay lust/sex in there, so we'�ll claim it. Kathleen Mullen is from Toronto, but she used to live her and programmed the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and shorts at the Provincetown Film Festival in the past. We'll be showing two of her short experimental films because we miss her and they're gorgeous.

Find Us and Join Us:
on facebook
cinemental.boston@gmail.com


Wednesday, March 18, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Channeling: an invocation of spectral bodies & queer spirits
CHANNELING is a film and video program curated by Latham Zearfoss and Ethan White.

CHANNELING is an entryway into the spirit realm and the queer body politic: a program of experimental moving image work that calls up the ghosts of the past and the specters of the future. The intent of the program is to re-imagine film and video as occult technologies that allow us to connect with the bodies, experiences, and emotions that are often invisible� ghostly, even�in everyday life. The works in the program take a personal approach in dealing with the political and historical problems that haunt the queer experience: the AIDS pandemic (Renwick, DiStefano), the body in transition (Montague),the idealized nuclear family (Pena, Robinson), and the narrow cultural standards of desirability (EMR, Moulton). CHANNELING presents emerging and established artists critically engaging with these concerns on their own campy, poetic, sexual,humorous, and even utopian terms, using a variety of aesthetic approaches such as digital video, homemade effects, saturated 8mm, home movies, animation, green screen, and more.

Vanessa Renwick - 9 is a Secret (2002, 6:00, video)
Elliot Montague - Well Dressed (2006, 10:00, Super 8mm on video)
Shana Moulton - Whispering Pines #7 (2006, 5:00, video)
Michael Robinson - Carol Anne is Dead (2008, 7:30, video)
EMR (Math Bass & Dylan Mira) - Somethings Gonna Soon (2008, 4:00, video)
Aay Preston-Myint - Some Ghosts (2007, 2:00, video)
Jillian Pena - Compromise (2005, 10:00, video)
John Di Stefano - (tell me why): The Epistemology of Disco (1990, 24:00, video)
Total Running Time: ~68 min. Official Program Website


Wednesday, February 18, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: Queer Animation from near and far
The Brattle is running their Bugs Bunny-a-thon and so CineMental decided we'd play along and put together a screening of the best and newest queer animation we could find. It's sure to be a blast...and The Brattle might even have their beer and wine license by then...


Wednesday, January 21, 2009 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: 68 Pages plus live performance by Mesma!
media folks: hit the thumbnail to the right to download high res image.
and check this site for others.
electronic press kit for 68 Pages
68 Pages official website.
68 Pages Trailer

CineMental presents 68 Pages Directed by Sridhar Rangayan. 92 min 2007

From the director of award winning queer films The Pink Mirror (Gulabi Aaina) and Yours Emotionally! comes another hard hitting drama about marginalized people. Subverting the Bollywood film genre of song-dance and high drama, the film places characters ignored by Bollywood centerstage - a transsexual bar dancer, a prostitute, a gay couple - to tell their stories of pain and trauma, of happiness and hope, about being HIV+ and alienated.

The film lays bare the ground realities in India, the society's apathy and cruelty towards HIV and AIDS in a honest and sensitive manner. Coming from a country like India that is still in denial, where being HIV+ is still a curse, 68 Pages rips open the underbelly of its society to reveal how it stigmatizes and shuns those who are HIV+ or even those who just want to be what they are.

Through 68 pages of a counselors diary, we see the stories of Paayal, a sex worker; Nishit, an ID user; Kiran, a gay man and Umrao, a transsexual bar dancer - their stories of pain and fear, humiliation and rejection - not only by the society, but even by their loved ones. While these stories expose the shallowness of the system, it also offers hope and healing by trying to bring about a better understanding of their fight to live with dignity.

The film is a tribute to the human spirit of optimism and survival. In Hindi with English subtitles.

Preceeding the 68 Pages we'll screen the trailer for Queer East and there will be a performance by Mesma (Sudarshan) Belsare.

Mesma is a Boston-based dancer, choreographer, actor, visual artist and art-museum educator and belongs to a generation of young dancers in the South Asian Diaspora in North America who have created a unique niche for themselves in the realm of classical Indian arts, while expanding their repertoire in the contemporary idiom. Formally trained in Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical dance) for over 15 years by Shankar Hombal and Padmashri Geeta Chandran, she has been subsequently working on creating choreography that addresses gender, gender-identity and sexual ity. As a transgender performer, Mesma is perpetuating the classical tradition of Stri-Vesham where the target gender identity of a woman�s psyche and body is the medium to communicate Nayaki Bhava (the voice of the female protagonist) in the traditional Bharatanatyam repertoire.

The screening will be followed by a discussion on HIV and the LGBT community in India and Southeast Asia. And then cocktails at Casablanca downstairs from the theater.

CineMental January and 68 Pages is being co-presented by MASALA, the Massachusetts Area South Asian Lambda Association. MASALA is a social group based in Boston, that provides a safe and supportive environment to New England based Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning South Asians (people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet; and from the global South Asian Diaspora).


Wednesday, December 17, 2008 9:30pm
CineMental Presents: The Godfather of Disco plus live dj/mixing demo by Kris Kono and Bob Diesel
MILK is in the theaters right now. It's an amazing film that celebrates the life of Harvey Milk and his activism. The Godfather of Disco is a film that celebrates the music of the era Milk was working in. The pairing of these two films is an amazing historical coup! While Milk was fighting in the streets, Godfather of Disco's Mel Cheren was producing the music that was in the clubs.

The Godfather of Disco by Gene Graham (2007, 82 min.)
Based on Mel Cheren's autobiography, My Life and the Paradise Garage: Keep On Dancin'

We will be celebrating The Godfather of Disco, the music of the era, pioneer/activist/survivor Mel Cheren (who passed in December 2007), and the house scene in Boston. The Screening will be followed by a live DJ demonstration of mixing techniques used in the dance clubs featuring music from the West End Records catalog and illustrating just how revolutionary Mel's forward thinking was.

Mel Cheren is the guy who put an instrumental on the b-side of a 45 so DJs could mix with it. He's the guy who pressed the first 12" single which revolutionized the way DJs spun dance music in the 70's in the clubs. Cheren had his finger on the pulse of a burgeoning generation that crossed cultures and sexual orientations - and changed music forever. Today's hip hop and electronic music would not be the same without Cheren and colleagues such as legendary DJ Larry Levan and former partner and Paradise Garage owner Michael Brody. Mel Cheren is The Godfather of Disco. Pioneer. Activist. Survivor. Fallen Hero.

Based on Mel Cheren's powerful autobiography, My Life and the Paradise Garage: Keep On Dancin,' The Godfather of Disco (G.O.D.) offers a mesmerizing overview of the rise and fall of '70s-era dance music. Through a series of interviews with a who's who of the dance music community, G.O.D. uses the arc of Mel's life to examine the early 70's musical and cultural currents that gave birth to disco, West End Records' contribution to that scene, the rise of Paradise Garage, and the onslaught of HIV/Aids and it's impact on New York City. We look at Mel's activist years as he harnesses the power of music to fight Aids via his charity work for GMHC and 24hrs for Life/LifeBEAT. Through it all, Mel has been there, done that, lived to tell the tale until December 2007. And continues on through this documentary and the music, spirit and love he left behind.

CineMental is co-presented by The Video Underground in JP
This month CineMental is collaborating with the following orgs to get the Boston House Music Scene out to the Brattle.
We thank them for their efforts:
Boston House Music Coalition
Francesco Spagna (Unity-Boston)
George Greenidge, Jr.
Liza Zayas
SoulClap

Friends who want to help us promote this event...here are links to graphics to download and print, or post on line:
Color print poster 8.5"x11"
Color print flyers 4 on a page 8.5"x11"
B+W print flyers 4 on a page 8.5"x11"
Color web flyer
Let me know if you have questions. Thanks!

A portion of the proceeds will be dontated to a AIDS related non-profit TBD.




Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9pm
CineMental Presents: Bears, Bears, Bears and more Bears
for high res. images for download, click the image to the right

It's getting cold out. Before you hibernate for the winter, please join us for an evening of big, bad Bears! We will be bringing you a gaggle of short bear films (or bear short films).

Directors will be present!!

Featuring:

JUST ADDED local bear hip hop artist SANT1 of the ZULLO CREW will be dropping a flow or two to open up the evening! We're thrilled to add him!

Bear Run by Dan Hunt (2008, 52 min) Director present.
Award-winning documentarian Dan Hunt has created a delightful, intimate-and surprising-portrait of what it means to be a maturing gay man in the new millennium. BEAR run tracks the contemporary rituals, language, values and evolving aesthetic of bear culture, by following three characters as they romp through the 2006-2008 event circuit Bear Albany, International Bear Rendezvous, Bear Week - Provincetown, Bear Trek and Lazy Bear Weekend... among others. BEAR run celebrates the BEAR community through the moving and compelling stories of Mikhael, Louie and Mike. http://www.bearrunthemovie.com/

The Back Room by Greg Ivan Smith (2008, 16 min 13 sec) Director present.
Two utter strangers uncover astonishing connections as they search for a mysterious Renaissance painting.

A Bear, Where? by Jeremy Stewart (2007, Australia, animated, 3 min)
A photo-montage animated story of a little bear who tries to catch the eye of a furry cutie. Climb aboard his truck, ride the train, take a balloon ride to 30,000 feet all on a journey through a collaged daddy-world of BearAirlines, newsreader bears and more!

plus:
+exerpts of Trans Bear porn from trans porn filmmakers Trannywood Pictures.
+short films by local filmmakers Shawn Cotter and Sean Johnson. Both will be present.
+Author Ron Suresha will introduce and chat with the filmmakers. Ron is the author of Bears on Bears: Interview & Discussions, editor of three anthologies of bear-themed fiction, and publisher of the newly formed imprint Bear Bones Books. He is a former Boston-based bear and founder of the Rhode Island bearclub, Bears Ocean State.

CineMental Bears is co-presented by Video Underground
This Bear evening is co-Presented by the Alley Bar: Where the bears are!


alert! alert! date change! Tuesday, October 14, 2008
CineMental Presents: Perfomance, Film and Q+A with Océan LeRoy
press folks: click the images to the right for high res versions.

Tues Oct 14 9pm: Océan LeRoy will perform, screen his film and answer questions
Weds Oct 15 10:45pm: Océan LeRoy will screen his film and answer questions.

Océan LeRoy, will screen his film Risk, Stretch, or Die and perform live original songs and pieces. Hit the links to watch the trailer for the film.

Risk, Stretch, or Die 60 min 2007
Direction, camera, sound, editing: Saskia Heyden Music: JP Coppens / Sound Mix: Alex Fox, Jutta Haasmann

French Drag King Océan LeRoy has been a celebrity in Berlin's transgender scene for years and has been traveling the world with his show and film. Famous for his performances of quick transition from woman to man, Océan also lives the contradiction in real life: seductive gender performer at night, smart businesswoman during the day...

Risk, Stretch, or Die gives you a glimpse of a very private world. Deeply moving in instants of intimacy, Océan always stays ambiguous: between day and night, woman and man, openness and mystery.

Hitting the stage as a man and a woman, the innovative entertainer performs a broad range of passion-charged numbers, from poetry slam to hardcore punk rock loaded with political statements, often pushing the audience outside their comfort zone.

Get ready to be pushed.


Wednesday, October 15, 2008
CineMental Presents: Risk, Stretch, or Die with q+a with Océan LeRoy
press folks: click the images to the right for high res versions.

CineMental is all about the alternatives:
Tues Oct 14 9pm: Océan LeRoy will perform, screen his film and answer questions
Weds Oct 15 10:45pm: Océan LeRoy will screen his film and answer questions.


See above for information about the film.




Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Bi's Night Out: Queer Bisexual Film Program

To commemorate Celebrate Bisexuality Day, CineMental hooked up with The Bisexual Resource Center (yes, we're sluts) to gather and present a program of queer bisexual themed films. MadFemmePride and BRC is holding a drinks and dinner meet up before the films, and director of Bi Camp, Wayne Bryant will join us for discussion after.

The program includes these and other films tbd in a random order because we just can't make up our minds:

Bi Camp (2006)
3 min., color. Directed by Wayne Bryant.
Every year bisexuals gather in August at a private camping area in western Massachusetts for a week of outdoorsiness. Here's a quick peek into Bi Camp.

Checkout (2006)
9 min., color. Directed by Jenn Garrison.
Two friends compete for the attention of the same woman in the supermarket, but the checkout counter gets even more interesting.

On My Skin/En Mi Piel (2006)
8 min., color, digital video. Directed by Amy André.
On the cusp of gender transition from female to male, Logan Gutierrez-Mock, a light-skinned person of mixed race, realizes he will soon be passing not only as a man, but also as a white man.

Shady Bi (2006)
4 min., color & b/w, mini DV. Directed by April Faith Hirschman.
This satirical comedy warns the viewer of the dangers of bisexual women.

Street Haunting (2007)
6 min., b/w, 16mm. Directed by Kami Chisholm.
No matter where she goes, from a summer party in a mansion to the city streets on a winter's evening, Virginia is haunted by the presence of Vita.

Whatever Suits You (2006)
7 min., color, miniDV. Directed by Ashley Altadonna.
In this film, the director parallels the process of transforming a suit into a dress with all the physical, mental, and emotional processes of changing genders.


Wednesday, August 20, 2008
TRANS ENTITIES:The Nasty Love of Papi' and Wil


TRANS ENTITIES:The Nasty Love of Papi' and Wil
a film by Morty Diamond
The Official Website

Trans Entities: The Nasty Love of Papi' and Wil is a unique, sexy, thought provoking and above all touching portrait of a real transgender couple, Papi' and Wil, who open themselves up to the camera like you have never seen before. They are a perverted, loving, polyamorous couple who identify as Trans Entities, a word they have coined to describe their gender identity.

This film is 4 parts BDSM, polyamory, sexuality and gender documentary and 3 parts hot sex scenes. They discuss their gender expression, the perils and joy of poly love, and you see them negotiating a role play scene. The film gives the viewer an engagingly raw look into Papi and Wil's uninhibited, joyous and exploratory life.



CineMental is sponsored by The Video Underground in JP
and we even have a Facebook page: join us here!


Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Gender Redesigner
CineMental is excited to welcome fAe Gibson, subject of Gender Redesigner, to Boston for this screening and discussion.

Gender Redesigner Johnny Bergmann, USA, 2006, Video, 74 min.

Follow fAe over the course of 5 years as she begins to question her gender and decides to surgically modify her body. This intimate fun filled adventure makes you wonder how fAe can handle beginning hormone treatment, having his breasts removed, and drag kinging - all in the middle of rural Western Pennsylvania. While transitioning from female to male, fAe makes a startling discovery about the balance between his masculine and feminine sides. Can she succeed living as a man in the middle of farm country?

Gender Redesigner has screened at: NYC NewFest, San Francisco Frameline Festival, North Carolina Film Fest, Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival, and the Best of NewFest @ BAM and other festivals.

fore more information: http://www.myspace.com/genderredesignerfilm and http://www.RainbowAmerica.org




Wednesday, June 18, 2008
CineMental: Tribute to Chantal Akerman

We'll be screening a series of amazing short films that are inspired by or pay homage to the work of Belgian filmaker, Chantal Akerman, programmed by James Nadeau.

This episode of CineMental is co-presented by the List Center for Visual Arts at MIT. Thanks and props to Bill Arning and everyone there for including us in their presentation of "Chantal Akerman: Moving Through Time and Space." Which is, by the way, a truly amazing show that all must see. It is up until July 6th.


Wednesday, May 21, 2008
CineMental TURNS ONE! Come celebrate our One Year Anniversary with several screenings!

At The Museum of Fine Arts:
465 Huntington Avenue
5:00 pm Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman (1996, 65 min.).
6:30 pm Je Tu Il Elle by Chantal Akerman (1974, 90 min.).
(discounted tickets for people seeing both Akerman offerings, available.)
8:15 pm XXY by Lucia Puenzo (2007, 91 min.).
blurbs below.

At Brattle Theater:
40 Brattle Street Harvard Sq. Cambridge
advanced tickets available here
9.30 pm Derek Jarman's Carravagio

Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman (France, 2001, 64 min.).
"One of the finest filmmakers working anywhere...an excellent introduction to her work...a must-see" (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader). Chantal Akerman finally turns the camera on herself in this two-part film. Part one opens with Akerman in her apartment, reading from a text directly to the camera, describing the problems she encountered making this film. What emerges from this mise-en-sceneis a funny, personal, and thoughtful confession from this extremely perceptive filmmaker. Part two lets Akerman's films speak for her, using clips from her extensive filmography and linking them anonymously until they form a new film. Scenes include clips from Jeanne Dielman, her best- known film, as well several lesser-known works-forays into experimental film, comedic shorts, musicals, and narrative features-including an early short film starring the very young filmmaker.

Je tu il elle by Chantal Akerman (France, 1974, 90 min.).
A film that slowly and quietly observes one woman in three parts, film critic B. Ruby Rich describes Je tu il elleas a "cinematic Rosetta Stone of female sexuality." We first encounter the woman alone in an empty room as she discusses moving the furniture, eats sugar from a brown paper bag, and writes long letters that are strewn on the floor. We then accompany the woman on a spontaneous and erotic ride with a trucker, and finally, the woman, who is now hungry, asks a woman she is visiting for a sandwich before making love to her. The film beautifully challenges conventions of both cinema and autobiography, and includes "...one of the most stirring and erotic lovemaking scenes in the history of cinema...I left the theater walking on air" (Bo Smith). (truth serum newsflash: straight man gets off on lesbian love scene. big surprize. i'm not saying it's not hot, but does it need this kind of validation?)

XXY by Lucia Puenzo (Argentina, 2007, 91 min.). Spanish with English subtitles.
Alex is a strong-willed fifteen-year-old intersex girl facing adolescent angst, her body, and the huge decision of whether to continue life as a girl or a boy amidst outside pressure from family and their small town's closed mindedness. Alvaro is the sixteen-year-old son of the surgeon brought to town for consult who is secretly struggling with his sexuality. An attraction builds between the two awkward outsiders. Filmmaker Lucia Puenzo, "The film is really about desire, and if you connect with desire you are saved. Any person that connects with what brings them pleasure and makes them alive will be fine."

Based on a novel by her husband, 31 year old Lucia Puenzo (daughter of famed Argentinean filmmaker Luis Puenzo) tackles the already difficult prospect of reinventing a story created by someone else (let alone someone close!) while making her first feature length film. XXY has won fifteen international prizes including ones from Cannes, Athens, Bangkok, Cartagena, Edinburgh and the Goya.

here's an decent interview with XXY filmmaker
and here's a print interview

Caravaggio by Derek Jarman (Britain, 1986)
The film is a fictionalized re-telling of the life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Jarman's film revolves around the love triangle of Caravaggio (Nigel Terry), Lena (Tilda Swinton) and Ranuccio (Sean Bean) and dwells upon Caravaggio's use of street people, drunks and prostitutes as models for his intense, usually religious paintings. Like Caravaggio's use of contemporary clothing and items in his bibical paintings, Jarman gave his characters contemporary clothes and props. Caravaggio was the first time that Jarman worked with Tilda Swinton and was her first film role.


Films Truth Serum Is Presenting at The 24th Annual Boston Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival

May 7 � 18, 2008
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Avenue Tickets and Full Schedule: here


Sun, May 18, 12:00 pm $7/$6
"She's a Boy I Knew" by Gwen Haworth (Canada, 2007, 70 min.). A comic, heartbreaking, and uplifting autobiographical look at a family whose bonds are strengthened when they face their preconceptions about gender and sexuality. Filmmaker Haworth shares the story of her transition from Steven to Gwen, and how those closest to her were affected. With the use of archival footage and animation to illustrate her story, we're privy to eloquently articulated feelings of anger, and fear as well as love and compassion. Preceded by /The Role I Was Born to Play/ (Lukas Blakk, Canada, 2007, 9 min.). Borrowing clips from three films about gender bending this piece shows the assumptions, strategies for survival and the need for discussion that alternate gender expressions evoke.
http://www.artflick.com

Sun, May 18, 2 pm
"Derek" by Isaac Julien, (UK, 2008, 76 min.). Painter, gay militant, AIDS activist and filmmaker, Derek Jarman's life was a party to which all were invited. Here Tilda Swinton, his closest collaborator, and Isaac Julien, his artistic heir, bring Jarman's life and art to the screen. A previously unseen interview with Jarman forms the core of the film, while in voiceover Swinton reads 'Letter to an Angel', a haunting piece she wrote in memory of Jarman in 2002. Included are rare home-movies of Jarman's family, excerpts from feature films (Sebastiane, Blue), his music videos of The Smiths and the Pet Shop Boys, and more. Introduced by James Nadeau, Co-Director, CineMental, filmmaker, independent curator and Technical Instructor in Film at MIT.
http://www.derekthemovie.com


Wednesday, April 16, 2008

CineMental presents: Greg Araki'sThe Living End

The Living End is a 1992 film by Gregg Araki. Described by some critics as a "gay Thelma and Louise," the film is an early entry in the New Queer Cinema genre. The Living End was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992.

Luke is a restless and reckless drifter and Jon is a relatively timid and pessimistic movie critic. Both are gay and HIV positive. After an unconventional meeting, and after Luke kills a homophobic police officer, they go on a road trip with the motto "Fuck everything."


Wednesday, March 19, 2008

CineMental presents: Lazlo Pearlman in a live performance and short film
press folks, hit the thumbnails to download high res images for print. illustration by www.cieloproductions.com

Lazlo Pearlman, an American Ex-Pat transgender guy living and thriving in London's performance scene, is a genius. Not only is he a visionary, he pushes the edges of every envelope he gets stuffed into. He's fascinated by gender, performance and language and will set your synapses on fire when he brings it all together in:

Madame Pierre's Other Tongue
A Surrealist Cabaret about Cunning Linguists


Madame Pierre is your Cabaret Chanteur/Chanteuse host who will take you on a multi-lingual journey of discovery of sex and gender and the joys of other tongues.

"Why is the French cock feminine? The German moon masculine? Do you know where to find der kitzler? Do
you know what "shame hair" is? Would you like someone French to graze your watercress? Do you do drague?"

Madame Pierre's Other Tongue is a subversive, surreal and silly look at language and gender, and gender in language. As well as being subversive, surreal and silly, Madame Pierre is sexy, salacious, saucy, salivating, salty, slick, seditious, satisfying, sordid, sartorial, scintillating, seductive, seedy, sensual, and so on, and so on, and so on.

The show is a 50 minute, one man production, including live singing and lipsync, physical theatre, multiple gorgeous costumes and genderfuck from a queer cabaret/burlesque transman Lazlo Pearlman's point of view.

"Lazlo Pearlman is a London based GenderBent, GenderQueer, Female-To Male Trrrranny Burlesque, Vaudeville, Fetish and Cabaret performer, song stylist, director and teacher whose work is often but not always based on the fact that he used to be a girl..."

We'll also be screening Lazlo Pearlman's short film Unhung Heroes, a trannyboy comedy about not having a dick.

+ Lazlo Pearlman will only be performing in Boston, Montreal, DC and maybe NYC. Check here for details.
+ Lazlo Pearlman's MySpace
+ See even more: performance photos of Lazlo Pearlman
+ Montreal radio show interview with Lazlo Pearlman (hit the link, in the pull down menu chose the program "queer corps" and then select the show on March 10th. His interview starts just before the 16 minute mark.)


Wednesday, February 20, 2008

CineMental presents: Love/Hate
press folks, hit the thumbnails to download high res images for print.

Meet us at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square for a special program of films that explore the themes of "love" and "hate." CineMental is post-valentines. We're over it. We've put together a program of short films from around the world that investigate love, hate, relationships and communication. Some are hot, some are difficult, some are confounding and some are just plain silly. Just like our love lives. CineMental is single and looking for dates. We'll be going out for drinks, discussion and post-valentine's day dishing. Join us. We're hot.

A Bear, Where? Australia, animated, 3 min. A photo-montage animated story of a little bear who tries to catch the eye of a furry cutie. Climb aboard his truck, ride the train, take a balloon ride to 30,000 feet all on a journey through a collaged daddy-world of BearAirlines, newsreader bears and more!

Two Nights. Australia, colour, 11 min. Over two nights a young Chinese-Australian man has sexual encounters with two very different individuals. Consequently, he has to choose between the one he wants or the one who wants him.

Razor Head by Tom Chomont French? 1984 6min silent film, bdsm ritualistic haircut.

I Like Dreaming by Charles Lofton USA, 1994, 6 mins, video I Like Dreaming is a confession about the pleasures of cruising straight acting, straight appearing men. Structured around the retelling of an (autobiographical) story about a public sexual encounter, I LIKE DREAMING seeks to make observations about the relationships between race/class/cultural identity.

Knuckle Down by K8 Hardy and Sarah Marcus 2000 8.40min K8 Hardy and Marcus don�t give a straight answer but instead evoke madness and irony around the issues typically important to feminists and queers alike.

Crash Skid Love by Christopher Chan Fui Chong 1998 Canada 3.5min A Claymation skater-boy love story, kinda.

On The Shelf by Sara Zia Ebrahimi and Naomi Skoglund 12 min (vhs) A homage to book lovers, On the Shelf is a humorous love story about a woman who is particular about the contents of her date's shelf. Shot in New York City, the video captures several lesbian owned businesses including Bluestockings Bookstore, Dish and Toys in Babeland.

Scan: The Couple by Kadet Kuhne 3.53 min (dvd) A digital video short about body language, communication and interpretation

The Virile Man by The Zellner Brothers 8 min (dvd) This short gives new meaning to the phrase "in the closet"

Pedro and Tony by Gordon Thomas 18.42 min (animated) very different creatures try to work out a surprizing relationship, of course, the lesbians down the hall have to get involved.


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

CineMental presents: Men Behaving Badly

Meet us at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square for a Special Evening Presenting the Area Premier of Former Museum School Faculty Member Larry Shea's new video Pilgrim's Progress! Along with other short bad boy films.

Pilgrim's Progress. Larry Shea, 2007, USA, video, color, sound, 18 min. Pilgrim's Progress is true story about the unintended consequences set in motion by the "founding of America" by religious extremist Calvinists (The Pilgrims). The odd evolution of their ideology from Puritan rigor to pluralistic civil rights sets the vector for this science fiction play. Using Provincetown, Massachusetts as a geographic anchor, the narrative travels from the Mayflower Landing in 1621 to space-alien pilgrims washing up on shore. With cameos by downtown New York performers the Dazzle Dancers and Murray Hill and stunning shots of natural beauty, Pilgrim�s Progress claims the spirit of righteousness for all deviants, outcasts and sinners (text from the MIX NYC Film Festival).


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

CineMental presents: Dirty December

This month we're trying to warm things up at bit with some dirty films on the experimental tip.

Szu Burgess Harigata: the ailen dildo that turned women into sex-hungry lesbos
Szu Burgess Is your wife a secret lesbian?
Georgia B. Wright Stellium in Capricorn a dreamy meditaion on BDSM, leather and hotness.
Michelle Johnson Triple X Selects lespoitation film clips galore!


Wednesday, September 19, 2007

CineMental featuring Back to School with Films by Faculty

with films by:
Abigail Childs (SMFA)
Jeannie Simms (SMFA)
Kathryn Ramey (Emerson)
Luther Price (SMFA)
Sam Smiley (Lesley University)
Gina Kamentsky (Mass Art and Northeastern)
and discussion with the filmmakers after the screening!

film maker bios here


Wednesday, August 15, 2007

CineMental featuring Naked Lunch with shorts


(1991) dir David Cronenberg w/Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm; Novel by William S. Burroughs [115 min]
Deftly interweaving elements of the classic Beat novel with actual facts from William S. Burroughs equally strange life, Cronenberg proves that even the most �unfilmable� text can be brought to the screen � when in the hands of a talented artist. Exterminator author Bill Lee begins to have some disturbing experiences when he becomes hooked on the bug poison he uses at his job � not the least of which is a living typewriter that is also a giant talking bug. Indescribably weird and wonderful.

Tonight's film will be introduced by local historian, author, cultural critic and Dartmouth College faculty member, Michael Bronski (Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps,2003 and The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom, 2000) and preceded by short films inspired by Burroughs.


Wednesday July 18, 2007

CineMental featuring Godspeed
CineMental presents our third screening event and it's a fundraiser for Godspeed the shortfilm based on Lynnee Breedlove's novel of the same title. (Breedlove was the singer for seminal punk dyke band Tribe 8) The screening will include Godspeed with other shorts and a performance by Ben McCoy (aka Mr. Lady).

The audience will be engaged in a conversation about about how independent films get made and funded and what the community can do to help. Guest speakers from the film industry in Boston will be invited to lead the conversation with the audience.

We'll have creative and exciting ways for audience members to contribute to Godspeed.



For press ready images: click the thumbnails above.


Wednesday June 20, 2007

CineMental featuring Mala Noche
Brattle Theater
CineMental presents our second screening and event: Gus Van Zant's first feature length film from 1985 Mala Noche with selected shorts and a discussion lead by author, historian and cultural critic, Michael Bronski. Join us for drinks and more discussion after the event.

Area Premiere Reissue!
(1985) dir Gus Van Sant w/Walt Curtis, Doug Cooeyate, Ray Monge [78 min]
"Gus Van Sant's first feature film, MALA NOCHE is an adaptation of the cult autobiographical 1970s novel by Walt Curtis. Walt is a young, out, gay man in Portland, Oregon where he runs a convenience store in an area populated mainly by bums and homeless immigrants. Despite himself, Walt falls into an 'amour fou' with Johnny, an illegal Mexican who doesn't speak a word of English and is barely 18. Walt is fully aware of his folly but pursues his romantic quarry nonetheless, while trysting on the side with Johnny's more-willing friend, Pepper."

"Shot in black and white 16mm, MALA NOCHE is a little like a Pacific Northwest echo of Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise but is also a piece all of its own. Van Sant skirts the grim side of life with subtle humor and a lyrical visual style reflected in the rest of his films. He is helped considerably by the low-key and charming performance of Tim Streeter as Walt "one of the most realistic, likable gay characters seen in years," according to PlanetOut.com. Never fully distributed in the U.S. and available only in bootleg VHS copies, this reissue features a fully restored and newly struck film print and represents one of the first opportunities for Bostonians to see this film in the way it was meant to be seen." (those quotes mean i didn't write the description...)


Sunday May 20, 2007

Screening: Queer Experimental Cinema: Then and Now
Films 3:45 pm @ MFA Boston Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival
Co-presented with the Video Underground
An array of experimental films past and present, featuring a rare screening of Jean Genet's, Un Chant d'Amour (Song of Love), introduced by MIT Professor of French and Film Studies, Edward Turk. The Sleepers by Charles Lofton (The Netherlands, 2006, 5 min., English) Inspired by Walt Whitman's poem of the same name: "I swear they are all beautiful, every one that sleeps is beautiful, everything in the dim light is beautiful." Body Image by Paul Sixta (The Netherlands, 2006, 21 min.) During a shiatsu massage, Tim's body slowly lets memories surface and tell their stories. Dyketactics by Barbara Hammer (1974, 4 min.) Barbara Hammer's influential celebration of lesbian sensuality and sexuality. Untitled by Liz Rosenfeld (US, 2005, 8 min.) Bodies move freely through an ambiguous urban "utopia"; or do they? Un Chant d'Amour (Song of Love) by Jean Genet (France, 1950, 26min.). Two prisoners in complete isolation, separated by the thick brick walls, and desperately in need of human contact, devise a most unusual kind of communication.


Thursday May 17, 2007

Screening: Men's Shorts Program
Films 6:00 pm @ MFA Boston Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival
Men's Shorts Program: Mizery by Carmen Oquendo-Villar (2006, 17 min.). Mizery explores the stage life of its eponymous Panamanian drag queen. Valley of the Chapstick by Robert Kennedy (Canada, 2005, 8 min.). A recovering lip balm addict takes it one day at a time. Dinner Conversation by Jim Cashman (2006, 4 min.). A slip of the tongue can lead to hilarious results over dinner. The Underminer by Todd Downing (UK, 2005, 6 min.) The best friend who casually destroys your life. Lesbians: The Music Video by Laura Terruso (206, 4 min.). Electro-cult-comic Clay Drinko hearts his lesbians. The Sleepers by Charles Lofton (The Netherlands, 2006, 5 min.). Inspired by Walt Whitman's poem of the same name, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble by Jamie Phelan (Canada, 2005, 6 min.). An animated remake of the 1977 TV movie of the week, using Ken and Barbie dolls to explore the themes of adolescent love, isolation, plastic bubbles, beach parties, and the boy next door. David by Roberto Fiesco (Mexico, 20 05, 15 min., Spanish w/ subtitles) A young mute student tries to go to the movies while ditching class, but changes his mind when he meets an unemployed man who tries to communicate with him. Through messages and games, the two will make a discovery that they never imagined. Arie by Gianluca Vallero, 2004, (Germany/Italy, 2004, 15min., German w. subtitles). Professional dancer Vittorio falls in love with his choreographer, Marco, and leaves his girlfriend. Although his feelings are not reciprocated, the experience leaves Vittorio much stronger for having discovered a new self-image. I Just Wanted to Be Somebody by Jay Rosenblatt (2006, 10 min.). What do the religious right and the gay liberation movement have in common? Anita Bryant fortified both.


Wednesday May 16, 2007

The Odyssey presented by Boston's new queer film/media series, CineMental
CineMental presents our first screening and event: The Odyssey

The Odyssey is 4th in the Pocket Myths series and is a collaboration between Andrea Lawlor and filmmaker Bernadine Mellis. Featuring work by mostly queer, trans, and women artists, retelling Homer's ancient epic of the aftermath of war. 24 continuous short films by 24 different groups of artists, tell the stories in the 24 chapters of Homer's epic, The Odyssey, in every film/video format imaginable. Film makers include: Paula Cronan & Laurie Weeks, Rebecca Yaffe & Laura Mays, Samuael Topiary, Courtney Dailey & Michael Hyde, Bill Basquin, EE Miller, Eileen Myles...Full list here.

The evening will feature music by Ryder Cooley along with readings by artists included in the project. After the screening we'll celebrate with drinks and discussion at Upstairs on the Square.

The Odyssey project comprises a zine complete with stories, poetry, and art, and the accompanying film on DVD. These will be on sale at the screening/performance. The zine is actually a 130 page volume, beautifully printed and closed with a naval knot of rope.

more details here.

click photo to download high res images:


Sunday May 13, 2007

Screening: El Calentito and The Face of God > El Calentito by Chus Gutierrez (Spain, 2005, 90 min.). Set amid Spain's troubled transition into democracy in the early 1980's, El Calentito follows na�ve and innocent Sara as she discovers El Calentito, a nightclub and safe haven for punk music and sexual expression. The club, owned by a sassy transsexual who plays surrogate mother to the patrons, hosts some of the most talented up-and-coming bands in punk music. When the all female Las Sioux recruits Sara as their new lead singer just before performing for a music executive at the club, Sara finds she has ten days to loose her virginity, remake herself into an authentic punk and keep her tyrannical mother from discovering that her daughter's going radical right in front of her. Spanish with English subtitles. Preceded by The Face of God by Peter Pizzi (US, 2007, 7 min.) Upon sight of a charming young man in an alley, one tranny (Ben McCoy) has a vision of heaven.

After-party with the filmmakers and stars, queer music video compilation, Backalley Jukebox, by Matt Thomas of Toronto, Tam Willey's new film: TRANNYCHASERS: A Skateboard Roadtrip, and Lisette Murphy's shadow puppet animation Mounte Bank: a traveling showcase of body bluffs, DJ Mark E. Moon and special film inspired drinks. The party will be happening from 8pm on, so come and chill if you want and watch the music videos. But we'll wait until about 10pm to run the local films so the folks over at the MFA can make it to the Milky Way.


Saturday February 10, 2007

Paris is Burning, Who's the Top and dragsters and dancers



It's my birthday and, like every other year, I figured I should celebrate it with some of the things I love: drag, dance, films, drinks and dessert. And it's a benefit for the Brattle! Paris is Burning is an award winning documentary about the drag ball scene in NYC in the mid-late 80's, made by Jennie Livingston. Who's the Top, a short film about love and sex, by the same filmmaker, was produced by Boston's own Laura Teodosio. The screening will be preceded by a performance by Boston dragsters and TraniWreck folks Becca D'Bus, Heywood Wakefield, Miss Nicholle Pride, Mr. Lady and our friend Judah Dorrington singing live. After the screening we'll go for drinks and dessert, but a change of plans has us moving it to a place to be determined. Check back for details.

press folks 4 high res images for you to chose from are here: 1 2 3 4