aGLIFF 2010 Daily Dispatch: Day Two, or How I Gained a New Respect for Mindy Cohn
Tropical storm Hermine had moved on by the second night of aGLIFF, leaving behind a muddy Lamar Boulevard and muggy air and making way for another enthusiastic crowd at the festival. The crowd was just the right size at the two screenings I attended; the theaters were nearly full but not sold out, so no one was turned away.
My first screening of the evening was the Argentinian import El Último Verando de la Boyita (The Last Summer of the Boyita), a lyrical, visually captivating coming-of-age story with a highly unusual twist. Jorgelina (Guadalupe Alonso) is a young girl suffering through the difficult time between young childhood and adolescence. She travels with her father to the family's ranch, where she spends her time with her longtime friend Mario (Nicolás Treise), an adolescent ranchhand who is going through an unexpected physical transformation and keeping a potentially devastating secret from his family and friends.
El Último Verando de la Boyita (pictured above) is an often touching love story with an important point about tolerance and acceptance. From its lovingly filmed, hardscrabble rural setting to its sensitive handling of a difficult theme, it's the sort of film that is tailor-made for festivals like aGLIFF but deserves a much wider audience.
Screening with El Último Verando de la Boyita was Franswa Sharl, an amusing, upbeat short film from New Zealand about an effeminate boy who, while on a family vacation in Fiji, seeks his macho father's approval in a very creative and hilarious way.
I also saw Violet Tendencies, a film so completely unlike El Último Verando de la Boyita that it made for a highly eclectic double feature. Brash, frank and hilariously vulgar, Violet Tendencies is the story of the titular Violet (Mindy Cohn from The Facts of Life) a self-proclaimed "oldest living fag hag" who adores her countless gay male friends but really wishes she could find true love with a straight man. The film effectively captures its New York City milieu, interlacing several funny and poignant love stories and putting its strong ensemble cast to good use. But the film belongs to Cohn, who carries the day as the clumsily forthcoming, love-me-for-who-I-am Violet, an appealingly frumpy Everywoman who is at once vulnerable and tough.
Screening with Violet Tendencies was Dish, a bleakly funny and somewhat gritty short about a gay 14-year-old who spends much of his time reading text messages about his friends' sexual exploits and decides he's had enough of virginity.
Between the screenings, I had the pleasure of meeting aGLIFF Executive Director Skot Tulk and Programs Director Jake Gonzalez. Hats off to both of them for organizing another successful festival. I'm looking forward to spending more time at aGLIFF this weekend; look for my daily dispatches about the Saturday and Sunday afternoon screenings.
aGLIFF runs September 7 through 12 at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. For more information, go to the aGLIFF website, Twitter page or Facebook page (which has many trailers linked to it).