aGLIFF 2011, Dispatch #3: We Speak Film

The programming for this 24th year of aGLIFF offers a frequently dark and somber lineup of selections. Opening-night film The Lulu Sessions, covered by Jenn in Dispatch #1, was a sobering look at the final days of a terminal cancer patient. This was presented along with Communication, a 20-minute short that also dealt with the death of a loved one, as a youth contemplates the missed possibility of an almost-relationship with his former professor.

Though I was unable to attend the earlier screenings Thursday, they continued the morbid trend with So Hard to Forget, which includes the words "painful" and "bitter loss" in the synopsis. Meanwhile on the other screen, We Were Here documented the early days of AIDS with a movie that was described by one viewer as "devastating, but incredibly well done."

In the later time slot was Amphetamine, a Chinese romance complicated by drug addiction. However, I opted for something lighter and more frivolous, which turned out to be delightfully touching. Twin brothers/reality stars/actors Gary and Larry Lane document their love of Dolly Parton in Hollywood to Dollywood.

Undertaking a pilgrimage to deliver a script crafted to express their love for her inspiration, the brothers are supported by a Who's Who of gay actors and friends. These include actor/producer Chad Allen, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and Sordid Lives stars Beth Grant, Ann Walker and the HI-larious Leslie Jordan. Along the way, they open up about life in the South as gay men with deeply religious conservative parents. At times their back-and-forth sounds like a schizophrenic arguing with himself, but their good nature always wins, and Hollywood to Dollywood is a movie everyone can enjoy. Texas connection: the trip took them through the Panhandle, including a night in Amarillo with a stop at the Cadillac Ranch and dinner at the Big Texan Steak House immortalized in TV, film and even an episode of The Simpsons.

aGLIFF runs through September 11 at several venues around Austin.

[Photo credit: Mike Saulters]