aGLIFF Daily Dispatch #2: Babies and Hollywood
Despite only having two theaters and two time slots on the weeknights, aGLIFF is certainly making the most of the night. Last night I caught The Baby Formula and Hollywood, Je T'aime.
The Baby Formula is a surprisingly poignant and consistently funny comedy about two women who have their own child. Without male sperm. Through the miracle of stem cell research, they're able to make their first child without anything from a man other than the science to create "womanly sperm."
A documentary crew follows the two women around in a humorous expose of relationships, between lovers and family, as well as exploring the first child experience and the tensions it can create, including some insight into extended family dynamics, as the two women are from very different backgrounds.
Megan Fahlenbock (Resident Evil: Apocalypse) and Angela Vint (Lars and the Real Girl) as Lillith and Athena have a chemistry that makes them seem so much like a real couple, at times it seemed like a true documentary. Jessica Booker is a scene stealer, though, as the fiesty Grandma Kate.
Writer Richard Beattie captures an extended family with all the love, longing, and dysfunction involved. Director Alison Reid could shave about 5-10 minutes off it, especially at the end, but overall achieve consistent pacing that keeps the audience engaged, frequently laughing, with a few tears. If you get a chance to see it, don't stop watching til the credits end, the "my hump" video during the credits is hysterical. Now I want to see the short that inspired the feature.
Hollywood, Je T'aime an existential rom-com about by Odessa native Jason Bushman (pictured at right) that played to a capacity audience, with enthusiastic response. Jérôme Beaunez (Eric Debets), an ennui-ridden Parisian struggling to get over his ex, Gilles (Jonathan Blanc), who himself has moved on. Obsessed with the idea of California and an acting career, Jérôme goes to Los Angeles on vacation, with the intent of becoming a star, and forgetting Gilles.
Not surprisingly, LA is not quite what he expected, from the cost of decent hotel, to the reality of becoming a star. Jérôme encounters several characters, including Ross (Chad Allen), a dealer with a dog named Foxy Brown, to a helpful tranny with a crush on him (Diarra Kilpatrick), and Norma Desire (Michael Airington), an aging drag queen with a spare room and a broken, open heart. Kilpatrick, as Kaleesha, is almost heart breaking as she pines for Jérôme, and it's hard not to sympathize with Norma, who can't help but open her home and heart to strays.
Everyone, whether intentionally or not, help Jérôme on his journey to stardom, which, not surprisingly, has no few comical bumps in the road. Inspired by his own experiences, Bushman captures both the stranger in a strange land story and existential romance, down to the black and white scenes in Paris.
It doesn't feel like something filmed in less than a month (21 days in LA, 3 in Paris). It's beautifully shot, with most of the scenes reflecting Jérôme's inner landscape, with a memorable soundtrack to match.
Hollywood, Je T'aime is about longing, whether the heart's desire is just to connect, for true love, or for a vocation that seems to fulfill other desires. It has a je ne sais quoi that will stay with you after the lights come up. It will be out on DVD at the end of the year, so if you missed it at aGLIFF, you can catch it again later.
Tonight's choices include Boy, a romance that crosses socio-economic boundaries (and the only narrative of the evening), or Training Rules, a documentary on anti-gay agendas in sports and those who battle them. Later in the evening it's either The Reluctant Traveler, about travelling outside one's comfort zone, with director Marco Orsini in attendance, or For My Wife, which chronicles the tragedy of partner's rights discrimination and legislation in Washington State, with subject Charlene Strong in Attendance.
[Photo Credits: Jason Bushman provided by Jason Bushman]