Cinemateca, August 4–10, 2008 
José Luis Pick’n’tip

2008 Sexual Diversity Film Festival We join this festival with a special selection of movies, among them the great documentary Muxes, which reflects a very special community where being homosexual not only is seen with good eyes, but with pride to have a Muxe in the family.

We sold out the last time we showed this documentary, so I recommend you buy tickets in advance. We will have as guest Arturo Castellan, director of the past Platino Mix, Film and Video Festival of Sexual Diversity in Mexico City. 


The Tip Important: In order to provide the best viewing experience, the show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length. Be sure to check the schedule carefully. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price: 50 pesos and discount cards buy 12 shows for 450 pesos. Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to secure a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out. Would you like to receive this info by email? Write to Jose Luis at alephamour@hotmail.com. Thank you.



The Movies

Winner of Best Documentary in the Boston Film Festival 
Lost and Found in Mexico
Monday, August 4 at 5pm
Documentary, English, 53 minutes.
Writer/director/producer: Caren Cross

Lost and Found in Mexico explores the question: What lies on the other side of the American dream? This quirky documentary explores the lives of Americans who chose to leave their hard-working, successful, and fast-paced lives to live in San Miguel, where leisurely conversations take place in the main square, burros walk the streets and people find their hearts engaged in living once again. While many Mexicans are leaving families behind and risking their lives to cross the border to a better life, this film focuses on the Americans who have decided to cross in the other direction—for a simpler life. Questions and Answers with the filmmaker follow the show. All proceeds benefit the Mexican kids’ scholarships.



2008 Sexual Diversity Film Festival



Muxes: Authentic, Intrepid, Seekers of Danger
Wednesday, August 6 at 1pm
Documentary, Spanish with English subtitles, 105 min
Director: Alejandra Islas 
Cast: Clara Chagorua, Victor Chirinos, Alicia de Sales, Judith López Zaire.

A lively and surprising portrait of a group of homosexuals who defend their sexual diversity while preserving their identity as Zapotec Indians in the “queer paradise” of Juchitan, Mexico. Winner of the Audience Award at the Morelia International Film Festival, Muxes (pronounced “mooshays”) examines transgressive boundary-pushing within an indigenous culture that has historically embraced this “third gender.”

On the sun-baked Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico lies the town of Juchitan, whose indigenous Zapotecs have for centuries warded off numerous invasions to preserve their identity. Today, Juchitan has an additional, more notorious, identity famous for its Muxes, effeminate homosexual men whose socially defined role within the Zapotec culture predates the advent of gay liberation. In this society, Muxes have traditionally filled the roles of sewing, cooking, preparation of celebrations and providing lifetime care for their parents. Likewise, the men we meet here are chefs, salon owners, housekeepers and teachers, in addition to being inveterate fun-lovers and an acknowledged “outlet” for straight men in a culture that still values virginity in brides. However, all is not perfect in paradise, as director Alejandra Islas occasionally suggests in a frequently amusing way just how low the glass ceiling of acceptance might be for those who push too hard. The Muxes of Juchitan are proud of their identity, enjoy their 
lives, laugh at themselves as well as at straight society, and admit their own foibles freely. They call themselves “authentic, intrepid seekers of danger,” and have banded together to lead the fight against AIDS in Oaxaca. They talk frankly about their experiences of acceptance and rejection, and their successes in finding freedom, love and delight in their special identity.



For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)
Thursday, August 7 at 1pm
US, English, 95 min
Director: Daniel G. Karslake
Cast: Imogene Robinson, Victor Robinson, Gene Robinson, Isabella 'Boo' McDaniel 

This documentary directed by Daniel G. Karslake is about homosexuality and its perceived conflict with religion, as well as various interpretations of what the Bible says about same-sex sexuality. It also includes lengthy interview segments with several sets of religious parents (including former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt and his wife Jane, and the parents of Bishop V. Gene Robinson) regarding their personal experiences raising homosexual children, and also interviews with those (adult) children. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. On November 19, 2007, For the Bible Tells Me So was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist. However, it did not make the final list of five nominated films as announced on January 22, 2008.



Les Chansons d’Amour (France 2007)
Friday, August 8 at 1pm
Saturday, August 9 at 2pm
French with Spanish subtitles, 95 min
Director: Christophe Honoré
Cast: Louis Garrel, Ismaël Bénoliel, Ludivine Sagnier, Julie Pommeraye, Chiara Mastroianni

Ismael (Louis Garrel, the Gallic version of the adorable young Hugh Grant) lives with Julie (Ludivine Sagnier). Alice (Clotilde Hesme), who works with Ismael, shares their bed and Alice's affections. On a night of tragedy, Jeanne, unawares, hooks up with Gwendal (Yannick Renier), whose teenaged brother Erwann (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet) is the only one who can bring a shattered Ismael back to life, in the most romantic man-on-man love scene since Rupert Grave’s Alec Scudder climbed through Maurice’s bedroom window 20 years ago. With rain-slicked streets, coffee and cigarettes, references to a dozen French classics, a haunting score and the best balcony scene since Romeo and Juliet, this low-budget charmer, which has become a cult favorite in France with the under-25 set, is an Umbrellas of Cherbourg for the twenty-first century.



Nesio (2008)
Friday, August 8 at 3pm
Mexico, Spanish, 100 min
Director: Alan Coton 
Cast: Jorge Adrián Espíndola, Tenoch Huerta, César Jaime, Claudette Maillé, Alicia Sandoval

Coton’s film is a light amusing story about Nesio, a small-time drug dealer who has never managed to get away from his mother or his childhood traumas, and carries on his back the stigma of a born loser. This he struggles to overcome, but finds it impossible. By intent or otherwise, Nesio becomes involved in a homicide and an impossible love for a masked woman. All of this is framed by downtown Mexico City.



Kids Movies: Cartoons
Saturday, August 2 at noon