All films

Best friends Chase (Dante’s Cove darling actor/writer Charlie David) and suspiciously straight Tyler (blonde bombshell Derek Baynham) are spending the summer together with Tyler’s golf-obsessed, perfect family. After he comes out, Chase risks losing Tyler’s friendship – but finds a surprising ally in Tyler’s father Nathan (muscle Mary Dan Payne). However, as Chase and Nathan putt around each other, one man’s coming-out inspires an older man’s sexual awakening. Meanwhile, Nathan’s wife Stacy (Blonde Bombshell Number Two, Queer as Folk alumna Thea Gill), is distracted from the distance between them, by daughter Birdie’s fascination with her female tennis coach…and her interest in piercing and vegetarianism. Will Chase and Nathan’s blossoming tee-off for two circumvent the sand traps of true love? Chip Hale overcomes earnest performances and an occasionally awkward script with great production values and thoughtful scoring, in this ambitious queer retelling of The Graduate. A film about second chances on the links of life and love, Abercrombie & Fitch appear to direct this fairway to heaven.

Feature

FRENCH + FLEMISH • ENGLISH ST | Fifteen-year-old Malou is a competitive rower living in a tiny Belgian village with her brothers and divorced mother. A shy tomboy, Malou’s teammates bully her for her non-conforming gender identity, but she’s accepted by her brother Max—until he finds himself in competition with her over his girlfriend Nouria. Skiff is the sweet sixteen and summer fling story that we have been waiting for. Forget cars, pink dresses, and pining over boys—how about scooters, polo shirts, and … falling for your brother’s girlfriend? Director Cecilia Verheyden delivers a poignant coming-of-age story about first love with its many risks and dilemmas, on top of questioning sexuality and gender identity while dealing with a familial love triangle and a sense of social alienation. Though lighthearted with plenty of laughs, especially for the oblivious heteronormativity of small-town life, Skiff is a film that moves you, makes you remember, shows you how despite all of the world’s social progress of the twenty-first century, some things never change—gender will always define who we are and our humanity. It is anything but trivial. Also, the importance of a young person’s right to define their gender for themselves.

Short

A film about human interaction and attachment, The People explores the mark people leave on each other and the space they occupy. The watercolor’s fluidity and transparency are the tools used to communicate the emotional tone of the film.