BFI Film Festival: The best LGBT picks
The 59th Annual BFI London Film Festival takes place in just a few weeks, from October 7-18. With a wealth of films showing at cinemas across London, it can be rather overwhelming scanning through what’s on offer to find what you’d like to see – so we thought we’d shine a light on a handful of LGBT-themed treats on offer:
NASTY BABY
Nasty Baby centres on a Brooklyn couple, Freddy and his boyfriend Mo, who are trying to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The film follows the trio as they navigate the idea of creating life while confronted by growing harassment from a menacing local known as ‘The Bishop.’ As things take a dark turn, their joyous pursuit of parenthood is suddenly clouded. Directed, written and starring Sebastian Silva, the film also stars Kristen Wiig and Babatunde Adebimpe.
CAROL
Set in 1950’s New York, two women from very different backgrounds find themselves in the throes of love in CAROL. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change.
A young woman in her 20’s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens.
While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) threatens her competence as a mother when Carol’s involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) comes to light. As Carol leaves the comfort of home to travel with Therese, an internal journey of self-discovery coincides with her new sense of space.
Directed by Todd Haynes and written by Phyllis Nagy, CAROL beautifully speaks to the transforming nature of characters within the road movie genre. In an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s seminal novel The Price of Salt, and with moving performances from a cast including Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy and Cory Michael Smith – CAROL reminds audiences that desire is often expressed in the absence of personal joy.
GAYBY BABY
Directed by Maya Newell and premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, Gayby Baby observes the lives of four children—Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham—whose parents are either gay or lesbian and explores the ways in which growing up as a “gayby” has affected them.
TAKE ME TO THE RIVER
Matt Sobel, in his first feature, creates a world wrought with secrets, misinterpretations, and subtext. Ryder, an artsy teenager, travels from California with his parents, Don and Cindy, for a family reunion in Nebraska. Upon their arrival, Ryder’s impish nine-year-old cousin, Molly, leads him to a barn to show him a bird’s nest. What happens behind barn doors makes Ryder the sudden target of suspicion and unearths a long-buried family secret. Ryder and his parents are ill-equipped to handle the fallout; Cindy, in particular, does her best to remain positive. Ultimately, Ryder must come to terms with the truth on his own.