Philadelphia QFest returns with 109 films

After 17 years, Philadelphia QFest is one of the East Coast's biggest gay and lesbian film festivals. It returns this year with screenings of 109 films through July 18 at Ritz East and Ritz at the Bourse in Center City.

"This year, we're particularly proud of our selection of international films," says festival cofounder Ray Murray. The inveterate film fan, who expects attendance to top 25,000, offered some of his personal favorites, starting with two titles by the unconventional director Scud, Amphetamine and Love Actually . . . Sucks!

The Hong Kong-based auteur combines sophisticated visual language with sexually - and emotionally - graphic portrayals of men gripped by uncontrollable desires. "This is a new kind of gay filmmaking," Murray says.

One of this year's most exciting arrivals is the stylish French drama Gigola, a no-holds-barred look at the seedy side of Paris in the 1960s. The stunning Lou Doillon stars as a lesbian escort-in-drag: An almost vampiric figure, she dresses as a man and caters to wealthy women.

Another highlight is Jitters, an Icelandic coming-of-age tale about a group of teens who have to deal with heavy issues. A crossover European hit, it deals with characters straight and gay.

"The frankness and complexity of the characters and stories are rare to find in American films," Murray says.

Other crossover pics include the BBC's The Night Watch, an adaptation of the novel by Tipping the Velvet author Sarah Waters; and Perfect Family, which stars Kathleen Turner as a devout Catholic who has a less-than-conventional family, including a gay daughter (Emily Deschanel) who is about to marry her lover (Angelique Cabra).

Another good bet this year is the offbeat, literate drama Private Romeo from Alan Brown, who made a splash in 2007 with the searing psychological thriller Superheroes. Set at a boys' military academy, it's a spare, minimalist adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet about forbidden love between two cadets.

QFest includes noteworthy locally connected films.

Gay marriage is explored in Allison Kole's Married in Spandex, which documents Kole's sister, Amanda Kole, and her partner, Rachel Turanski, as a West Philly couple who take a road trip to Iowa to be married by performance artist Leslie Hall. (Same-sex marriage is legal in Iowa.)

"I wanted to capture [the wedding] for my sister as a wedding gift," says Allison Kole, 26, who works for Greenpeace in Washington, D.C. She says she hopes the film "shows through a really personal story, with personable people and humor, that you can get very far into the discussion about gay marriage."

Shakespeare plays a part in Eating Out: Drama Camp, starring Richboro's Chris Salvatore. The fourth outrageous comedy in the popular Eating Out series, "it's about actors at a drama club who compete by putting on Shakespeare plays," says Salvatore. "We go for Taming of the Shrew, but in ours, Petruchio isn't [courting] Katharina, but her brother."

The Center City gay club Voyeur serves as the setting for Fred Caruso's camp comedy Go Go Crazy, featuring scene-making drag queen Hedda Lettuce. "It's a mockumentary about a go-go dancing contest for men," says Caruso. "The boys will do anything to win, including sabotaging each other."

Caruso is best known for codirecting the big gay hit The Big Gay Musical. His filmmaking partner, Casper Andreas, also has a movie this year, the festival's closing-night entry, Going Down in La-La Land. Adapted from the novel by Andy Zeffer (The Fluffer), it's a sharp-edged satire about naked ambition among a group of would-be Hollywood big shots.

QFest fans may note that one of the festival's former curators, Lewis Tice, is back this year - but as producer of the raunchy comedy Longhorns. Directed by David Lewis, "It's an '80s-themed sex farce about a confused straight guy trying to figure out what side of the fence he's on," says Tice. "He's a six-pack away from committing a homosexual act."

The festival opened Thursday and continues through July 18 at the Ritz East and Ritz at the Bourse. Tickets are $10, $9 for Philadelphia Cinema Alliance members. To purchase tickets by phone, call 267-765-9800, Ext. 4 from noon to 8 p.m. at least the day before a screening. Information: 267-765-9800, Ext. 701, www.qfest.com.EndText