Outfest: Three Foreign Language Films

One of the most important and rewarding functions of a good film festival remains its ability to expose audiences to foreign films which might otherwise never surface in a Stateside cinema.

Every year, Outfest manages to include some fantastically well-made, beautifully shot, and honestly acted films that appear to have budgets greater than many of their American counterparts and, therefore, feature a polish we're often asked to forego when watching GLBT movies. This year's crop is no exception, with a few absolute standouts. All three of these foreign language films are taut narratives which ratchet up the tension with complicated, consequential situations.

Free Fall

Director Stephan Lacant's story of an impossibly gorgeous German police officer whose affair with another impossibly gorgeous officer explores the ripple effects of coming to terms with sexuality. The film is almost a misnomer in that, rather than falling freely, our hero, Marc, suffers a slow agonizing descent rendered with excellent performances all around. Screens July 21

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Out in the Dark

A story of Israeli/Palestinian love and the tragic consequences of a taboo romance across the ever-volatile border. Director Michael Mayer captures the controversial subject in intimate detail with a screenplay he co-wrote with Yael Shafrir. Screens July 21

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In the Name Of

Director Malgoska Szumowska's film follows Father Adam, an honorable Polish priest whose charges, boys who graduate from reform school into a work program, challenge his relationship to both the clergy and his sexuality in unexpected ways. Screens July 17 & 20

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