O REGON S LESBIAN/GAY/BI/TRANS/QUEER NEWSMAGAZINE
>> QDOC from p a g e 33
content with his undemanding cats than with
the lover he seems to long for. Even when sleep
ing with the rent boys who were his common
choice, Burroughs kept a loaded gun under his
blanket. Director Leyser employs snappy visual
effects to keep the eye excited, and he includes
archival footage and an impressive variety
o f talking heads— Patti Smith, Anne Wald-
man, Iggy Pop— to make sense o f the writer.
But— and no criticism of this excellent film
intended—Burroughs is ultimately one nut
that cannot be cracked, a mysterious gay artist
who reviled mainstream gay culture, perhaps
because he couldn’t be a part o f it.
Saturday ends on an upbeat note with Le
Tigre: On Tour, a profile of the cult electronic/
dyke/activist band that grew out o f riot grrrl/
DIY/zine culture via leader Kathleen Hanna’s
MAY 21. 2010
first group, Bikini Kill. This could have been
an exercise in self-love, since Le Tigre is fisted
as the filmmaker. But for fans o f the band, or
anyone interested in danceable modern music
with a political edge, Le Tigre: On Tour offers
fresh fun. The doc shows Hanna and fellow
bandmates Johanna Fateman and JD Samson
onstage, being interviewed (by annoying sexist
guys), crashing in hotel rooms and grappling
with the inevitable compromises that go with
trying to reach larger audiences while main
taining their street (and self) cred.
Sunday opens with a “very special” sneak
preview feature documentary, about which all
we can share is that it’s by a filmmaker with
deep roots in both Portland
and San Francisco. Far from
those cities, Nepal is the
subject o f the next film,
Other Nature —specifically,
the unusual situation for
queer folk there. Nepal may
be the only country in the
world that has codified gay
marriage in law and offered
full rights to L G B T indi
viduals without actually
following through on any
of it. Curiously, the govern
ment issues “third gender”
identification cards (read:
“tranny” cards) for all “gender variants,”
a drastic misreading of the complexities of
queer identity. Against the country’s dramatic
mountain backdrop, the film thoughtfully
details the struggles of ordinary Nepalese gays
(and an Indian dyke couple) to make these laws
more workable. A scene shows a mother who
respects and loves her gay son, but that may not
be common. As one lesbian says, even if their
legal standing is resolved, “Our families give us
hell and kick us out, too.”
Next up is Out of the Silence, set in the ho
mophobic heartland. Filmmaker Joe Wilson, a
gay émigré from Oil City, Pennsylvania, decides
to stir the anti-gay pot by putting his wedding
announcement in the local paper and seeing
what happens. His inspiration? A plea from a
local mother to help with her son, who’s being
bullied at school for being gay. Some of the cast
of characters are depressingly familiar: an indif
ferent (when not smirking) school board, the
local unhinged bigot-activist, a lesbian couple
struggling to survive in a hateful environment.
But there are surprises, too. Wilson’s forthright,
friendly manner begins to sway one of the local
preacher-homophobes and his wife. The bigot-
activist tries to manipulate the black members
of the state board of education by pitting
black civil rights against gay ones, but they
see through her tricks. CJ, the handsome bul
lied boy, taken out of school for a year, returns
and finds himself more equipped to deal with
hostile peers. Typical o f this well-made film is
a truth spoken by Wilson: “What they call an
agenda, we call our fives.”
Wrapping up this year’s fest is the ir
resistible Untouchable Girls: The Topp Twins,
about everybody’s favorite twin yodeling New
Zealand lesbians, Jools and Linda. The film
screened earlier this year at the Portland In
ternational Film Festival and is just as good
a second time around. Most Americans aren’t
familiar with the Topp Twins, but as twin yo-
deling lesbian acts go, the Topps can’t be beat.
Leanne Pooley’s documentary is an enchant
ing tribute to two unlikely heroes. Raised on
a farm, the twins, now in their fifties, w ere^
blessed with a rare combination of qualities:
vocal chops; a playful, theatrical sensibility;
down-home charm; and an unwavering social
conscience.
The film follows Jools and Linda in con
cert, cutting up with audiences, at protests and
fundraisers, on their farm with their wives and
in amusing early footage of the duo as brash
street singers. Somehow managing a blend o f*"
the disarming, endearing and authentic, the
twins reach audiences unimaginable in the
United States, including steelworkers, farmers
and conservative activists. Their political work,
which they do with a smile, has had major
payoffs, too. Former Prime Minister Helen
Clark attributes the passage o f gay rights in
New Zealand in part to them, and for the'
simplest reason: “The Topps being so proudly
who they were helped make the issue more
mainstream.”
The film also showcases the hilarious gal
lery of characters they’ve invented: besties Ken
and Ken, Bavarian yodeling pig farmers Herty
and Gerty, and Mavis and Lorna, a pair of
bowling enthusiasts and “root collectors.” W ith ,
their heady mix o f activism, queer theatrics,
earthy humor, loving spirit and that “yodel-ay-
eee-ooh,” The Topp Twins are two indomitable
spirits who carry a timely message along with
their art: be yourself and the rest will follow.
QDoc is presented in cooperation with Q Center.
A fu ll schedule is available online at queerdofest.
org. M
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