Glasgay! 2012: Queer Shorts

Amidst a barrage of stellar feature length screenings in this year’s Glasgay! festival, a weekend of short films pays homage to the little guys. The selection, programmed by queer arts magazine Lock Up Your Daughters, sees multiple kick-ass protagonists taking on life’s inequities.

In a segment titled Best International, Change attempts a level of epicness rarely seen in shorts and, despite being minutely cheesy in places, pulls it off. It’s 2008 and Jamie is a high school kid battling with his racial and sexual identities. He bravely defends a schoolmate bullied by his macho friends for being gay. Meanwhile, America elects its first black president and California simultaneously passes notoriously homophobic Proposition 8. In an electricity-filled moment, Jamie finds his gran in her bedroom, shedding happy tears because the country that’s bullied and abused her all her life has put a black person on the top rung. As Jamie is discovering, though, the US is very far from becoming a haven of social equality.

Skallamann (Baldguy) tackles the theme of discrimination with a lighter touch. Norwegian teenage goth Jonas works up the nerve to inform his conservative parents he’s exchanged saliva with a hairless-headed man. In celebration of his bold confession, he sings and dances through snow-covered streets joined by a chorus intoning 'Skallamann!' (the deliciously musical translation of 'baldguy'). This parodic take on bigotry is hilarious and cute. When Jonas finally bumps into the baldy he snogged the night before, their awkward exchange is sweet enough to rival Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds huddling under an umbrella in Singin’ in the Rain. Revitalising Hollywood’s super camp musical format in the service of tackling prejudice is about as close as life comes to queer short film nirvana.

Also in the international programme, Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho (I Don't Want to go Alone) veers closer to a traditional love story. Again featuring schoolbound teenagers, this time in Brazil, Giovana chides best friend Leo for never showing an interest in girls. When new kid Gabriel makes friends with them, Leo becomes infatuated. Crisp attention to detail recreates their adolescent world. Gabriel’s veined hand running across railings anticipates the importance of touch to Leo, who is blind. Giovana’s jealousy of Gabriel’s entry into her and Leo’s clique is signalled through subtle body language. Writer and director Daniel Ribeiro’s tale is also distinctly erotic beneath its innocent charm, a refreshing amalgamation of the pornographic undertones of any work dealing with sexuality and the cherubic reverb of young people in love.

Highlights of a Local Talent category include Lucy Elliott’s James Dean and Amy Rose’s Twinset. Both are about being transgender. James Dean is a slightly slapstick memory of piling into the car for a family holiday, with all the squabbling and bitching that entailed. Fueling the tension is Alex’s black eye and a secret she’s keeping from her parentals. Muted realism mixes with melodrama and Alex’s anxiety erupts into an audacious revelation. Rose’s film is a doc following Jenny, an older, male-to-female trans person. A terrifying opening scene in which Jenny sips tea with some church ladies turns to relief as it becomes clear she’s been accepted and welcomed into their fold. Pain is still to come, though, as Jenny’s mother castigates her for using female toilets.

The weekend also entails a panel discussion with two award-winning filmmakers, with the aim of encouraging and abetting movie-making in Scotland, and a free booze-soaked night replete with DJs at Glasgow’s CCA.