Triangle's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Triangle's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Showcases Local and International Talent

Triangle Television's popular gay and lesbian film and documentary festival, Sproquets, will screen for an eight-week season starting on October 7.

The small-screen celebration of international gay and lesbian film and documentary work begins with a homegrown documentary, The People Next Door. The programme, which provides a window into gay and lesbian life in the 1990s, caused a stir when it was shown in New Zealand 1994. It scored a top five rating in the week it was shown but has not been televised since.

The line-up for the festival also includes five contributions from South African film makers: Goniwe's Calling (2004), Apostles of Civilized Vice (1999), Sando to Samantha (1998), Gay Life is Best (1992) and A Normal Daughter (2001). These films span a period from 1992 to 2004 – together they paint an extraordinary picture of gay and lesbian communities during South Africa's dramatic period of political change.

A Peruvian contribution by Dante Alencastre, En El Fuego (2007) highlights the suffering of gays and lesbians in Peru who have little legal protection from the church-led homophobia that besieges their communities.

And in Security Camera (2007), a 50-second snippet taken from a security camera, Christopher Heller of Germany highlights how the public "looks away" from anti-gay violence on the streets.

On a lighter note, Men on Heat by Australian Essan Laurant, has been written specifically for women and takes a sexy and humorous look at women treating men as objects; and Freak of Nature (Don Bapst 2007) shows scenes from Market Days, one of the USA's largest gay and lesbian festivals.

Young filmmakers from Auckland's UNITEC will show their skills and talent alongside Sproquets' international offerings with a series of five short films (50 minutes each): Forward, about love being hard when no one answers emails; Walk My Way, about a mysterious stranger challenging an audience; In Search of, which deals with looking for love; Preacher Man, about a preacher who finds friendship in a most unexpected form; and The Boxer, which reasons that some of life's callings are louder than others.

Other films in the line-up include contributions from Catalonia, Belgium, the United States, Brazil, Australia and Germany.

This is the fourth year Triangle Television has organised Sproquets, inviting film and documentary makers from around the world to contribute their works. This year, for the first time, as well as screening on Triangle Television Auckland and Triangle Television Wellington, the festival will also reach a national audience when it is screened on Triangle's new subscription-free channel Triangle Stratos.

When it goes live on October 3, Triangle Stratos will broadcast from the Freeview platform. The channel represents a significant milestone in New Zealand broadcasting because it is the first time ever that regional television will be made available to the entire country.

Triangle Television Chief Executive Officer Jim Blackman says despite the popularity of YouTube and other easy-access internet forums, filmmakers still see television as an important vehicle for their works.

Significantly though, Mr Blackman suggests that the YouTube generation may have impacted the length of the films submitted this year. All are less than an hour long, many just minutes in length, and the German security camera offering lasts just 50 seconds.

Sproquets will screen every Sunday from October 7 until December 2 at 9.30pm on Triangle Television Auckland; 9pm on Triangle Television Wellington; and at 8.30pm on Triangle Stratos.

Date Films/Documentaries
Oct 7 The People Next Door/Forward
Oct 14 En El Fuego/Capitulo Primero
Oct 21 Apostles of Civilized Vice 1/Walk my Way
Oct 28 Apostles of Civilized Vice 2/In Search Of
Nov 4 Gay Life is Best/Out Now/You're A Winner/Freak Of Nature
Nov 11 Sando to Samantha/aka The Art of Dikvel/Preacher Man
Nov 18 A Normal Daughter/Security Camera
Nov 25 The Last Visit/The Boxer/Speechless/SIPIS/Men On Heat
Dec 2 Goniwe's Calling/Jaywalking/Hero Festival

ENDS

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