NewFest

Thurs.-Sun., June 2-12

In this 17th year of NewFest, the premier festival of new queer film, over 200 works from 35 countries will screen, divided into categories of sports, retro sex, parenting and activism. While the festival is highlighting dramas Loggerheads and SummerStorm, a number of quieter pieces stand out.

In Women in Love, Karen Everett pores over the minutia of her own past relationships and the glitches of polyamory. Intentionally or not, a fluid chronicle of three noted SF-based artists emerges: Phyllis Christopher, photographer of lesbian erotica; and Jackie and Shar, filmmakers of such classics as Bend Over Boyfriend and How to Fuck in High Heels. Though highly personal, Everett's film strikes a poignant universal chord in its exploration of the character and durability of intimate relationships (Sun., 6/5).

The Joy of Life pairs the seduction of falling in love with a fall that, 98 percent of the time, can occur only once: the leap from the Golden Gate Bridge. Dyke cult figure Harry Dodge delivers a pensive voiceover; the tale, more meditation than narrative, unfolds over stills of SF: Twin Peaks and the bay, alleyways, underpasses, parking lots and dark bodegas (Fri., 6/3).

Derek Jarman: Life as Art distinguishes itself from staid documentary composition through the sporadic use of Super 8. The format is matched in luminosity and texture only by moments featuring Tilda Swinton's articulate commentary and chiseled grace (Sun., 6/5).

Other promising films include The Aggressives, about an NYC subculture of queer African-American women (Fri., 6/3), and 100% Woman, which chronicles the controversy around Michelle Dumaresq, a transwoman in the world of women's downhill mountain biking (Sat., 6/11).

On the lighter side, The D Word spoofs Showtime's smash hit, depicting a wider range of queers (Thurs., 6/9). Unfortunately, this year's NewFest dallies a bit too much on the light side-a casual flip-through of the catalog might lead one to think AIDS had vanished or diminished as a threat. Video Remains proves the exception. This experimental film centers on an interview with a friend who died in 1993, shifting between generations and communities to moving effect (Weds., 6/8).

Last year NewFest moved from the New School and NYU to Loews theaters in Midtown. The move makes for higher-quality screenings, but one longtime volunteer laments, "When you take what was an important gay/queer community event and put it in the middle of a Midtown multiplex, you lose some of the camaraderie and the cruising that made it so special."

For full schedule and tickets, visit newfest.org.

-Kate Crane