Frameline 2012 Film Festival: “Call Me Kuchu”, “Jobriath A.D.”, and “Me At The Zoo” Reviews and Trailers

Call Me Kuchu

Call Me Kuchu is a polarizing and sobering reminder of the ideological evils and overwhelming goodness that exist in our world today.

And I thought the struggle for both gay rights, and coming out of the closet as a homosexual in America were difficult.  I couldn’t imagine announcing being gay in Uganda, a country that publishes photographs of those accused of being gay in the daily paper with the purpose of arresting them and putting them in prison for life.  Being imprisoned for your sexuality! WTF?

Directors, Katherine Fairfax Wright, and Malika Zouhali-Worrall had the good fortune of following some very charismatic revolutionaries, which made the movie’s already never-a-dull-moment pacing that much more engrossing.  These filmmakers not only exhibit a knack for being in the right place at the right time, but they seem to have a natural talent for documentary filmmaking. I’ll be keeping my eyes out for their next project, that’s for sure.

Jobriath A.D.

This much-needed documentary of the phenomenally gifted musician, Jobriath, is proof that no amount of money, talent, or promotion can catapult you into superstardom if you’re openly gay – at least not in the early 1970s it couldn’t.  Though told in the same fashion of an episode of VH1′s Behind The Music, this documentary has an insightfulness and satisfying conclusion that is absent from even the best Behind The Music episode, making this required viewing for any fan of rockumentaries.

Me At The Zoo

A look at what happens when viral youtube sensation, Chris “leave Britney Spears alone!” Crocker receives his 15 minutes of fame.  Most of this movie suffers from a narrative form of ADD as it weaves focuses between what it means to gain worldwide attention on the internet in today’s society and what it’s like growing up gay in a rural Tennessee community.  Though, as unbalanced as this movie was, it still managed to make me think about those consequences that come with being famous, whether found through the internet or not.  It also did a good job at humanizing this figure, Crocker, that most internet users, myself included, have primarily tended to think of as just another random youtuber.  Overall, the movie tends to be a tad bit overindulging in its 15 minutes of fame examination, especially towards the end, but, oddly enough, it’s still entertaining.