Hollywood
Fabulous Independent Film Festival to celebrate LGBT community
New Delhi: A total of 15 features and short films celebrating the diversity in the LGBT community will be screened at the fourth annual Fabulous Independent Film Festival next month to be held at the Burns Court Cinemas in Sarasota, Florida in the United States.
The annual festival will be held from 22 August to 24 Augusta nd includes eight features and seven non-features.
The festival is being held in association with the Harvey Milk Festival, a nonprofit organization and is being organized by Broken Rules Productions.
Sarasota Film Society, Watermark Media, Janice & John Shelton, Embracing Our Differences, Planned Parenthood, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota, RCMoore Construction, Theodore A. Gollnick, PA, Throb, Ken Shelin, Chapter 1 Wellness, Wolfe on Demand are among the Fabulous IFF sponsors making this festival a reality. M.A.D.E., Throb and Caragiulo’s are the hosting sponsors.
The Way He Looks presented by Watermark Media will be the opening film. A warm and funny film about teenage love and friendship, it tells the story of a blind boy named Leo, his best pal Giovana and a new kid in school whom they both develop a crush on.
In the dry comedy, Appropriate Behavior by writer, director Desiree Akhavan, is a semi-closeted bisexual Persian American trying to live up to her family’s ideals and traditions while going through a breakup and navigating Brooklyn’s dating scene with both men and women while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life.
Born To Fly illustrates what happens when one crosses postmodern dance with Evel Knievel. It is about New York choreographer Elizabeth Streb, a Mac Arthur “genius” grant recipient whose Extreme Action Company draws on both sources to craft a unique style of high-flying, high-impact, dare-all contemporary dance.
Boy Meets Girl is a sexy, funny and provocative coming of age comedy about three persons in their twenties living in Kentucky: Robby, Francesca and Ricky, a gorgeous transgender woman. This romantic comedy vividly captures the giddy excitement, sexual heat, and inherent heartache of “non-traditional” love in a small town.
The Circle seamlessly combines a narrative with a documentary love story. The film is the astounding true tale of Switzerland’s 1940s–1960s magazine of that name—and the network of friends and lovers that formed around it, becoming one of the world’s first homophile societies, a 2014 Teddy Award winner.
Cupcakes is the latest by award winning Eytan Fox which is a campy, comic confection telling the tale of six friends who unexpectedly find themselves representing Israel in a Eurovision-style international song contest.
Queerituality is Tom Murray’s film about a boy wonder that left too soon four years ago. Gaylon Emerzian from Chicago is actively completing the editing. This last film was a labour of love for Tom who throughout his films had always been spiritually inquiring. It will be an honour to present his last film as a world premiere and to conclude his beautiful cinematographic journey which he started years ago.
To Be Takei celebrates the Star Trek legend, the marriage-equality advocate, the spokesperson for Japanese Americans imprisoned in internment camps during World War II and the Facebook phenomenon.
Each film on Saturday and Sunday will be preceded by a short film: Barrio Boy, Dinner At 40, First Clue, A Last Farewell, One Night Stand, Secrets & Toys and Who Do You Think You Are?
Hollywood
Disney chair confident CEO Josh D’Amaro will ‘rise to the occasion’ in Trump–Kimmel row
Board backs new chief as ABC controversy tests leadership early on
NEW YORK: The Walt Disney Company has placed the responsibility of handling the escalating dispute between Donald Trump and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel squarely on its new chief executive, Josh D’Amaro.
Speaking at a business conference in Oslo, Disney chair James Gorman said it would be up to the CEO and his team to determine the company’s response to the controversy surrounding Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He noted that such challenges are not uncommon for large corporations and require careful handling at the leadership level.
The row intensified after both Donald Trump and Melania Trump publicly called for Kimmel’s dismissal following remarks made on his show. The comments, which referenced the First Lady, sparked backlash in the days leading up to a security incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Kimmel addressed the issue on-air, clarifying that his joke was intended as a reference to the couple’s age difference and not an incitement to violence. He also expressed sympathy for those affected by the incident and reiterated his stance against violent rhetoric.
Despite mounting pressure, Gorman refrained from offering specific guidance on the future of the show or the host. Instead, he voiced confidence in D’Amaro’s leadership, describing him as “world class” and capable of navigating the situation effectively.
The episode presents an early and high-profile test for D’Amaro, who stepped into the top role just last month. How Disney balances editorial independence, public sentiment and political pressure will likely shape not just the outcome of this controversy, but also the tone of its leadership in the months ahead.
