LET MY PEOPLE GO! Interview with director Mikael Buch by

poster_large

Hailing from a new wave of optimistic queer filmmakers, Mikael Buch gives us an outrageously hilarious gay comedy with Let My People Go! The tale of a young man who, after being given a bag filled with thousands of euros, is kicked out of his house by his sexy Finnish boyfriend and forced to move back in with his eccentric Jewish family in Paris.

Melting together an American sense of comedic timing and a European style of surrealistic family comedy, Buch successfully brings forth a slew of stereotypes (Gay, Jewish, Finnish, French, Etc…) while breaking international comedic boundaries. A film that is sure to leave you with a smile on your face and a possible guilt for avoiding those calls from Mom.

I spoke with Mikael on the film and his views on some of the issues that are facing Queer Europeans today.

More…

4 Independent Spirit Award Nominations! by

spirit_awards

Keep the Lights On has received four Independent Spirit Awards nominations: Best Feature, Best Director (Ira Sachs), Best Actor (Thure Lindhardt), and Best Original Screenplay (Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias). The ceremony, held in Santa Monica, is the largest for US independent film. The awards will be broadcast live on IFC on Saturday, February 23, 2013.

In other news, KTLO is available to pre-order on DVD and Blu-Ray. The DVD will be released on January 22. Special features include 4 deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary, cast audition videos, and a commentary with Ira.

KEEP THE LIGHTS ON Soundtrack Released Today by

Cover @ 300

The soundtrack for Keep The Lights On is out now in association with Audika Records and available for purchase on iTunes today. The album, which received a write up on Pitchfork, is composed entirely of music from the iconic New York musician Arthur Russell.

New York City has been home to some of the most important names and movements in the history of American music. From the whiskey soaked compositions of Stephen Foster to the fast-paced/short-lived bouts of noise of the No Wave scene, New York has produced countless musicians who have left their incredibly influential and indubitably permanent mark on music. But for every musician or band that made their mark, there innumerable others who spent their lives devoted to writing and producing music in New York without their name or work garnering them attention or praise. Arthur Russell narrowly avoided this all-too-common fate.

More…

Girl/Girl Scene: Because People Love Lesbians by

girlgirlscenefeaturedimg1

Tucky Williams is a woman who wears many hats.

A former indie movie horror queen and meteorologist, she is now the head writer, producer, and lead actress of one of the most popular lesbian web series today, Girl/Girl Scene. (Oh, and did I mention she’s a yoga instructor, too?) Now in its second season, Girl/Girl Scene follows the lives and loves of a group of young lesbians in Lexington, Kentucky. Williams plays the charismatic, confident, and promiscuous Evan – the central figure around which the show’s complicated network of hookups and relationships revolves.

Williams claims to have little in common with her wild character, but has revealed her own alluring charm and sense of humor during her time in the spotlight. Though the first episode was produced with literally no budget, it soon went viral, catching the attention of AfterEllen.com, Curve, and other big names in the lesbian blogosphere – not to mention financial backers. I asked Williams what she thought might be the secret to the show’s straight shot to the top.

“It’s because people love lesbians,” she says matter-of-factly in our email interview. “If everyone put lesbians in their shows, they would all be successful.”

More…

The Fagettes: Hair, ‘Tude, and Guitar by

fagettes featured image

Love it or hate it, the name of Boston-based punk band “The Fagettes” is sure to start a conversation.

And that’s exactly the reaction they’re going for.

Formed in 2010 by Melanie Bernier and Ryan Major, The Fagettes have already stirred up plenty of buzz in the Boston underground music scene and beyond. Their catchy, lo-fi rock sound and retro style may call back to the ’60s and ’70s, but The Fagettes’s unique fun and flair is all their own.

More…

Our Man In Tribeca: A Fish Out of Water at the TFF by

pappos4[8]

A film festival is really nothing more than a community gathering, a selective, economically defined, cultural experience that in many ways is just as sociologically constructed as the neighborhood bar, or the set of people assembled on the A train, or a group of friends gathered at the Piers. The New York Film Festival looks very much like one neighborhood, one anthropologically gathered group of humans; Rooftop Films‘ summer film series another; MIX NYC a third,  Human Rights Watch a very different other.

For this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Keep the Lights On has asked writer and man-about-town Ioannis Pappos — himself a fish out of water from Pelio, Greece — to keep his own eye on the goings ons at Tribeca from a very human perspective. What’s going on here, during these 10 days in April? Which New York do we see here?  In a continuation of the sites interest in understanding New York as an organism made up of stories, join us for the next few two weeks as we see the Tribeca Film Festival through the eyes of one astute outsider.