Queer Film Series begins Sept. 27 at ASU

The annual Queer Film Series begins Sept. 27 at Appalachian State University with a showing of “I Am.”

All films will be shown on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in Belk Library and Information Commons, Room 114. The films are free and open to the public. A discussion will follow each film. For more information, visit http://www.qfs.appstate.edu.

“I Am” (2011, U.S., English and Hindi, 71 minutes) chronicles the journey of an Indian lesbian filmmaker who returns to Delhi after an 11-year absence to re-open what was once home. She finally confronts the loss of her mother whom she never came out to. As she meets and speaks to parents of other gay and lesbian Indians, she pieces together the fabric of what family truly means, in a landscape where being gay was until recently a criminal and punishable offense.

Other films in the series are:

Oct. 4, “Gun Hill Road” (2011, U.S., 88 minutes)
An ex-con returns home to the Bronx after three years in prison to discover his wife estranged and his teenage son exploring a sexual transformation that will put the fragile bonds of their family to the test.

Oct. 11, “The Real Anne Lister” (2010, U.K., 60 minutes)
Her secret diaries have been called the “Rosetta Stone of lesbian history,” depicting Sapphic life in a time before the term lesbianism was even in use. With charming wit and compelling insight, host Sue Perkins, “the British Ellen DeGeneres,” digs up the real dirt on “Gentleman Jack” Anne Lister in this intriguing documentary. Meet the biographer who spent decades cracking the code of Lister’s elaborate journals, which reveal the saucy details of her sexual conquests and the struggles she faced as a lesbian lothario and bold female entrepreneur of the early 1800s.

Oct. 25, “A Single Man” (2009, U.S., 99 minutes)
In this drama based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood, a British professor living in Southern California attempts to come to terms with the accidental death of his partner and the world events of the 1960s. Starring Julianne Moore and Colin Firth, who was nominated for an Academic Award for Best Actor.

Nov. 1, “I Love You Phillip Morris” (2009, U.S., 98 minutes)
When upstanding Texas cop Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) realizes he’s gay, he changes his entire life and pulls a series of bold con jobs that lands him in jail – where he meets his one true love, cellmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). When Morris is transferred to another prison, lovesick Russell mounts a series of jailbreaks just to be with his beloved soul mate. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa direct this comedy based on a true story.

The Queer Film Series is an academically oriented film series that, through education, entertainment and outreach, seeks to increase campus and community awareness of the histories, lives, and cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex persons (LGBTQI).

Now in its 12th year, the series seeks to further university goals for diversity by using high-quality LGBTQI-themed cinema to promote understanding and acceptance of the many ways people experience and live out their gender identity and sexuality; highlight the intersections of sex, gender and sexuality with other categories, such as race and class; and to provide a venue to discuss, with invited and university experts in the field, the films and the questions they raise about issues, such as identity, community, prejudice, normalcy, etc. In addition, the series strives to integrate cross-cultural and international perspectives on these issues each year.

The series is supported by Appalachian’s College of Arts and Sciences, Library Collections Development, the Multicultural Center, the LGBT Center, SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Alliance Club), Department of English, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and private donors.