By Hans Pedersen, December 2015 Issue.
Liz in September
DVD release Nov. 3; iTunes & Amazon release Dec. 1 | Not rated
Actress and activist Patricia Velasquez (“The L Word,” “Arrested Development”) is known as the first openly lesbian supermodel. Here the Latina star plays a woman who’s celebrating her birthday by partying with friends in the Caribbean, but she’s also hiding a life-altering secret. When her friends dare her to seduce an emotionally fragile young woman, the two quickly forge a deep connection. Award-winning Venezuelan director Fina Torres and talented Latina actresses Mimi Lazo and Eliosa Maturen bring this sensuous story about how sisterhood can sometimes trump sexual attraction to life. The film, in Spanish with English subtitles, has screened at several LGBT film festivals.
Seashore
DVD release Nov. 24 | Not rated | 83 minutes
A tender Brazilian coming-of-age story about a teenager, Martin (Mateus Almada), and his best friend, Tomaz (Mauricio Barcellos), whose unique bond grows more intense one winter weekend at the seashore. As each young man explores his own sexual orientation, the two 18-year-olds begin to learn how fine the line between friendship and love can really be. This quiet drama moves slowly and meanders, but in the end, offers a sweet portrait of young men discovering their sexuality. Seashore is written and directed by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher, two men who, although they never met as teens, grew up on the same beach in Brazil. This film is in Portuguese with English subtitles.
The Danish Girl
In theaters Dec. 11 | R | 120 minutes
Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar for playing Stephen Hawking, plays the first person to receive gender reassignment surgery in this historical drama set in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s Copenhagen. Einar (Redmayne) puts on a pair of stockings and silk high heels one day with encouragement from his wife, Gerda (Alicia Vikander), and that’s all it takes for Lili to come to life. Director Tom Hooper crafts this biopic about how, through the study of makeup and body language, he gradually transforms into Lili. Highlighting the experiences of a trailblazer from an earlier era, the movie also recognizes how the two identities virtually struggle for control until the transformation can be complete.
Secret in Their Eyes
In Theaters Nov. 20 | PG-13 | 111 minutes
Two of the top Oscar-winning actresses, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman, team up for the first time here, generating enough positive buzz to escape the Hollywood curse of the foreign film remake. This thriller is based on a 2005 novel that was adapted for the 2009 Argentine movie, El Secreto de Sus Ojos, which earned the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. In this riveting crime drama, FBI investigators Ray, played by Oscar-winning actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Jess (Roberts), along with a district attorney, Claire (Kidman), must investigate a nightmarish crime: the brutal murder of Jess’ daughter. Then, 13 years later, Ray reopens the case, believing he’s on the trail of the ruthless killer.
