Nine short stories from all over the world (including the UK) come together to create a smorgasbord of LBQ content with something for every taste. Often hot & sweaty, and sensual in every way, a little bit of the mosaic of every day lesbian life is well and truly explored across these individual tales.
Highlights of the pack include: The sexy rom-com with a twist What's Your Sign (Dir. Leanna ‘Alex’ Siow) that has an L-Word feel
to it through the fantasy projections and art gallery setting, but ends
with a fantasticially modern and humorous twist (and love budding).
Dream Date (Dir
Diana Juhr-DeBenedetti, Andromeda Godfrey) takes a witty look at the
dating rituals of women, offering one anonymity perspective at first,
then quickly flipping reality to a long-term couple and their intimacy
needs.
Social Butterfly (Dir
Lauren Wolkstein) explores the impact of a stranger's entrance at an
18th Birthday party. The American beauty is on a mission and instead
finds an unexpected moment of chemistry and connection with the birthday
girl, before she is washed clean and exposed as a thief.
COUNTRY: UK, USA, France, Germany, Norway, Ireland RELEASED: 14th July 2014 The line up: The First Date- dir. Janella Lacson (USA) 7mins 2012 Air Balloon- dir. Yenni Lee (Norway) 11mins 2011 Fresh Air Therapy 2- dir. Christoph Scheermann (Germany) 16mins 2011 AWOL - dir. Deb Shoval (USA) 13mins 2011 What's Your Sign? - dir. Alex Siow (USA) 6mins 2013 James Dean- dir. Lucy Asten Elliott (UK) 8mins 2011 Hold On Tight - dir. Anna Rodgers (Ireland) 13mins 2011
Social Butterfly- dir. Lauren Wolkstein (France) 14mins 2013 Dream Date - dir. Diana Juhr DeBenedetti & Andromeda Godfrey (UK) 3mins 2012
With an even bigger line up than the 2013 event, making this second Dinah Film Festival a now solid fixture on the programme, the limited ticket audience were in for an exclusive treat. Programmers had arranged a huge line up of the cast and film makers of the 7 strong programme, making this a very special event for guests. Cast and filmmakers took to the stage in possibly the strongest ever LBQ line up on one small stage after the screenings to do a Q&A session and may stayed around after the event to chat to fans.
Including an international element with an exclusive long trailer for Sonia Sebastian's Girl Gets Girl - an indie feature that follows up from the Miami based Spanish Girl Seeks Girl web series, the programme ran for 90 minutes with selections from some of this year's hottest web series and and short film Secrets and Toys.
Rolla Selbak's Kiss Her I'm Famous (tello films) translated well to the larger screen and drew laughs in it's quirky look at celebdom wannabes and the lengths people will go to try and get famous to change their lives. Fortunately it's a happy ending in this case.
Dyke Centralfrom gives us a humorous bay area take on modern urban queer life and the nuances within the community and what we stand for - and our right to define ourselves. The series is currently fundraising to develop a whole series, so check out their website!
The highly popular fan favourite Nikki and Norafrom Nancy Lee Myatt and tello brought us a very special treat of Liz Vassey, Christina Cox and Aasha Davis all the way to The Dinah (check out our exclusive chat with Liz Vassey below!). Airing the second episode, with a mix of comedy, crime capers, drama and a strong reference to living in a post-Katrina New Orleans, we can only hope for a season 2 in this polished labour of love.
Hear our *exclusive* interview with Liz Vassey (Nikki of Nikki and Nora, CSI):
Little Horribles from New Yorker Amy York Zubinbrought the biggest laughs on the night as the exploits of Amy through love disasters and awkward social situations in a humble and darkly disturbingly recognisable way. Definitely one to watch out for. Rounding off the web series segment was new release from tello#Hashtag written by and starring Caitlin Bergh and Laura Zak, which takes a cynical and funny look at how social media impacts on all our relationships old and new. Happily season 2 has just been shot so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Our interview with Laura Zak and Caitlin Bergh live from The Dinah red carpet...
And short film Secrets and Toys had a delightful twist as a daughter gets to grips with coming out to her mother and learns something about her mother in the process. Featuring Jill Bennett in a corset. By Katie
