15 Minutes for 15 Years

Date: Saturday, 10/22/2005
Time: 4:00 pm
Venue: Lincoln Theatre
Tickets: $9

Type: Collection of short films

Metro Weekly Rating: (4 out of 5)

by Sean Bugg

WHEN THE ONLY theme shared by a slate of films in a shorts program is their running time -- approximately 15 minutes -- you can pretty much bet on a mixed bag of quality. ''15 Minutes for 15 Years,'' a nod to this year's Reel Affirmations anniversary, is decidedly mixed.

On the plus side, from Ireland we have Falling Angels (), a story of two young boys playing hooky from school, generating some minor mischief, and saying ''fooking'' an awful lot. Things get a little darker when an older guy enters the scene with some obviously disturbing desires.

In Gold () a blind, aged painter attempts to continue his work by using a young hustler as his hands at the canvas. It's surprisingly touching as it follows the hustler's discovery of his own inner value.

The B-Girls return with The Dress (), an amusing drag fantasy about three drag queens who all have their eye on the same designer dress. Full of odd lines (on catsup: ''It's the elixir of the tomato'') and double takes, it's a broad platter of Canadian camp.

Coming in from France is One Fine Day, A Hairdresser (), in which a mop-topped philosophy student discovers his inner gay during a visit to the hair salon. Some very funny moments, including a masturbation fantasy that gets hi-jacked by another subject.

Less successful are Dirtyglitter 1: Damien (), a visual representation of the chaos in a fucked-up escort's mind that plays more like a low-budget special effects tech demo than an actual film. Starcrossed () is about two brothers who take their relationship into uncharted incestuous territory. After crawling along at a snail's pace, things suddenly spiral unbelievably out of control.

Film Links:
· Reel Affirmations details

Festival Venue:
Lincoln Theatre
1215 U Street, NW; Washington, DC 20009. (202) 328-6000. (map)
Directly across from Green Line Metro / U Street-Cardozo station.

Tickets:
You may buy your tickets or passes in advance: Online at BoxOfficeTickets.com or by phone at (800) 494-TIXS (494-8497). Or you may visit the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U Street, NW, WDC); the DCJCC (1529 16th Street, NW, WDC); Lambda Rising (1625 Connecticut Avenue, NW, WDC); or Universal Gear (1601 17th Street, NW, WDC).
 

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For more info visit the official Reel Affirmations website.