Reeling: The Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2011, then went on hiatus for a year as festival director Brenda Webb and her staff pondered “how the festival might expand or evolve to better address the changing needs of LGBT filmmakers.” When Reeling returned last year it had adopted a new, more inclusive subtitle—The Chicago LGBT International Film Festival—and Webb had handed over programming duties to Richard Knight Jr. This year brings more changes: the festival has moved up on the calendar, abandoning its long-standing early-November slot for the very beginning of the season, and the programming baton has been passed to Alexandra Ensign, a cartoonist, designer, and University of Chicago graduate in cinema and media studies. Yet otherwise the festival remains the same, presenting seven days of LGBT-themed dramas and documentaries at Music Box, Chicago Filmmakers, and Landmark’s Century Centre. Reviews of eight features follow; for a full schedule see reelingfilmfestival.org. –J.R. Jones
The Foxy Merkins A nerdy newcomer on the lesbian hooker beat in New York City (Lisa Haas) learns the tricks of the trade from a crafty veteran (Jackie Monahan), and together they solicit a clientele of psychotic Republican housewives, middle-aged midwestern tourists, and elderly women who pay in Talbots gift cards. This spritely low-budget sex comedy (2013) is essentially a parody of Midnight Cowboy, but the humor is cleverly absurd and self-aware, like Woody Allen shtick filtered through a lesbian consciousness. Haas and Monahan, who cowrote the script with director Madeleine Olnek, have a terrific rapport, and their affectionate portrait of female camaraderie anchors the silly story. With Alex Karpovsky (of the HBO series Girls).—Drew Hunt 82 min. Fri 9/19, 9:15 PM, Landmark’s Century Centre
Fri 9/19-Thu 9/25, Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark; Landmark’s Century Centre, 2828 N. Clark; and Music Box, 3733 N. Southport; 773-291-1447 $12 unless otherwise noted; passes $45 (five films), $80 (ten films), $100 (all films), and $130 (all films and events)reelingfilmfestival.org.
