Physical Ed

Edward Gunawan is an producer/actor/writer/director who, with his producing partner David Maurice Gil, just won an award at the PlanetOut Annual Short Movie Awards for his film Just

BY JONATHAN RIGGS

FRONTIERS: You’re an award-winning filmmaker. How did that feel?

EDWARD GUNAWAN: David and I were stunned. We met only six months ago, and we spent last summer going to film festivals and thinking how cool it would be to make a short. We feel really blessed.

The movie (and you in it) look sexy. Were you at all shy?

Not really. [Laughs] As a competitive swimmer, I grew up running around in my Speedo. So I was comfortable walking around shirtless, which was pretty much for the whole damn film! But what threw me off were my intimate scenes with my co-star and good friend Keo Woolford. It was wrong on so many levels!

Speaking of sexy, what are some of your favorite L.A. hangouts?

I am a regular at Café Marco, hunched over my laptop. They have strong espresso and free wireless. For a writer, that's pretty close to heaven! El Coyote is my favorite restaurant.

What's L.A.'s best-kept nightlife secret?

L.A.'s nightlife is as diverse and eclectic as the city itself. For good booty-shaking, I love Deep at Vanguard on Sunday nights. It's mostly straight, but very gay-friendly. They have some of the best DJs in the world and cover is only 20 bucks or less! Can't beat that.

How do you feel about the American media's Asian LGBT representation?

I think the media representation of Asians in general here is extremely limited. I grew up in Singapore, where it's common to see Asians on TV and actually speaking English, and playing all sorts of roles: father, lover, comic sidekick and yes, the villain. It's getting better now, but for Asian LGBT…who can we think of, other than Alec Mapa on Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives? It's up to us to create our own work and put it out there. It is our responsibility to raise visibility. Our group experience (as LGBT, or as Asians, or as Asian LGBT) may be unique to the group, but fundamentally, our human experience is universal.

What's your dorkiest hobby?

I watch all those cooking and home improvement shows. I am neither handy nor homey, though I'd like to think that I am. I think I am secretly getting ready to be a househusband! [Laughs]

You're a scantily-clad dancer in Alec Mapa's newest show, No Fats, Femmes, or Asians, right?

OMG, those shorts! So trashy, but I love it! [Laughs] I adore Alec. He's a sweetheart and such a formidable entertainer and activist. It's because of people like him who have kicked down the doors for people like me that I get to do what I do now. So I will do anything for him. I am not a professionally trained dancer. When I was invited to do the show, I freaked out-my dancing partner was a Madonna dancer! Hello! So I rehearsed extra just to keep up.

What's next for you professionally?

My short film directorial debut Laundromat will premiere in April at the FilmOut: San Diego LGBT Film Fest. It's part of a series of gay shorts called Strangers, Friends + Lovers that David and I are producing. We finished three in the series already (Just is one of them), but we have four more to go. I wrote them all, and David and I take turns directing. We're raising money now to shoot the next one, a romantic comedy starring Alec Mapa. I'm finishing a feature script that is going into production later this year in Indonesia, and I'm also hoping to stage my solo play XY that I have been developing for five years now.

Where can we see your film Just?

Just is viewable in its entirety at planetout.com and gay.com, and it will be competing for the Members' Favorite Award. Check out the short and vote for us.

For more information, visit edwardgunawan.com.

ON SCREEN

The Witnesses

Johan Libéreau, Sami Bouajila, Emmanuelle Béart
R, 115 minutes, Strand Releasing
***1/2

André Téchiné's exquisite drama chronicles the relationships between a handful of characters in Paris 1984, at the start of the AIDS crisis. The plot of this leisurely paced film starts to take shape in a riveting, erotic sequence in which Mehdi (Bouajila) saves Manu (Libéreau) from drowning. The married Mehdi and youthful Manu soon become lovers. When Manu contracts AIDS, The Witnesses depicts, with considerable depth and insight, how his illness has a ripple effect on his friends and family. Téchiné masterfully establishes the tone of the film, making it sexy, somber, and yet not without its playful moments. He elicits moving performances from his entire cast, but it is the alluring Johan Libéreau in the pivotal role of Manu who truly steals the film. Capturing both the insouciance of his character as well as the pathos, his Manu never becomes pathetic or cloying. Neither does this fine film. —GARY M. KRAMER

Vivere

Starring Hannelore Elsner, Esther Zimmering, Kim Schnitzer
NR, 90 minutes, Regent Releasing/here!
**1/2

Vivere features a simple story told with complexity. Francesca (Zimmering), drives to Rotterdam to find her runaway sister Antoinetta (Schnitzer) and meets the heartbroken Gerlinde (Elsner) along the way. After a series of inscrutable events-including Francesca passionately kissing Gerlinde — Francesca locates Antoinetta in a bed with Gerlinde and asks, “What the hell is going on?” Audiences equally baffled will get the answers if they watch the rest of this ambitious, but not entirely successful film. Vivere features one of those puzzle-like narratives that reveal why Antoinetta ran away or the reason for Gerlinde's heartbreak as the film unspools. But with no dramatic surprises, the payoff of the story and its telling is unsatisfying. Vivere may be well acted by the three women—Elsner especially—and stylishly filmed, however, when the women talk about black holes and moron satellites interspersed between the various episodes, it is more pretentious than illuminating. Alas, so too is the film. —G.M.K.

LIMITED RUN

The 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films

This exclusive engagement offers an opportunity to see all of the animated and live-action short films nominated for an Oscar. The program includes the animated Peter & The Wolf, (UK & Poland) a musical drama about a young boy and his animal friends who face a hungry wolf. The Landmark Theatre. Fri, Feb. 15. 310/281-8233 www.landmarktheatres.com.

Gypsy

You gotta have a gimmick. Rosalind Russell stars as the biggest stage mother of them all as she guides Natalie Wood to stardom as Gypsy Rose Lee in the film version of one of the great Broadway musicals. Egyptian Theatre. Sat., Feb. 15. 7:30 p.m. www.americancinematheque.com.

Hell On Wheels

This documentary follows a group of Texas women who banded together to resurrect roller derby for the 21st Century. These women create a rock-and-roll-fueled version of all-girl roller derby, emerging from the Austin music and arts scene. Egyptian Theatre. Sun., Feb. 17. 7:30 p.m. www.americancinematheque.com.

Gone With The Wind

You know you still give a damn about Scarlett, Rhett, and a cast of thousands. Egyptian Theatre. Fri., Feb. 22. 7:30 p.m. www.americancinematheque.com.

HOMO MUST

With You!

This documentary on the Gotham Knights, New York City's first gay rugby league, shows how the sport offers players an opportunity to experience feeling part of an all-inclusive team. From practice sessions to games, the camera follows a diverse group of athletes who embrace a true sense of brotherhood and a love for the game. Rigler Theatre @ The Egyptian. Wed., Feb. 20. 7:30 p.m. www.outfest.org.

Worth Repeating

The Ritz [1976]

Wacky hijacks ensue. Truly that is the best and most efficient way to describe The Ritz, Richard Lester's film version of Terrence McNally's award-winning play, though it certainly doesn't do this amazingly funny and ridiculous movie justice. Jack Weston stars as Gaetano Proclo, an amiable sanitation man from Ohio, in New York with his family so his wife can pay respects to her father as he lay in his deathbed. Unfortunately for Gaetano, his father-in-law's last words included putting a hit out on him, and so Gaetano seeks anonymity within the walls of The Ritz, a gay bathhouse, thus the wacky hijacks ensuing. I can't say enough good things about the cast, from F. Murray Abraham's portrayal of a man known quite well within The Ritz, to Rita Moreno as Googie Gomez, a Puerto Rican diva who makes up in conjones with what she lacks in talent. Then there's Brick, a young Treat Williams who meanders through the bathhouse in the smallest of towels, looking to seduce poor Gaetano for purposes none too noble. Sure, it's a farce, but it's one that makes you remember why farces are so much fun to get lost in. Plus there's always the design of the bathhouse to ogle, seriously, The Ritz has the best pool chairs ever. —Jamie Barton

DVD THROWDOWN

ON DVD

Joshua

Sam Rockwell, Jacob Kogan and Vera Farmiga
***

It’s always great to be pleasantly surprised when a film like Joshua takes you on a journey you never anticipated. It starts slower than what we’ve become accustomed to in this age of Cut! Slash! Splash! Splatter! horror films, but the film’s pacing serves to make it that much more creepy. Sam Rockwell’s fine performance anchors this film as his family goes to shit after the birth of a second child. “I don’t like baseball,” young Joshua confides in his dad as he tucks him into bed. When Dad assures him this is A-OK, the kid then asks if dad thinks he is weird and, if so, does his dad still love him. Dutiful dad responds, “Of course I love you. I’m your dad. I’ll love you no matter what.” Well, Daddy should’ve waited to see what his possibly-gay spawn of Satan was capable of first. DVD extras feature the titular thespian’s screen test where, thank goodness, we can see he’s not really a demented little freak! —WALLY KING

The Nines

Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy
**

Promising us Ryan Reynolds shirtless and wet is sure to lure enough gay men to this quirky, ambitious, if not entirely comprehensible directorial debut by talented gay screenwriter John August. The actors play three purportedly different characters in three supposedly different but interlinking installments which are blur of sci-fi, comedy and social commentary. The talented cast makes for a trippy experience, and they draw you in if for no other reason than to wonder, “What the hell is going on?” The DVD extras were not available at press time, but play the riddle back a few times before you cop out for August’s and Reynolds’ commentary. After all, you could do worse things than watch Reynolds for 99 minutes (plus, Gilmore Girls’ Melissa McCarthy is so adorable I could eat her up with a spoon). —W. K.

Goodbye VS. hello

What ever would gay cinema be without the bi-curious “straight” man? What would gay adolescence be, for that matter? He's as tried and true a storyline as any coming-out story or gay bashing—and often rings just a tad bit truer. I'm sure we all have out own personal “straight” boy stories, but being that this is my column you're going to hear about mine.

I just had a birthday (cards are in the mail I presume, people) and nothing makes you look back on your youth like another candle on your red velvet cake. Some 10 plus years ago when I was but a wee sophomore in high school I had the hugest crush on our JV football team's running back. He had light brown hair with bangs he would casually toss out of his dark brown eyes, a perpetual tan, and a smile whiter than Colonel Harland Sanders' best suit. We'll call him Boyd. Boyd had a secret: behind his swaggering bravado and athletic locker room ass slapping he craved a more private boy-on-boy bedroom ass slapping. Enter moi. The school art fag, I wouldn't say I was loose—but you'd be surprised at how many Future Farmers of America offer you a ride home once word gets out that you're orally “gifted.” So what began with Boyd flirting in order to copy my French test quickly turned into Boyd French kissing in order to get me in his pants. Long story short: it didn't end well (do they ever?). We had to be a secret, he continued dating girls while “dating” me and ended up taking our whore of an exchange student to his junior prom. I stayed home drinking gin and crying until I passed out. Oh l'amour, l'amour.

Which brings us to our first film, The Man of My Life from Strand Releasing. A French film that takes place in Provence over one summer, this is the story of married Frederic and his new gay neighbor, Hugo. They meet when Frederic's wife insists that he invite their new neighbor to dinner. He accepts and the evening ends with Frederic and Hugo exchanging their views on love. What develops over the next few months is a growing bond and deepening affection between the two men—to the point that Frederic loses interest in having sex with his wife and she becomes convinced she's losing her husband to another man. This is a beautiful film with incredible shots of the French countryside and a perfectly heartbreaking soundtrack. Happy ending —who can say? It's a bit ambiguous, just like all bi-curious straight men.

From southeastern France to East L.A.—up next is Wolfe Film's East Side Story. This is the story of Diego Campos, an aspiring chef who lives with his grandmother and works in her Mexican restaurant. He too has a boyfriend who claims to be straight: Pablo is a real estate agent who refuses to believe that his attraction to Diego is anything more than a phase. Then there's the new white gay couple that move in across the street from Diego—Wesley and Jonathon. Wesley is a recovering alcoholic with a heart of gold and Jonathon is a bitchy Southern queen (no comment) who'll do anything to keep his man. Shenanigans ensue with an especially hilarious scene involving an A.A. meeting. This is a very sweet and highly engaging film that rises above the been-there-seen-that coming out stories I seem to review every other week.

So therefore our Throwdown winner this week is East Side Story. As much as I enjoyed the realness of The Man of My Life's storytelling, I'm a sucker for a fairy tale ending. Real life seems to have so few that it's nice to see Diego win out over his bi-curious straight man. As for my own, Boyd and I lost touch after graduation. I did run into him once while home from college. He had gotten married and joined the army, and was noticeably uncomfortable talking to me. After several minutes of going on and on about his love for his wife and child, he finally relaxed, grabbed my shoulder and said, “You know, I still think about you a lot. How long are you home for?” And I remember thinking, “The army, huh? Well, that seems to have straightened you right out.” —GEORGE SKINNER