BEAUTIFUL SOULFUL HUMAN STORIES IN FILM
GAY CHORUS DEEP SOUTH
In these troubled times, when society is polarized with the rise of racism, gender and sexual discrimination, Gay Chorus Deep South, a new documentary film by David Charles Rodrigues offers a glimmer of hope. The film, featured at this year’s Woodstock Film Festival, follows the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus as they travel through the the Southern states of America, telling their stories and confronting their past and the families they left behind.
“As a gay man who grew up in the church, I understand the pain of rejection,” says Academy Award winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, “but filmmaker David Charles Rodrigues has made a film that is about the restorative power of art. Gay Chorus Deep South will fill your heart with joy and your mind with wonderful music.”
The South, with some of the country’s most restrictive anti-gay laws, presents an opportunity to “build bridges” for the men of the chorus. But the entrenched anti-gay sentiment proves to be a challenge that will require lots more work and evolution.
The film also offered a homecoming to wo of the leaders of the chorus, the artistic director and the CEO, both of whom hail from the South. It helped to serve as a way to come to terms with the prejudice and hostility they faced while growing up.
The Chorus performed in the southern states they visited, including a climactic concert at a Southern Baptist mega-church in South Carolina. Along the way they were joined by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, a predominantly black chorus that also includes a number of gay singers. A scene of the chorus members crossing the Edmund Pettis Bridge, in Alabama, is particularly meaningful to both groups.
With some 300 singers performing, the film focuses in on just a sampling of their individual stories, including that of a trans woman who works with the ACLU
It is an emotional story in irrational times. “I saw a group of people with beautiful music and a history of activism ready to sing against all odds, says Rodrigues. “Songs are the quickest way to connect with someone. It’s a lightning bolt to the soul. Imagine 300 people, who’ve dealt with discrimination their entire lives, singing in unison. The frequency of their voices are filled with loved and acceptance and a universal language echoes through everyone, no matter what you believe in.”
The coming-of-age film Once Upon A River, directed by Haroula Rose, tells the story of a part-Native American teenage girl Margo Crane (Kenadi DelaCerna) in search of her missing mother.
Adapted from the One Upon A River novel, by Bonnie Jo Campbell, set in in 1978, the film visits Margo, who lives with her father, Bernard (Tatanka Means) after her mother left the family. One night, her uncle Cal (Coburn Goss) rapes her, but one of Cal’s daughters witnesses the illicit act, leading to a misunderstanding which results in her father’s death.
The traumatised Margo decides to look into where her mother has gone and embarks on a quest down the Stark River. Along the way, she meets elder Smoke (John Ashton) and his friend Fishbone (Kenn E Head) and in the process tries to discover her own sense of well-being and belonging in spite of her misplaced childhood.
Margo, as Campbell tells us, is beautiful, a “precious river princess,” and men are drawn to her. With stunning locations and river scenes, the film captures the essence of Mid-Western Americana.
Founded in 2000 as a grassroots arts organization driven by the sheer love of film and community, the Woodstock Film Festival has grown into one of the premiere independent film festivals in the US, bringing together thousands of filmmakers and film lovers over the years. This year, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Woodstock Film Festival, the 50th anniversary of the legendary Woodstock Festival, as well as the 100th anniversary of Woodstock as America’s oldest colony of the arts.
Actor Paul Rudd calls the Festival "a great festival... what a film festival should be, which is really independent films and showcasing the work of filmmakers you might not know about.”
Read more Beautiful Stories in film featured at the Woodstock Film Festival in our weeklong series.
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