'Fucked in the Face' creator and local filmmaker, Shawn Durr (right). Screen lesbians display a singular lack of gay pride. And things get messy (and painful) in Shawn Durr's film.
Outlines, The Voice of Chicago's Gay and Lesbian
Community,
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by rick reed
It's out there&emdash;in just a few days, it will slouch towards Chicago and things will never be the same. What am I babbling on about? Why, the cinematic smorgasbord that is the Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF 2000). The festival will unspool 18 features, 12 documentaries and more than 150 shorts over seven days at the historic Fine Arts Theatre (418 S. Michigan Ave.) at its 7th annual event.
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'Fucked in the Face' creator and local filmmaker, Shawn Durr (right). Screen lesbians display a singular lack of gay pride. And things get messy (and painful) in Shawn Durr's film. |
Shawn Durr, whose short film, Meatfucker, won the award for favorite Chicago Underground film at last year's festival, will see the premiere of his full-length feature, Fucked In The Face (FITF), at this year's fest Sunday, Aug. 20. Combining a serial killer, deranged homicidal lesbians, drug abuse, personality disorders, dildos, crystal meth, Chicago locations and more, this is one cinematic extravaganza you can't afford to miss. I recently had the opportunity to speak with the filmmaker. Here's what he had to say:
RR: What inspired you to make FITF?
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The CUFF Gay & Lesbian Connection
The following films were deemed by the folks at CUFF to have special significance for those of us of the homosexual persuasion: Fucked In The Face (Sunday, Aug. 20) Straightman (Friday, 7:30 and 9:30) The Lester Film (Saturday, 1:00, part of shorts program Dreams of Life) The Escapades of Madame X (Saturday, 4:45, part of shorts program Shadows and Light) Shadow Boxers (Saturday,, 5:30) Live! Nude! Girls! Unite! (Saturday, 8:30) Exile in Guyville (Sunday, noon) Hair Burners (Sunday, 10:30, part of shorts program Plastic, Fantastic, Inevitables) Benjamin Smoke (Tuesday, 6:00) Nasty Girls and Dirty Boys (Tuesday, 8:30) Godass (Wednesday, 6:00) For complete information, call the festival hotline at 773-866-8660 or visit their web site at www.cuff.org. |
SD: On my 32nd birthday Andrew Cunanan&emdash;in my book, the cutest of the '90s era serial killers&emdash;shot and killed Gianni Versace. From that moment on, I was smitten. Of course it was a little disturbing to have a crush on a serial killer. This odd crush has haunted me ever since. So I think I made the movie to try to understand how I could be in love with a serial killer. Also, in the years since, I have experienced some really crappy relationships with guys. Relationships where I felt used for sex, and then dumped when I wanted more than just fucking. So I suppose I wanted to get some stuff off my chest. Something else that really inspired me was a film by my idol, Todd Verow, Frisk. I think it's wickedly funny and has a lot to say about queer culture. And I really like the part where Alexis Arquette gets a 50 dollar bill shoved up his ass. You know, I saw Alexis Arquette in New York at some after-party at a bar, and he did this amazing trick. He pulled down his pants and actually sucked his own dick. But back to what I was saying ... where Todd's film was sort of dark, I wanted to make FITF funny. Just so everybody knows, this is no Dennis Cooperesque film&emdash;I'd say it's more of a cross between John Waters, David Cronenberg and a little Lynch. Frisk + Female Troubles = Fucked In The Face.
RR: Do you enjoy being fucked in the face? Do you swallow?
SD: I will say that a stiff throbbing cock in the face every now and then can be fun. Regarding the swallowing issue, I do enjoy when my boyfriend cums in my mouth&emdash;but I usually spit it out. Somebody told me it's good for your teeth. That must explain why so many queers have such pretty teeth. Of course I can't recommend getting a mouthfull of jizz outside of a committed, trusting relationship. I mean, I would hate to contract HIV just for a little cock, no matter how good it might be for oral hygiene.
RR: How do you go about casting your actors?
SD: I fuck them. If they can make me cum in 15 minutes or less, they're in. The truth is, they're my friends for the most part. I know a lot of talented people, and I really hate working with strangers. When I make movies it's such a vulnerable time. I'm always on the verge of thinking I suck really hard. So, casting all my friends is a way to create a safe, fun, creative environment. For Fucked I used almost everyone I know&emdash;including my boyfriend, who plays the cute gay serial killer.
RR: What's the creative process you go through?
SD: Anxiety. Sleeplessness. Difficulty breathing. Dizziness. Mood changes. Irritability. That's my creative process. This process begins when I start thinking about doing the movie, and ends when it's finally screened at a festival. Actually, the first step in my process is that I talk about ideas. Last summer I was talking about an idea I had to make this movie about a gay serial killer. After I get done talking, I write it down. This, besides editing, is the most fun part. It's a very solitary business. I usually don't do many drafts. I know that once we start shooting, everything will change anyway. There is nothing that I can write or plan that is as cool as the stuff that happens spontaneously. Shooting the film is very loose, open, relaxed and fun. Then comes editing ... which is really like coming up with the final draft of the script. In the editing process you can really tell if a film is going to be cool or not.
RR: Last year, your short, Meatfucker, won an award at the Chicago Underground Film Festival, huh? Were you surprised?
SD: I guess I was more taken aback than surprised. I suppose because Meatfucker was the first film where I really began to sense that I was taking a direction in my life&emdash;and that I enjoyed the direction. Also, I really consider the Chicago Underground Film Festival my artistic home, so it was neat to cause a bit of a splash there. Meatfucker also got a lot of attention from other festivals. It won an award at Sarah Lawrence College's Short Film Festival. It was cool my film got an award, but the coolest thing was that someone actually called in a bomb threat in response to having seen Meatfucker. This kook called the festival office about 10 minutes after the screening got over and said that Meatfucker was the most disgusting film he had ever seen, and that he wanted to make sure that they never showed it again. There was no bomb, but there was an evacuation, the bomb squad came, you know, the dogs, everything. I think I'm most proud of that.
RR: Meatfucker seems to be a twisted metaphor for homosexual self-loathing. What inspired you to draw parallels between a vegetarian desire for meat and sex?
SD: It's not so much about self loathing as it is about repression. I think of that movie as sort of a strange gay "right of passage." The main character has desires, but he doesn't act on them, and this drives him nuts. Finally he lets loose. So what if it's with a raw chicken? I chose to focus on a vegetarian who has a meat lust, because I didn't just want to relate the story in a normal literal way.
RR: What's up with the lesbians in FITF? They're not very nice people. Aren't you afraid some lesbians may accuse you of not being sympathetic in failing to create any positive dyke role models?
SD: I'm not afraid. I mean, what do lesbians have to complain about? Everybody loves lesbians. The lesbians in Fucked hate "faggots," "cock" and Martha Stewart&emdash;who they refer to as a "cocksucking tranny with a big fat cock." I mean really, I don't know where you get the impression that these dykes ain't nice. But I think if you watch the film, you can tell that I'm not out to tear down the lesbian nation or anything. The film is a comedy that makes fun of stereotypes&emdash;those little pre-conceived notions that straight people and gay people themselves have of how queers act, what the queer scene is all about, etc ...
RR: What comment on the human condition does FITF make?
SD: If I think about the film&emdash;most of the characters in it are so desperate for emotional closeness&emdash;they cling to people who they don't stand a rat's chance in Richard Gere's ass of being happy with or finding closeness with&emdash;people who obviously just use them or don't care about them&emdash;as a result they feel an awful loss of control over their own lives ... so that what had been a desire for closeness with others becomes a desire for control, no matter what the costs.
RR: Why should people see FITF?
SD: Because they will have a GREAT fucking time. This movie is trippy, queer as hell, weird, and kick ass! With creepy cool performances.
RR: What's up for the future?
SD: I'm going to start shooting my next digital feature. I think it's going to be called The Last Fuck ... it'll be about queer teenage vampires.
RR: If people want to know more about you or get in touch, how should they do it?
SD: Visit eccentricfilms.com. You can find out more about me and the films and e-mail me if you like.
CUFF runs Aug. 18-24. Tickets are $7 for all programs, with volume discounts available. Call (773) 866-8660 or visit www.cuff.org.
Straight Men: An Interview with Straightman's Ben Berkowitz & Ben Redgrave
by gregg shapiro
In the ongoing learning process of doing interviews, some questions, such as "Are you gay?" find ways of getting answered by themselves. The ambiguity about the sexuality of the interview subjects arose because Ben Berkowitz and Ben Redgrave, the two men in their late 20s who co-wrote and produced (with Berkowitz directing) the movie Straightman, handle the subject of a gay man's coming out (Jack, played by Redgrave) with such natural ease and sensitivity that one might expect either or both to possess the gay gene. Neither one says he does, but that doesn't mean that they can't play gay on-screen, which Redgrave does brilliantly.
Gregg Shapiro: At one point in your movie Straightman, the movie that you both co-wrote, and that Ben Berkowitz directed, David (Berkowitz's character) says "Everyone's from Ohio or Indiana." Are either of you from Ohio or Indiana?
Ben Redgrave: Silver Spring, Maryland.
Ben Berkowitz: My family is from Chicago, but I grew up in New England. All of the Berkowitzes live in Chicago. My great aunt and my uncle and all my cousins, and maybe even my dad and my mom, will all be coming to see film [at Chicago Underground Film Festival]. My parents live in the suburbs of New York, in Connecticut, which is where I grew up, so they've already seen the movie at the New York Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
GS: What was that like for them?
BB: It was great. They, and 10 of their friends, including a gay couple&emdash; John and Gary, who I think have been together for over 20 years&emdash;that has lived at the end of our street since I was eight and watched me grow up and they're so proud of me, "We watched you grow up!"...
GS: How long have you been here?
BB: I've lived here about six years. I moved here to go to school. I think because my family's from here, Chicago's where I knew I'd end up.
GS: And how long have you been here?
BR: I've been here eight years.
GS: Straightman is going to be playing at Chicago Underground Film Festival for the second year in a row, right?
BB: Sort of. This is probably a matter that I should make more clear. We were finishing the film last summer. We were the first feature film to get CUFF's post-production grant. At this time last year, Ben (Redgrave) and I were in the studio, working on the music, sound, post-production, and they were having CUFF (at the same time), and I would leave the studio, go over there, hang out, and I let Brian show a 20-minute rough footage sneak preview. We did the same thing at this film market in New York in the fall. ... Doing both of those was a great way to get the festival programmers and even some of the distributors to know (about the movie), so that when it was finally done, in January of 2000, in time for Berlin (Film Festival), people already knew about it.
GS: When was the U.S. Premiere?
BB: The U.S. premiere was at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. Since then, we've played Toronto Gay & Lesbian (Film Festival), New York Gay & Lesbian (Film Festival), where we won a jury prize.
BR: Outfest in Los Angeles.
BB: We won best screenplay at Outfest. It's the largest festival in Southern California. The only festival larger than it, in California, is San Francisco, which we did not play. They didn't want the film. There are a lot of gay (film) festivals, such as San Francisco, and (turns to Redgrave) I hate to tell you this in front of "company," but we just heard that D.C. (Gay & Lesbian Film Festival) doesn't want it.
BR: Oh, fuck.
BB: That's Ben's hometown. (To Redgrave) I guarantee you that we will have a D.C. screening, do not worry, but we will not be a part of D.C. Gay & Lesbian.
GS: I'm sorry to hear that. But it brings up another question. CUFF is being held in August and then a few months later, in November is Reeling: Chicago Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival. Are there plans to show Straightman at Reeling?
BB: We're in discussions about that right now. I'm really open to the idea. There are some stipulations that I can't talk about right now.
GS: It's really custom-made for Reeling. BB: In a sense it is. That's why I brought up the thing about San Francisco and D.C. Those are the only two Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals that have not wanted the film. Unfortunately, there have been a few that I've had to say no to because we only have one print and it's been traveling around. It also went to the Philadelphia Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and today (a Saturday in mid-August), it's showing at Out On Screen (Vancouver's Gay & Lesbian Film Festival). It'll be going to the Lisbon Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and it will be shown as part of a traveling gay and lesbian film festival in Germany. High Art was in it last year. It's a really cool festival, and it starts in November. Lots of Gay & Lesbian Film Festivals want it, but there have been a couple that don't. It's really important, for us, for the film to find its gay audience, but also its straight audience. Playing stuff like CUFF and the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival are really important to us too.
GS: One of the things that makes Straightman so interesting, especially from the Chicago perspective, is the use of location shooting, such as on an actual CTA bus.
BB: Oh, yes. The Western (Avenue) bus at around three a.m. Completely illegal.
GS: It's illegal? How did you do that?
BR: It's totally illegal. Every location ... we had absolutely no permits. O'Hare. Union Station. We didn't have the money.
BB: It's not just about money. I've actually worked as a production manager and coordinator for TV commercials, and the permits for the park district or the streets, that's not expensive. You have to pay them, do the paperwork, get a cop. That's pretty easy. But CTA permits are hard to get, regardless of how much money you have.
GS: What about the different bars & restaurants, such as Okno?
BB: The funny story with that is that we were looking for an exterior to shoot the scene where Jack (Redgrave) sees Carlos (Joaquin De La Puente) with another guy and I wanted something that had a reasonable amount of available light. There's a big street lamp right there, which is pretty bright. The cinematographer also had these sun lamps that he could hook up to a car battery. We had a crew of two. It was like this BBC documentary crew with an old Vietnam war camera. ... We ended up using it for a couple of locations, including that bathroom sex scene.
GS: It's a very unique setting.
BR: I'm pretty tight with the owner of Gold Star, which is where we shot the scene with the "daddy" character.
BB: The bar where Jack meets the older man. I don't think we ever refer to him by name.
GS: The bisexual professor.
BR: Exactly. We also shot in Rainbo. It's where Jack and Carlos have the beer after work.
GS: I've previously seen Butch Jerinic, who plays Max, Jack's estranged girlfriend, perform as a member of GayCo, and was aware of her talent as a comedian. What was it about her that made you cast her in a more dramatic role?
BB: I met Butch, and a few other actors, through my friend Scott Holme, who plays Tommy Barbie, the blonde, Southern comedian (in the movie). He's one of my best friends. We worked together selling season ticket packages at Steppenwolf. He was doing Comedy Sportz, which he did with Butch and some of the other people with smaller parts in the film. They were also doing the Sunday training workshops at Second City, which is the first time I saw her. She was doing this Serbo-Croatian mom-thing with this guy, all about how everything is made of bacon. He brings home his vegetarian girlfriend (to meet her). As a heterosexual, I was blown away by how fucking hot she is. She's like Sophia Loren meets Ileana Douglas. She's gorgeous and hilarious. I joke with her that I made a film just because I wanted to cast her. In a way it's true.
BR: She brought so much meat to it.
BB: The original notes, when we first started writing, was that two ditzy yuppie girls are dating these two slacker guys. Thank God, Butch made it better than that.
BR: Ben took me to Comedy Sportz so that I could meet her. I didn't know which woman she was, on the stage, but I was like, "Wow, she's incredible," when I saw her.
GS: She stands out in everything she does. BR: People just love her. And then, on the attractiveness level, I was like, "Oh, fuck, she's married?" Her husband, Mick, is such a great guy, which makes it even worse.
GS: I'd like to talk about the portrayal of gay characters outside of what can be described as the gay mainstream. Jack is a sexy, blue-collar guy. Why did you feel the need to create a character such as Jack for Straightman?
BR: That's what we really wanted to explore. Someone who doesn't fit into the queer culture, and how that makes the act of coming out and being honest with yourself much more difficult. Guys in the closet who are really flamboyant (when they come out), people go, "Uh huh, I knew."
GS: The element of surprise is that much greater because Jack is not typical.
BR: That, and that he lives a typically heterosexual life. It's just that he's attracted to men. He "fucks men," as he says.
BB: It was really important for us for him to not be what some people would consider stereotypically gay. I know so many gay men like that. People have asked us how we came up with that character, and we didn't "come up" with that character, because I know those people (like Jack) and I wanted to make a film about those people because no one ever does. It's far from a true story, but the inspiration for Straightman was my relationship with my best friend, because he's like that. He's a working class, ordinary guy. I was pretty shocked when he told me he was gay. That's just something that we dealt with.
BR: I actually do construction and I've worked for gay contractors.
BB: When Ben and I first started writing, I had the basic premise of the guys losing their girlfriends and then one of them comes out. I met Ben, we did a play together, and I thought he was great. We started having all these talks and he told me about the construction workers he knew and his own experiences. That's why I don't consider it to be about me and my friend. It's so much about me and Ben and other things, fictionalized.
GS: The gay sex scenes (on the stairway, in the Union Station men's room, the wrestling scene with Carlos) have both a dramatic and erotic tension that seems to be purposely missing from the heterosexual sex scenes. Would you care to comment on that?
BB: It's not to make a grand statement that straight sex is like that. It's trying to show something that I know is real and exists, and that is that there are lots of monogamous gay men and lots of promiscuous straight guys. I know guys like David. In my wildest dreams I am like David. I know so many straight guys who are living like that, juggling three or four women at a time. They want that casual sex. Those guys wish they could go to a bath-house full of women. That doesn't exist for them, so they have to be a little more sleazy about it. The way I envisioned it, is that the straight sex would be ridiculous. The reason I don't think it's fully misogynistic, is because David is so ridiculous and naive.
GS: I'd like to talk about Jack's coming out scene. What was the level of difficulty of shooting that scene?
BB: It was very easy for me (laughs).
GS: No doubt.
BB: I'm not even joking. I realize that that sounds funny, and that this is totally your (Redgrave's) question, but just to let you know, Ben's like, "I know what I want to do." We had talked about it, we had written the scene, but we had no idea how to shoot it.
GS: Was the scene always set in the bathtub? BR: I had it in my head.
BB: Yeah, we had discussed that and written the basic outline for what needed to happen, and everything else was Ben. He said, "I'm going to get in the bathtub," and I said, "You're what?" That was our deal. When someone really felt passionately about a way to do something, we let them do it. It was like trust. We had been working on it for four months, with Butch and Joaquin. We had spent most of 1998 together already. By the time we got to shooting we had to trust people. One time Butch yelled "Cut!", and she was right.
BR: That scene was difficult. It's not like it was a lot of work to get to that place. It was something that I had in my head, and I'm very familiar with that frame of mind. What it was was really draining in a way. I was really relieved afterwards, because I had been carrying it around for so long. I wanted to give it a certain amount of breathing room.
GS: Will you be directing again?
BB: Ben and I do want to make it again. But, if Gus Van Sant calls and wants to direct, I think he should.
BR: We would have a meeting.
BB: The lead role is a 14-year-old boy, and the other lead, the older brother, we've agreed should be Ben. It's a great part for him. It's totally different than Jack. It's more of a family drama&emdash;about a kid that runs away from home and how his older brother goes after him.
GS: Neither of your characters, in Straightman is particularly lucky in love. I'm wondering if either of you has better luck in real life.
BR: I'm extremely unlucky.
BB: I have been very lucky. But currently, I am not.
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