For an overweight girly-boy named Billy and his tomboy best friend cousin Lou, the surreal rocky landscape of rural New Zealand is a perfect stand-in for the moon. It’s 1975 and all summer long, they’ve been living out adventures from their favorite TV show Adventures In Space… with Billy playing the ponytailed heroine Lana, and Lou as the swaggering hero Brad. But with fall rugby season, the gender-bending idyll comes to an end. Billy hates rugby and hides from practice. Lana’s the best player in town, but her teammates aren’t so sure they want to play with a girl anymore. To further complicate matters, a frail school misfit is head-over-heels in love with Billy, and Billy himself is smitten with the studly, ever-shirtless new farmhand. Meanwhile, Lana’s own feelings for the farmhand bring out a girliness she never knew she had. In adapting the acclaimed novel of the same name, seasoned director Stewart Main (Desperate Remedies) has crafted a loving and astute portrait of queer adolescence, brimming with furtive sexual thrills, senseless peer cruelty, and perpetual identity angst. The adorable young stars give vivid, open-hearted performances, bringing the script’s sly humor and its tender sadness to life beautifully. And just to look at, the film is drop-dead gorgeous, its lush landscapes bathed in Technicolor, end-of-summer light. Like our most cherished young-adult novels, this is a tale to be savored long after its over.
Stewart Main is a native of New Zealand. His first feature film, Desperate Remedies, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993. His work in film and television include One of Them (1998), Twilight of the Gods (1995) as well as directing episodes of television shows “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”.
Gateway
7:30pm Screening
$12 Non-Members/ $10 Members - BUY TICKETS
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