Tonight I went to the premiere of the short film Jonathan, Just Because, directed by our friend Josh Koll and written by Kirsten Major and Josh Helmin. Josh H. stars along with Kirsten and Adam Lehman.
It is a wonderful film. It focuses on Josh and Adam, both currently boyfriendless, trying to make a connection with each other. Sure it’s a simple slice of life, but it’s the simplicity that also gives this film it’s honesty and sweetness (yes, I cried just a bit at the end) because everyone has been in this situation at some point in their lives.
During the post-film Q&A session Kristin said she was trying to write a good romantic story that happened to be gay instead of a gay romantic story. She certainly succeeded. Adam also said he liked the film because it showed two gay guys who were out and comfortable with themselves unlike most films were it seems that at least one person has to come out or have some serious baggage. I hadn’t considered that as I watched, but I agree it was nice to see the normalcy.
The film makes its Internet premiere on Towleroad this Friday afternoon. I’ll post a link to it when it’s up because it is worth 15 minutes from your day to check it out.
Meanwhile, in a side note on the night, I got to meet [title of show]’s Hunter Bell and that rocked my night. Luckily the introduction happened right before Hunter had to start his hosting duties so I didn’t have a geeky fan moment that I’d be embarrassed about later. It was nice though to meet, and shake the hand of, one-fourth of the awesome [tos] gang.
I am really enjoying the 10% Cinema in the Cleveland International Film Festival. I will check out this film on the net, as I was unable to see many of the 10% shorts in the festival. I am volunteering for the festival this year, and they are always looking for films for the festival. Tell your film making friends to check it out! In fact, you may want to take a little trip to Ohio next year and visit the festival yourself! They started with 143 features and made multiple late additions, and I have no idea how many shorts!