Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival starts next week with a mix of films that are diverse in perspective, subject matter and genre.
The 42nd edition of Reeling, the second-longest-running LGBTQ+ film festival in the world, runs Sept. 19-Oct. 6. This year’s lineup includes 42 feature films and 11 short film programs coming from 18 different countries.
Opening night will feature a screening of director Anthony Schatteman’s “Young Hearts,” a teenage gay love story set in a small town in the Belgian countryside. The presentation begins at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave. Schatteman will be at a pre-screening reception starting an hour before the movie.
Subsequent film screenings will be held at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St., and Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema, 1326 W. Hollywood Ave.
Filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox, who is in his second year of programming Reeling’s features lineup, said last year’s strikes limited the volume of Hollywood films available for the 2024 fest
“The result is this incredibly strong crop of indie and foreign films this year, including opening night’s ‘Young Hearts,’ ” Fox said.
Schatteman’s “Young Hearts” is a coming-out story about Elias, a 14-year-old boy who falls for his new neighbor and classmate, who is openly gay.
While many coming-out stories like this have emotional and tragic endings, Schatteman told the Sun-Times he was intentional about ending “Young Hearts” on a positive note, drawing inspiration from ‘90s American classics like “Matilda” and “Mrs. Doubtfire.”
“These are movies that leave you with good feelings, and I really wanted to have that kind of cliche, Hollywood, good ending in my film,” Schatteman said.
Schatteman based the character of Elias on himself as a child, he said. But the romance with his classmate was entirely fictional.
The movie was filmed in the small Belgian town where Schatteman grew up, he said. Elias’ bedroom set was filled with decorations and other things from Schatteman’s childhood bedroom, which he stayed in during the film’s shooting.
Revisiting these locations was an “emotional journey,” Schatteman said.
“I thought the therapy session happened during the writing of the film, but actually filming was when the work began,” Schatteman said.
Another festival centerpiece film is “Duino,” co-directed by Juan Pablo di Pace and Andrés Pepe Estrada. Di Pace starred in Reeling’s 2023 Opening Night presentation, “The Mattachine Family,” which was released on streaming in June.
“Duino” follows a filmmaker who is struggling to finish a movie about his first love when he’s unexpectedly invited to reconnect with his ex-lover. Set against the backdrop of Italy’s Adriatic Coast, the film explores themes of memory, infatuation and self-discovery.
“It’s an interesting look at somebody trying to piece together his memories of a sort of confusing era when he didn’t know if it was safe to express his love to his friend,” Fox said.
Other highlights include “Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story,” a documentary about 1960s soul singer and Black, transgender pioneer Jackie Shane; “High Tide,” about a Brazilian immigrant who finds purpose in the queer community of Provincetown, Massachusetts, and “Extremely Unique Dynamic,” a meta comedy about two friends creating a “meta-Asian-stoner-coming-of-age bromantic dramedy” movie together.
Starring filmmakers Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung, “Extremely Unique Dynamic” follows the two best friends during their last weekend together in Los Angeles before one of them moves to Canada. They spend their time working on an impromptu film that causes bottled-up secrets to emerge.
The film is inspired by Xu and Leung’s real-life friendship, and their on-screen chemistry as comedians is infectious.
“Harrison has been my great friend for so many years, but he was about to move,” Leung said. “We were on the floor in my bedroom eating Thai food, stoned, when we started egging each other on that we should make something together.”
Xu said the two had never gotten the chance to act in something together, largely due to a lack of diverse roles for Asian actors, so they felt inspired to make these roles for themselves.
“We wanted to create something we could star in together and just play regular dudes,” Xu said.
“Extremely Unique Dynamic” and “Duino” screen Sept. 26 at Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema.
Fox watched more than 90 films when creating this year’s Reeling lineup. He said being able to program the festival is a full-circle moment to his early days as a filmmaker in Memphis, when his debut film “Blue Citrus Hearts” won Reeling’s best feature award in 2003.
“I credit Reeling for launching my career, and I still make films today,” Fox said. “So I take this job very seriously, because I know the importance of these festivals to filmmakers.”