Two PH films in Torino LGBTQ fest

From left: Khalil Ramos, Jameson Blake and Ethan Salvador in “2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten”

Two Filipino films will be showcased at the 32nd Torino LGBTQ International Film Festival in Italy, from June 15 to 20.

Competing in the fest are Petersen Vargas’ full-length feature film “2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten,” which topped the Cinema One fest last year, and Jared Joven and Kaj Palanca’s short film, “Contestant #4,” an entry in last year’s QCinema fest.

According to Vargas, his film is vying for top honors in the main section, along with the Sundance winner “Spa Night,” the Berlinale entry “The Wound” and the Argentinean movie “Taekwondo.”

“2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten” tells the story of a lonely boy’s complex and confounding

relationship with Filipino-American brothers in 1990s Pampanga.

Meanwhile, “Contestant #4,” which won the Audience Choice award at the QCinema, is making its international premiere in Torino.

The short film follows the unlikely friendship of a teenage boy and an aging former cross-dresser.

Also known as the Lovers Film Festival, the Torino fest is considered “an important cinema event…in the international circuit…as one of the oldest LGBTQ-themed festivals in Europe.”

According to its website, the Lovers Film Fest gathers 40,000 viewers every year. The event aims to “support young and promising artists from different countries…promoting movies that wouldn’t otherwise get distributed in Italy.” —BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.