"The Witnesses" to open 31st Annual SF International LGBT Film Fest

The San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival will launch its fourth decade on Thursday, June 14, with the North American Premiere of The Witnesses (Les Témoins), the latest film from director André Téchiné (Wild Reeds, 1994).

From Frameline:

Paris, 1984. In a cruisey city park, Adrien, a sophisticated, middle-aged doctor, meets Manu, a buoyant 18-year-old. Manu turns down Adrien’s proposition—then asks him to hold his jacket while he joins an orgy in the bushes. Not the best way to start a relationship, yet Adrien takes Manu under his wing. Manu needs guidance, and Adrien comes alive as he tromps around Paris with this energetic newcomer. Adrien’s friend Sarah worries that he’s being taken advantage of, but Adrien disagrees: “You can ask anything of your friends.”

The possibilities of friendship are at the heart of this elegant new film from André Téchiné, whose 1994 Wild Reeds is already a classic. Once again, the French auteur demonstrates the complexity of desire—plus his knack for casting sexy, intense young French actors.In lesser hands, the May/December dynamic would slip into heartbreak and stop there, but Téchiné raises the stakes as The Witnesses becomes a story of relationships tested by the onslaught of AIDS.

Like a cinematic string quartet, the film intertwines four fascinating lives—none entirely hero nor villain. Carefree Manu turns dangerous under pressure. Adrien, a doormat in love, becomes a medical warrior fighting the deadly new virus. Sarah struggles to balance motherhood with artistry, while her macho Algerian husband falls into his first gay affair.

The Witnesses takes us through a tumultuous year—from love into war and back—asking us to bear witness to the lives it portrays and paying tribute to friendship, courage and hope.

More info, and tickets, here.

On May 1, Frameline will be launching a new website, featuring the schedule for this year's festival as well as streaming video of film trailers, an interactive calendar, a searchable database, and personalized festival accounts.