Update: upcoming History Month events; film

Events this week for York LGBT History Month 2015

This week sees ten events taking place for York LGBT History Month 2015 (two were yesterday), including a few at York St John University. For a summary of the events, which include film screenings, a variety night, a conference, an exhibition, walks and a football match, see the blog post.

LGBT film at City Screen

From Friday 13 February, City Screen will be showing Love is Strange, a film about long-term partners who take the newly-legal opportunity to marry, but are then faced with physical separation following prejudice-motivated redundancy. For more information, see the synopsis below or visit the City Screen event page.

Long-term New York lovers Ben (Lithgow) and George (Molina) embrace the new legality of gay marriage by getting hitched, only to find George facing the sack from his intolerant employer. Now unable to afford their apartment, they’re obliged to live separately with friends and family, an arrangement that comes with pressures and discomforts that none of those involved could have imagined.

Writer-director Ira Sachs (KEEP THE LIGHTS ON) has strong form portraying the subtle nuances of intimate relationships; with LOVE IS STRANGE the middle-aged element adds both poignancy and unmawkish humour. Marisa Tomei as Kate, the put-upon wife of Ben’s nephew (Darren Burrows), and Charlie Tahan as her son are both especially effective, but it’s veteran character actors Lithgow and Molina who rightly steal the show.