Reno: Rebel Without a Pause, by Nancy Savoca, subtitled ‘Unrestrained Reflections on September 11th,’ is Latina lesbian comic Reno’s hilarious, too-controversial-for-cable performance film captures her rapid-fire response to the WTC attacks, which occurred a few blocks from her apartment and inspired this legendary one-woman show that debuted at the East Village’s La MaMa a mere three weeks later.
The dynamic Reno vividly and irreverently recreates the emotional tumult of that morning, assesses its effects on her own identity as an American, and launches into a scathingly funny assault on George W. (‘You mean that guy who was appointed by his brother?’), anti-Arab prejudice, Christian fundamentalism (‘the other religious terrorist group’), and many other deserving targets.
Nancy Savoca (Household Saints, Dogfight) directs in an alert, rough-edged style that matches Reno’s raw energy.
Reno will be performing live at HotHouse, Saturday, Nov. 29, two special intimate shows, 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Visit www.hothouse.net for more details.
The film itself screens Nov. 28-Dec. 2, Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 3:30 p.m.; Sunday at 5:15 p.m.; Monday at 6:30 p.m.; Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. At Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St. (312) 846-2600 (general information), (312) 846-2800 (hotline). Reno will introduce the Friday, Nov. 28 screening.
Venus Boyz 2001, by Gabriel Baur of Switzerland, is also screening at Gene Siskel Film Center.
Drag kings rule in Venus Boyz. The lesbian, bisexual, cross-dressing, and transgendered women who strut and swagger in a variety of male personas on the queer club stages of Baur’s documentary not only perform but provide behind-the-scenes insight into who they are and who they long to be.
The filmmaker has uniquely intimate access to the on-and-offstage lives of performers including Mildred ‘Dréd’ Gerestant, Bridge Markland, Mo B. Dick, Diane Torr, and Storme Webber, and provides an insightful look at a process of self-determination that transcends gender. Nov. 28-Dec. 4, Friday at 3:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.; Saturday at 7:15 p.m.; Sunday at 3:15 p.m.; Monday at 8:15 p.m.; Tuesday at 6:15 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday at 6:15 and 8:15 p.m.