At gay fest, the journeys are the destination

If any one thing characterizes contemporary gay, lesbian, and transgender communities, it's change -- the desire to make it happen, the struggle to keep up with it.

This year's Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival, the 23d at the Museum of Fine Arts, is a reflection of this. It offers insight to people with questions, community for those facing loss, and -- perhaps most importantly -- some comic relief amid all the conflict. The program, which lasts more than a week and showcases women's, men's, youth, experimental, and short films on separate nights, features work that speaks to issues both universal and specific for gays and lesbians living in today's polarized social climate.

In one of this year's highlights, filmmakers Sam Feder and Julie Hollar look at the journeys of three young men, born female, into manhood in "Boy I Am ." In the quietly moving documentary, Norie Manigult , Keegan O'Brien and Nicco Beretta detail the triumphs and difficulties of the transition as well as the tricky business of becoming male feminists. Activists and authorities on gender studies (including noted writer and academic Judith Halberstam ) also weigh in on the lesbian separatist and feminist responses to female-to-male transgender identities, as well the hesitation of society at large to accept this often-marginalized community.

Beretta 's friend Jenn Hoffman sums up her initial reservations in a way both succinct and, no doubt to some in the transgender community, mildly stinging: "How can you be . . . the strongest woman I know, if you don't want to be a woman?" Despite the subjects' tendency to occasionally use insider vocabulary to describe the process, the film is a touching portrait of three men whose lives are, arguably, just beginning. A panel discussion will follow the screening on May 19.

On the other side of the spectrum, "FtF: Female to Femme" follows queer women reclaiming their own brand of femininity in the face of feminists who reject the "patriarchal" standards of womanhood. Elizabeth Stark (also an interviewee) and Kami Chishom 's short documentary seeks to ask how a selection of burlesque performers, actresses, musicians, activists and support group members define femininity: They are women in gravity-defying heels and with even more gravity-defying bosoms, others with dread locks and piercings, some who were debutantes, a few who admit with palpable embarrassment that they've never owned a push-up bra before. In short, there is no one definition.

The women's program opener is "Itty Bitty Titty Committee," whose unlikely heroine is Anna (Melonie Diaz ). A timid receptionist in an LA plastic surgery clinic (and recently dumped by her first girlfriend), she's swept up by a rowdy group of hyperattractive urban outlaws who spend their evenings spraying pro-woman slogans on storefronts and trashing public statues, all backed by a throbbing riot grrrl soundtrack. While the movie's themes are obvious and some of its contemporary feminist stereotypes a little hard to take seriously, Anna's personal journey and eventual self-acceptance are as enlightening as they are entertaining.

Another movie set in the City of Angels, the men's opener, "East Side Story" is a tale of star-crossed lovers: the sensitive and closeted Diego (René Alvarado ) and his hunky neighbor Wesley (Steve Callahan ). Directed by Carlos Portugal , the film handles heavy issues (homophobia, gentrification, racism) with a fairly light touch. When Diego come s out to his loving but mostly conservative Mexican-American family, he feels lost and isolated. On the other side of the hedge, so to speak, Wesley is trapped in a dead-end relationship with a racist boyfriend. An updated take on the "barrio" romance, the film is cute and engaging while tackling real issues.

Self-discovery and the shedding of illusions are also central to the plot of the semisweet, '80s coming-of-age story "El Calentito." In Spanish director Chus Gutiérrez's film, the neglected Sara (Verónica Sánchez ) abandons her goody-goody existence and becomes a member of an all-girl punk trio -- by accident. The band members works their fishnets off in pursuit of a record deal, playing incessant gigs at the watering hole El Calentito. There they're taken under the wing of Antonia (Nuria González ), the bar's sassy transgender owner. When martial law threatens Spanish democracy, the ragtag family use s the club, rock 'n' roll, and each other as a safe haven until peace is restored.

For other queer folks, change and transition may come in subtler forms, over time. Bob Claunch and Jack Reavley speak with ease, candor , and charm about their five-decade partnership, which started as a flirtation between a commanding officer and an enlisted man in postwar Germany in the early 1950s.

"I remember so distinctly," Claunch says. "Across the room there was this first lieutenant. He was standing pretty much by himself, and I thought, 'This is the most remarkable man I think I've ever seen.' " In Stu Maddux 's touching documentary, "Bob and Jack's 52-Year Adventure," the partners take turns telling stories about their courtship, the hardships each faced, and their journey as a couple. The film's gentle testament to lasting love, as well as a mostly unspoken nod in favor of gay marriage (Reavley's fading health creates new bumps in the road for the pair) is one of the shining moments of the festival's lineup; Claunch and Reavley are an inspiration.

Eytan Fox 's story of a tortured love across Israeli/Palestinian borders, "The Bubble," confronts the possibility of love existing despite politics and in the face of fear. When Israeli soldier Noam (Ohad Knoller ) and Palestinian civilian Ashraf (Yousef Sweid ) fall for each other, they flirt with real danger in a world riddled with violence. While Ashraf is relatively comfortable staying (albeit secretly) in Noam's Tel Aviv, at home in Palestine his romantic life is shrouded in desperate silence. When politics tear the lovers apart, the internal and external conflicts become all too clear, for the men and for their embattled homelands. The stirring film is co-presented by the Boston Jewish Film Festival and Keshet.

Standing on its own as a beacon of belly laughs is "Creatures From the Pink Lagoon," a black-and-white send-up of '60s schlock horror and screen queens alike. Bad wigs, half-furnished sets, dime-store zombie makeup, and exaggerated acting are what make this Seattle Theater Project piece so devilishly charming. This feature's budget isn't just low, it's subterranean: Location shots are decorated with clip-art signs, and buzzing, biting mosquitoes are yanked into and out of shots on visible, spasmatic wires. The writing, however, is top-shelf: ingenious original songs pepper the kitschy throwback score, and Nancy-boy heroes Stan (Lowell Deo ), Phillip (Nick Garrison ), and Randall (Philip D. Clarke , doing a wonderful Paul Lynde impression) are armed with an arsenal of one-liners that sound like they were plucked out of classic pulp novels.

Closing out the festival is Pratibha Parmar 's feature, "Nina's Heavenly Delights." The title character (Shelley Conn ), the daughter of a respected restaurateur, is living in London when her father dies. She returns home to Scotland only to find herself in the middle of a curry conundrum and, of course, love trouble. When Nina unexpectedly falls for the woman vying for control of her father's restaurant, things heat up both in and out of the kitchen. Slightly sappy but beautifully photographed, the film is a sweet-as-coconut-milk finish to a festival whose films run the gamut -- from food for thought to pure eye candy.

Erin Meister can be reached at erinmeister@hotmail.com.