Liz in September is the story a womanizer ( Patricia Velasquez ) who celebrates her birthday and life with her friends. However, a beautiful, yet hurt, object of desire ( Eloisa Maturen ) changes her plans, with unexpected results.
Velasquez ( The Mummy franchise, The L Word ), an openly lesbian supermodel and the protagonist of this romantic drama, is also an author, film producer, entrepreneur and activist. Fina Torres ( Celestial Clockwork, Woman On Top, UnCertain Regard, Habana Eva, Prada To Nada ) directed, wrote and produced "Liz." She won the Cannes Camera D'Or for Oriana as well as 10 additional world prizes.
In "Liz," opposites attract in a unique manner that will transform their lives while they let themselves go. Winner of the Audience Award/Best Feature ( Miami GLFF ), the Audience Award/Best Feature ( Outfilm Conneticut ) and Jury Award/Best Actress for Velasquez ( North Carolina GLFF ), this touching movie has elements of Latino humor, jealousy, guilt and fear.
Windy City Times: How do you feel about the release of Liz in September?
Fina Torres: Very happy. It's a great achievement that a Venezuelan movie is being distributed by such a great company as Wolfe, and a great privilege and luck.
Patricia Velasquez: Great and pleased. Nothing like this has ever been done in Spanish. First time there's a movie about LGBT girls, so we're making a little bit of history.
WCT: Can you please describe it?
FT: It's an adaptation of an '80s U.S. play, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, [which was] quite revolutionary for its time because it was the first U.S. play that [had a lesbian theme]. It's about the difficulty of a woman to come out and to fall in love with another woman, who happens to be dying of cancer. I wanted to make a contemporary version. I focused on current topics, [such as] equality, the right to have a family and a very important aspect, euthanasia. I also adapted it to the Latino culture. It's about choosing how to live and die. It's my fifth movie, filmed in Venezuela, and it's the first lesbian picture in Venezuela.
PV: It's about love and how it can take any shape. It also talks about friendship, family and the right to die. It's a wonderful film, told in an almost dreamy way. It talks about the transformation of life, because it never ends.
WCT: How is your unique artistic style reflected on the film?
FT: I was a photographer before a filmmaker, I started very young, at 17, and then I went to a very good film school in France, the Institute de Hautes Etudes Cinematographiques, so I had that rigorous French formation. [That mix] influenced strongly my films' aesthetics, along with my values.
PV: Everything in the film is beautiful, but that does not mean that the harsh reality is not confronted. That's very engaging to the audience—very magical.
WCT: Why should someone watch it?
PV: Because it's a really wonderful movie, extremely well-done, that is going to make you laugh [and] cry, and is going to show you life doesn't end. No one should be afraid of getting hurt, or express our sexuality, or be who we want to be.
FT: Homosexuality used to be something weird, but what I wanted to show is that human beings are equal. I wanted the audience to forget that the characters are gay as the movie goes on. Differences should be accepted and respected.
WCT: The movie transcends sexuality, ethnicity and social status because it deals with basic needs and feelings. How did you manage to portray human nature?
FT: I have been told that love scenes are not "hot" enough, but that is not the goal, it's a connection beyond that. It has more to do with death, grief and company.
PV: Love, friendship, family, fear, the right to be however you want to be without hurting anybody—all those things transcend; they're universal. Anybody can connect with that.
WCT: Patricia, what can the audiences expect from your performance?
PV: I put my heart and soul in this. At the end of the day, if people can walk away thinking that they were touched and inspired by this character, then that means I've done the job.
WCT: What would you recommend to young LGBTQ people in terms of defining their sexuality?
FT: They have to do what they consider necessary and fair. It's not about getting others' tolerance, but respect. If they live a heavy family background, they should get informed in order to guide their relatives so that they accept and respect their situation. Saying "do whatever you want" is dangerous because the emotional and psychological part is quite complex. It must be confronted wisely.
PV: I wrote a book about it, Straight Walk: A Supermodel's Journey to Finding her Truth. I try to inspire people to live the truth—that's the only way you'll be able to find happiness. Don't hide because you're afraid; just be yourself. There are certain people, and we try to protect them by not telling them who we are but, in reality, we're stopping their growth. [Also,] be respectful; we have to give them the space to process it.
FT: This generation has nothing to do with mine. In my time, homosexuality was terrible, shameful, gross, sick. Current generations have to deal with other issues such as equality, marriage, descendants, rights and respect, but it used to be about acceptance and tolerance. Young people don't have much prejudices and are more broad-minded. Eventually, it won't be a big deal.
PV: There is still a lot of bullying. In terms of respect, it's our work to change that. I would tell them to look for support, because they are not alone.
Liz in September is now out on DVD.
