Tonight The 27th Connecticut LGBT Film Festival Begins

The festival's opening movie is “Boy Meets Girl” a comedy about two school friends and how they adjust to one of them transitioning.

Eric Schaeffer’s new film is a poignant, sexy, romantic coming of age comedy about three twenty year-olds living in Kentucky: Robby (Michael Welch, Twilight) and his best friend since childhood, Ricky, a gorgeous transgender girl, have never dated. Lamenting the lack of eligible bachelors, Ricky even considers dating a girl. In walks Francesca, a beautiful young debutante waiting for her Marine fiancé to return from the war. Ricky and Francesca strike up a friendship, and maybe a little more, which forces everyone to face their true feelings. This is a sex/human positive modern fable that crosses all gender and sexual orientation lines.

Directed by Eric Schaeffer 2014, USA, 95 min

One film reviewer said,

But what makes Boy Meets Girl so heartwarming, humorous, and, yes, hot, is the authenticity of the not-always-so-delicate dance between Welch and Hendley as lifelong pals looking for love (in all the wrong places?). As Francesca and her fiancé David, Alexandra Turshen and Michael Galante supply heavy (and, occasionally, much-needed) doses of reality in the otherwise fairy tale world within which Robby and Ricky reside. How Schaeffer juggles the parallel relationships -- and murky, mysterious history -- of these four characters is what makes Boy Meets Girl so compelling, at once awkwardly uncomfortable, then supremely satisfying, yet never predictable.
[…]
Casting an actual transgendered actor in the pivotal role of Ricky was a risky and bold move, especially in an industry landscape filled with award-winning portrayals of similar characters where such a casting decision was not necessarly a priority (Felicity Huffman in Transamerica, Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club). There aren't many out there to begin with, and Schaeffer scored in finding the lovely and talented Michelle Handley after an extensive search.

What a novel idea… a trans-woman playing the part of a trans-woman! Another reviewer said,

It’s not often you get a transgender feature film, let alone a well made one.  Boy Meets Girl is a very familiar story told in a modern way, with genuine performances and people you grow to care about.  Eric Schaeffer does a good job fleshing out all the characters and making them all humane.

Here is a video clip from when they were trying to raise funding for the movie.


The festival begins at 7:30PM with a number of shorts (Wini + George, 12 minutes; Beyond the Mirror’s Gaze, 4 min.; Good Morning, 10 min & She Said, She Said, 7 min), followed by a short intermission and then the main feature begins "Boy Meets Girl." After the movie there is an opening night party. The runs from today until June 7^th you can see the whole schedule here.