Presenting Desi del Valle @notstraight.com - LGBT DVD Movies, Queer Artists and Qmmunity News

Presenting Desi del Valle
Desi del Valle is an Out, Latina Filmmaker. She is currently working as a Director and as a Film and Television Actor. Desi del Valle has completed her second short film Back to Life. This film is about a woman that grieves the death of her girlfriend only after experiencing the vulnerability of sleeping with her best friend. Back to Life was written by Desi del Valle. Directed and Produced by Desi del Valle & Hollie Lemarr.
QueerChatter with Desi del Valle
Notstraight caught up with Desi on facebook to ask her what's her fav LGTB movie and more. Notstraight: What was the first LGTB movie you watched? Desi del Valle: Probably Rocky Horror Picture Show. (I think.) Notstraight: What is your favorite genre for movies? Desi del Valle: Documentary Notstraight: What is your favorite LGTB movie? Desi del Valle: That's a tough one. I honestly can't say. Notstraight: What is your favorite Hetrosexual movie? Desi del Valle: It was Casablanca for a long time, but I think I've worn it out. Notstraight: Do you like to sing in the shower? Desi del Valle: Nah. Notstraight: What was your first tattoo or piercing and where is it? What does it stand for? Desi del Valle: I got my ears pierced as a baby. It stood for being the daughter of Puerto Ricans and the belief that you forget the pain of getting your ears pierced if you have no idea what's going on. Notstraight: What was the first film/play you acted in? Desi del Valle: I was the king's page in a 5th grade play about Christopher Columbus. My mother stuck a peacock feather in a felt hat, made a cape, and off I went. Thus began my career playing ambiguously gendered roles. Notstraight: Do you like to sing karaoke? Desi del Valle: The last time I sang karaoke I rapped so no one could distinguish my otherwise poor singing voice. Notstraight: Would you rather have the power to be invisible or the power to read minds? Desi del Valle: I've been invisible a lot in my life. There's nothing powerful in it at all. I do not want to know what's on people's minds. All that clutter! Notstraight: Do you like black and white movies? Why or why not? Desi del Valle: I love black and white movies. I love that when you strip off all the color there's still a compelling story that grabs you. When black & white movies were made, there was no reliance on technology (the way there is today) or gimmicks. It was all mostly good story-telling and talent. Mostly. Notstraight: Thanks Desi for taking the time to answer these quick questions.
BACK TO LIFE
Starring Desi del Valle as the main character, a woman grieving the death of her girlfriend only after experiencing the vulnerability of sleeping with her best friend. 2009 USA 12 minutes narrative Screenplay: Desi del Valle Directed by: Desi del Valle & Hollie Lemarr Produced by: Desi del Valle & Hollie Lemarr Editor: Hollie Lemarr Director of Photography: Paul Samuel Jacobsohn Music: Barbara Malaran & Nicole Jaquis Sound Design: Mike Sperling Starring: Desi del Valle, Susan Papa Featuring: Lydia Bell, Chris Leideck __________________________________________ Official Selection: NewFest New York LGBT Film Festival (2009) Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival (2009) OutFest Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (2009) North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (2009) Fresno Reel Pride Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (2009) Cinemarosa Queens' Only Queer Film Series (2009) Oslo Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (2009) Image Out The Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (2009) Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (2009) image+nation Montreal's International LGBT Film Festival (2009) Bloomington (Indiana) Pride (2010) Savannah Gay & Lesbian Film Series (2010) Melbourne Queer Film Festival (2010) London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (2010) San Diego Latino Film Festival (2010) Cleveland International Film Festival (2010) Bendigo Queer Film Festival (2010) Torino GLBT Film Festival (2010) Mumbai International Queer Film Festival (2010) Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (2010) __________________________________________ DESI DEL VALLE Desi del Valle is a prolific actor, having appeared in dozens of LGBT films such as Desi's Looking for a New Girl (Mary Guzman), Costa Brava (Marta Balletbo-Coll), Mod-Fuck Explosion (Jon Moritsugu), Some Prefer Cake (Heidi Arnesen), and Drift (Quentin Lee). For 12 years, Desi resided in San Francisco and worked in distribution at Frameline, directing the program from 1995 to 2004. She returned to New York City in 2004 and performed at The Cherry Lane and The Joseph Papp, and currently works as a film and television actor. Back to Life is Desi del Valle's second short film since her 1994 release, Cruel. HOLLIE LEMARR Hollie Lemarr has been producing, directing, and writing short films for the past nine years in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a passion to produce lesbian films that are inspired upon true life events, Hollie has been successful in the last eight years to have had two films reach festival audiences from Hawaii, across the US and clear to Norway. Her most recent film Back to Life, Hollie teamed up with veteran actor, Desi del Valle, who wrote and co-directed the film, which is sweeping the 2009 festival circuit. Hollie's future projects include a re-cut of a previous film that she shot for a mere $1200, as well as the script development for her first comedy, a film that is certain to have the audience screaming for an encore. Director's Statement: DESI DEL VALLE The stories in my short films are raw and deeply personal. Therefore, I'm often asked if Back to Life is autobiographical. In a way it is, though it is not a documentary. Rather, I took real-life circumstances and embellished. For example, when I suffered deep, personal loss in 2007, one of the toughest things was touch deprivation; how there was no one to hold me and comfort me in a physical way. For Back to Life I thought it was more cinematic if the protagonists slept together, further complicating an already difficult time in the main character's (Trista) life. From the real life emotional comfort I was receiving from straight girlfriends, I came up with the character, Monica, Trista's best friend, and the rock in the story. Though I deliberately strung out awkward uncomfortable moments--as when the two must untangle the fact that they've just slept together--the film also moves quickly because it covers a lot of ground: death, loss, grieving, denial, friendship, sex, "cheating", love, and not least of all, ownership over one's body. None of this is necessarily spoken. That would be dull. Straight, confident, and married Monica attempts to address these questions head-on. But "coping" with a very recent loss, Trista, is far from ready to deal with her feelings, let alone tough questions. Her friendship with Monica is tested, not just because they've just slept together, but because Trista distracts herself by shifting the focus to Monica's marriage and to what her husband should or shouldn't know about what, in Trista's words, "just happened". See more pictures below for "Back To Life"
Actress Desi del Valle
Back To Life
Desi del Valle

Hollie Lemarr