Choral Cinema

By  GALA Expert 

 May 24, 2024 

  

Open from 9am-10pm each day in MCC 101H, the Choral Cinema is your invitation to take a break from the hustle of Festival and enjoy some excellent videos featuring your favorite GALA Choruses!

A stylized line drawing of a bird made from a treble clef, and staff paper

 

Location: Minneapolis Convention Center 101 H
Take a break from the bustle of Festival and enjoy the Choral Cinema film series. From July 11-14, rotating films explore queer and choral themes. Film descriptions are listed below the schedule, and in your Integra Phone App.

The Choral Cinema room is also the Live Stream location for all Coffee Concerts and Blockbuster Concert.

A soloist with long, dark hair sings into a microphone behind a choir, all wear black with green scarves.
Thursday, July 11Film Title
9:00 AMCoffee Concert: Every Body – Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus
10:30 AMCoffee Concert: Stronger Together
12:00 PMWhy We Sing
1:00 PMA Song of Courage
2:06 PMDay in the Life of Festival
2:09 PMVictorious
2:30 PMFinding Her Beat
4:00 PMTo Breathe As One
5:00 PMReMembering:Singing Water
6:00 PMBREAK
7:15 PMBlockbuster: Peace of Wild Things
9:00 PMBlockbuster: Legacy
Friday, July 12Film Title
9:00 AMCoffee Concert: Tattoo Monologues
10:30 AMCoffee Concert: Letters to Our Children
12:00 PMGay Chorus Deep South
1:30 PMIntersexion
2:30 PMThe Amasong Chorus Singing Out
3:25 PMDay in the Life of Festival
3:30 PMTo Breathe As One
4:30 PMBeing Bebe
5:30 PMBREAK
7:00 PMWhy We Sing
8:00 PMReMembering:Singing Water
9:00 PMBeing Bebe
Saturday, July 13Film Title
9:00 AMCoffee Concert: Portraits
10:30 AMCoffee Concert: My Body, My Voice
12:00 PMA Song of Courage
1:10 PMUSS Metaphor
2:23 PMSinging for African Lives
2:30 PMDay in the Life of Festival
2:35 PMMusic Triumphs Homophobia
4:00 PMFinding Her Beat
5:30 PMVictorious
5:55 PMSinging for African Lives
6:00 PMBREAK
7:15 PMBlockbuster: Harmonies of the Sphere
9:00 PMBlockbuster: Banned
Sunday, July 14Film Title
9:00 AMCoffee Concert: Phoenix Rising
7:30 PMBlockbuster: Rise Up Singing

Film Descriptions

The Amasong Chorus Singing Out

Amasong was born in 1991, out of the frustrations that Kristina Boerger had with the political activism in central Illinois.  This documentary tells the inspiring story of a fledgling chorus of queer women that grew into a nationally recognized, award-winning ensemble, and helped to transform a community.

Being Bebe

Described as “a thoughtful and heartfelt film about the importance of being proud of who you are and willingness to take risks…a touching, inspiring reminder of the power of sharing our worlds, experiences, and unique stories”, Being Bebe tells the powerful tale of a young man who immigrated from his home country of Cameroon, where queerness was a crime, and went on to become the first winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Every. Body.

“Every. Body” is a revelatory investigation of the lives of intersex people. The film tells the stories of three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy, and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthoods after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and instead came out as their authentic selves.  Included is a case of medical abuse, which helps to explain the modern-day treatment of intersex people.

Finding Her Beat

Taiko, the Japanese art of drumming that was historically off limits to women, takes center stage.  When a master of the technique and a Korean adoptee team up, audiences will be uplifted by their story of music, cultural expression and sisterhood.

Gay Chorus Deep South

In response to a wave of anti-LGBTQ laws and a divisive 2016 election, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, led by conductor Dr. Tim Sellig and joined by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Chorus, embarked on a tour of the American Deep South.  The tour, with almost 300 singers, brought messages of love and acceptance.  The conversations around the things that can divide us were set aside by the power of music.

Intersexion

When parents welcome a new child into the world, one of the first questions is often, “Is it a boy or a girl?”  In this groundbreaking documentary from Real Stories, intersex individuals speak candidly about how they navigate through a world that is strictly built around a male/female dichotomy, and figure out how to make a space for themselves somewhere in between.

Music Triumphs Homophobia

Since the group’s inception in 1982, the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus has used “the power of music to build empathy and expand people’s understanding of one another”.  This film chronicles the group’s journey as they live out their mission, first traveling throughout New England, and then the world.  From archival material to first-person accounts, we see how a small chorus became global cultural ambassadors, educating the world about the LGBTQ community.

Remembering:Singing Water

A collaboration between water protector Sharon Day, puppeteer Sandy Spieler, and singer-songwriter Sara Thomsen, ReMemebering: Singing Water is a documentary that tells the story of queer, immigrant and indigenous people living in or exiled from Minnesota. 

Singing for African Lives

Angel Maxine, Ghana’s first openly transgender musician, has brought her fight for LGBTQIA+ rights to Berlin, Germany, as an oppressive bill threatens to intensify the criminalization of LGBTQIA+ people and endanger their families and allies. With a vision for creating a virtual chorus of voices, Angel’s songs Be You and Speak Out are to be interlaced with a new African version of composer/songwriter Holly Near’s historic “gay anthem” Singing for Our Lives to raise awareness of legislation and empower LGBTQIA+ African lives.

A Song of Courage

This 2008 documentary video by Shawn Northcutt tells the history of the LGBTQ choral movement through interviews with artistic directors, board members and singers. GALA Board President Michael Tate offers an introduction to the film and its significance in GALA’s history.

To Breathe As One

Laulupidu is an Estonian song festival that occurs every five years.  It explores the beauty and meaning of the choral festival through the eyes of the young members of the Californiabased Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, one of the few American choirs invited to participate.  The cross-cultural friendships formed help to demonstrate the powerful role that music has played in the country’s recent history.

USS Metaphor

It’s 2007, and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, in an effort to support the legalization of same-sex marriage, premiered a production that addresses the highly discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in the U.S. military.

Victorious

The first video in GALA’s Music & Mission series, Victorious highlights the amazing work of Phoenix, Colorado’s Trans Community Choir; Anna Crusis Feminist Choir; Trans Chorus of Los Angeles – TCLA; Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles; San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus; Coro Gay Ciudad de México; CORO GAY de Tijuana; Denver Women’s Chorus; One Voice Mixed Chorus; Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington; Boston Gay Men’s Chorus; Seattle Men’s Chorus; and San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus.

Why We Sing

Featuring San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, MUSE (Cincinnati’s women’s choir), Transcendence Gospel Choir, Diverse Harmony and narrated by then-mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom, Why We Sing,  “[t]hrough song and interviews…delves into and personalizes many issues on the public’s mind today: same-sex marriage, religious views on gay rights, and the emerging transgender rights movement, among others.”