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• Howl

The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is all grown up, celebrating its 21st birthday this year with a lineup featuring 37 screening events over 11 days and, of course, plenty of parties. The estimable programming director Margaret Murray is back (and back in Tampa — she's returned to us from Washington, D.C.!) with, as always, an eclectic, appealing mix of films.

The big draw may turn out to be Howl, starring the mercurial James Franco as gay poet Allen Ginsberg, whose groundbreaking poem Howl led to an obscenity trial in 1957.  Early reviews from screenings at Sundance and other festivals have been mixed, but the innovative structure, combining bio-pic, courtroom drama, archival footage and animation, and intriguing cast (Jon Hamm, Mary-Louise Parker, David Strathairn, Jeff Daniels) make this one a must-see.

More highlights of this year's lineup after the break.

TIGLFF has upgraded its website, it seems, because this year's is already chock full of trailers and photos and info on all the films. Check it out to plan your personal filmgoing schedule; here are a few worth considering. CLGBT will review these and many more as we get closer to the festival.

Violet Tendencies: The opening night film stars Mindy (The Facts of Life) Cohn as the self-described "oldest living fag hag," who may be spending too much time with her gay male friends to find the man of her dreams (a "fag stag," maybe?)

Rufus Wainright: Prima Donna: A documentary about the diva-tastic singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright as he stages Prima Donna, his first opera

The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister: A gorgeous-looking Masterpiece Theater-esque bodice-ripper  in which ladies do most of the bodice-ripping, particularly the daring Ms. Lister of the title, who upended conventions in early 19th-century England.

I Killed My Mother: Multi award-winning, semi-autobiographical debut film by a 20-year-old French Canadian about a gay man's intense love/hate relationship with his mother.

The Adults in the Room: It's a fascinating premise. Years after his relationship as a teenager with an older man, filmmaker Andy Blubaugh turns his personal history into a narrative film, interspersed with  interviews with the actors; documentary footage about Portland mayor Sam Adams and his affair with an 18-year-old intern; and even some observations by sexpert Dan Savage.

A Marine Story: The latest from the director of TIGLFF favorite The Gymnast, this film also centers on the relationship between two tough, compelling female characters (including beautiful Gymnast star Dreya Weber), this time against the backdrop of  "Don't Ask/Don't Tell."

La Mission: Benjamin Bratt looking all tattooed and hunky, directed by his brother Peter in a story set in San Francisco's Mission District about a macho father's troubled relationship with his gay son.

Documentaries: Always a strength of TIGLFF, this year's roster (in addition to Rufus) includes films about gay male obsession with body image (The Adonis Factor); the ignorance and prejudice that persists about AIDS 28 years after it first appeared (Sex in an Epidemic);  and the making of the groundbreaking play and movie The Boys in the Band (Making the Boys).

Diversity: The "I" in TIGLFF stands for "International," and there is a stronger-than-ever contingent of foreign films in this year's lineup, including a coming-out story sent in ’80s Norway against a punk-rock soundtrack (The Man Who Loved Yngve) and characters contending with love, homophobia and religious belief against the backdrop of an orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem (Eyes Wide Open); the Caribbean island of Eleuthera (Children of God); a coastal village in Peru (Undertow); and even the Spanish Inquisition (Fashion Victim, billed as "Project Runway meets Dangerous Liaisons." To paraphrase Monty Python, no one expects a comedy about the Spanish Inquisition, but Victim one looks like stylish fun).

And, in a unique opportunity for local audiences, the festival features the final cut of Role/Play, the Rob Williams feature  that was screened by TIGLFF in an earlier incarnation — and now we get the chance to see how (or if) it changed. Listen to the podcast of my conversation with the director here.

Trailer for La Mission follows below.