The last time I wrote about Ira Sachs’ “Keep the Lights On” was a little over six months ago at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. I’d spoken to Sachs and one of the film’s stars, Zachary Booth, about the impressive gay drama with hopes it got picked up for major distribution. A lot has happened in half a year.
“Lights” wowed a few weeks later at the Berlin Film Festival winning a “Teddy” honor and has played the festival circuit with stops at Tribeca, Seattle and Karlovy Vary. It’s also screened at gay film festivals such as San Francisco’s Frameline and Los Angeles’ Outfest where it won the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature Film. Oh, and happily, Music Box Films came on board to give the picture a proper art house release.
As I noted in my review, “Lights” is another remarkable moment in the renaissance of the “gay” film. Long thought dead after a decade of mediocrity, “Lights” joins “The Kids Are All Right,” “Pariah” and “Weekend” as impressive works that are remembered more for their stories, performances and artistic sensibilities than the sexuality of their subjects. And I’m still standing by my prediction that “Lights” star Thure Lindhardt is a lock for an Independent Spirit Award nomination later this year.
“Lights” is hitting theaters in September, but Music Box was kind enough to provide HitFix with the exclusive premiere of the film’s poster which you can enjoy below.
And if you have the time, check out the remarkable conversation I had with Sachs and Booth here.
“Keep the Lights On” opens in limited release on Sept. 7.