@ the Sundance Film Festival II: The Best Gay Film Ever?

What we learned during the first weekend of this year's Sundance Film Festival is that it isn't the bubble we long thought it to be. Even it was affected by last Saturday's Women's March when there was a suspension of the shuttles bus service that ferries festival attendees to their destination. A ten-minute shuttle ride becomes a forty-five minute hike in snow-laden sidewalks and trails. It was a nightmare.

That same weekend, Sundance announced that it's been subject to a cyber attack with box offices shut down by network outages. Despite being the largest independent film festival in the U.S., the reason why anyone would attack Sundance remains a mystery and demands an FBI investigation. While service resumed, cinema-lovers in queues outside screening venues were subjected to waiting in blizzard-like conditions. Locals testify that this is the worse Sundance weather in recent memory.

While there are elements that organizers could absolutely not control, namely political rallies and extreme weather, there are others that could be mitigated. During the world premiere screening of "Berlin Syndrome" on January 20 an announcement for a neighboring facility filtered through the theater's P.A. system, disrupting a crucial sex scene in the movie. Making things worst, the film froze during its climax ten minutes before its conclusion, prompting organizers to shore up the film's director and stars to start the Q&A. It was indeed the director's worst nightmare.

These fun facts aside, this year's Sundance movies with a central gay theme are exceptionally strong.

Call Me by Your Name (Italy/France/Brazil/USA)

Mark my words: by the end of the year, most film critics will rave that "Call Me by Your Name" is one of the best gay films of all time. Adapted from the novel by Andre Aciman, "Call Me by Your Name" is a gay coming-of-age drama filmed to perfection by Luca Guadagnino ("I Am Love"). The year is 1983. A 17-year-old American boy spends his summer with his family at an Italian villa. His casual and sexually charged relationship with a girl his age is upended by the arrival of a 24-year-old American scholar working on his doctorate under the boy's father. This scholar stirs up an attraction that the teenager must learn to accept. This doesn't happen smoothly: this is Italy in the 1980s where homosexuality is far from acceptable behavior.

Expectations for this film are already high. Remember James Ivory, one-half of Merchant-Ivory productions which gave us gorgeously realized drama (gay or otherwise) with such titles as "A Room with a View," "Maurice," "Howards End" and "The Remains of the Day?" He is one of the scriptwriters here. In the film Guadagnino succeeds in transferring the aesthetics and sensibilities of a Merchant-Ivory film to this gay tale set in Italy. Yes, in Italy, where the light reflects on the characters with such luminescence that it hurts.

Armie Hammer plays Oliver, the scholar, with confidence and poise, making him smart, sensual and downright seductive in a career-defining performance. As Elio, the teenager, Timothee Chalamet perfectly conveys his confusion and struggle to come to terms with his feelings, which makes his inexplicable actions at times acceptable. The best speech in the entire movie belongs to the Michael Stuhlbarg who plays Elio's father. It is not only about his acceptance of his son's attraction to Oliver, but that this relationship is something that most people, himself included, could only dream of having. Written and delivered with such empathy and heart, it will go down as one of the all time best speeches in gay cinema, and helps make "Call Me by Your Name" an instant classic that every single parent must watch.

"Call Me by Your Name" is the best film at Sundance this year and has a strong cross-over appeal to the mainstream. Sony Pictures Classics has acquired theatrical rights to this film. So watch for it in theaters, hopefully soon.

God's Own Country (UK)

In yet another gay love story set in Europe, this one happens in modern day Yorkshire, England. Johnny, a 25-year-old man, takes over the sheep farm from his father, hiding his sexuality, but not his binge-drinking habits from his parents. The family hires a migrant worker from Romania, Gheorghe, to help out. The two alphas fight for dominance, on the farm and elsewhere. Towards the end, Johnny is tamed, in more ways than one.

Highly reminiscent of "Brokeback Mountain," "God's Own Country" combines authenticity with raw energy, drawing the audience into this rural world. Over the course of the film, Johnny discovers the breadth of feeling and expression in gay sex. However, the movie does not shy away from cruel reality of racism, which in this film proves more toxic than homophobia. Francis Lee directs a near-perfect performance from the two leads, Josh O'Connor and Alec Secareanu.

Beach Rats (USA)

Eliza Hittman's second feature explores the complex world of Brooklyn youngsters who hang out at the boardwalk, looking to score the next lay or next high. Frankie, the film's lead, spends time between his friends and his family (his father is terminally ill); he also goes online to look for his next hook-up with older men whom he is attracted to, despite having a girlfriend. His hookups score him sex and drugs, something that his friends are not accepting of.

But Hittman's film is compromised by its exploration into the world of gay hook-ups, which becomes a distraction from fully developing Frankie's character. Still Harris Dickinson plays the teen with enough angst and confusion to warrant our attention. Disturbingly, the film perpetuates and even confirms the notion that "gay men are easier to rob." I doubt this is one line that a gay audience can accept, but maybe that is indeed a harsh reality?

Frantz (France)

What happens when you take away the vibrant colors of a Francois Ozon film? How will a war movie by Francois Ozon look like? Wonder no more. Ozon answers the question with his latest film, "Frantz."

A German girl, Anna, mourns the loss of her fianc�, Frantz, in World War I. Caring for his parents, she is intrigued by Adrien, a French man who places flowers on Frantz's grave. Anna learns that the two were friends when Frantz visited Paris before the war. Anna and Frantz's parents warm up to Adrien and celebrate their friendship; but one day, Adrien tells Anna the truth of his relationship with Frantz. This sets Anna to chase Adrien to France, under the persuasion of Frantz's parents, and allows her to explore her feelings for him.

Strangely, when you strip away the camp and glamour from Ozon, who has famously given us "8 Women," "Swimming Pool" and "The New Girlfriend," the openly gay director still delivers. In fact, Ozon might have directed his career best, if not a masterpiece, about the complexities of human relationships and how transient human sentiments can be. Just a few months ago, also openly gay Spanish director, Pedro Almodovar, also hands us his most mature work to date "Julieta." It is impossible not to notice how these two gay bad-boy directors mature at the same time and move into the next phase of their art. "Frantz" is one of the best films at Sundance. Paula Beer delivers a conviction-filled and heart-wrenching performance. When you're watching the film when it's released in theatres later in the year, bring Kleenex, lots of it.

As Sundance Film Festival draws its closing curtains, we shall look at some highlights and talking points of this year's festival. Stay tuned.