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Hollywood may not know what to do with a gay character and community may moan about lack of role models on silver screen, but foreign films and documentaries tell a different story. At 27th Seattle International Film Festival 2001, so many "films of interest to gays and lesbians" played that I could only see 14 of them before I had to take a break. "Iron Ladies from Thailand," and, "The Closet," should be coming to theaters soon. "Scout's Honor" played on P.O.V. to protests from Christian Right, and "Out of Closet" should be showing up on cable sometime in near future. Watch for rest of these movies, either to come out eventually (no pun intended) or as rentals.

This isn't exactly a gay film, but it is an extremely funny film about being gay in workplace. At director's Q&A after film, Francis Veber (directed "The Dinner Game," and wrote screenplay for "La Cage Aux Folles") talked about wanting to make a film about political correctness. The setup is that Daniel Auteuil plays a schlub accountant who is going to be fired from his job. He decides to pretend to be gay so that diversity laws will save his job. Gerard Depardieu plays homophobic, racist, H.R. director. One of my favorite scenes has Depardieu buying a pink cardigan for Auteuil and having to explain it to his wife when she finds receipt. What's great about film. besides laughs, is that it actually takes a look at workplace issues. As web of lies starts to unravel, The Closet spins faster and faster into an outright farce. My only complaint was that it ended too soon. The film exposes homophobia with out resorting to it.

The premise of this movie sounds highly unlikely: a volleyball team composed of drag queens, a pre-op transsexual, and one straight man makes its way to national championships in homophobic Thailand. What makes it interesting is that it's based on a true story. The Iron Ladies took national title a couple of years back, and are in running for Thai Olympic Volleyball team. The characters go through usual fish out of water routines, similar to "Priscilla, Queen of Desert," but story is told with enough heart that it overcomes clichés of storyline. There are some very funny moments. Even an attempted gay bashing becomes more a barroom brawl out of Gunsmoke than something more serious. Knowing that film is based on a true story and actually watching it are two different things. At very end of movie, during final credits, you get to see footage from real-life Iron Ladies and they kick ass. The actors in film aren't half bad either.

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Mexico City - Christmas celebrations in Mexico are marked by diverse traditions and attractions which, combined with sunny weather, drive thousands of tourists to country during winter months of December and January. It is during this time that visitors to Mexico will experience unique traditions and warm hospitality of country at its best as Mexicans countrywide celebrate ultimate fiesta with sumptuous regional holiday cuisine, colorful and ornate decorations and traditional festivities.

One of most impressive Mexican holiday customs are Las Posadas. A longstanding tradition carried out nightly from December 16 through 24, Posadas are a religious and social celebration, paying homage to biblical journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Before becoming an annual tradition, nine days of processions were created to teach story of birth of Jesus and to coincide with nine day Fiestas of Sun, which celebrated virgin birth of Aztec Sun God, Huitzilopochtli.