Who's Gonna Love Me Now?

Saar is an Israeli gay man who was thrown out of his Kibbutz for his sexual proclivities when he was 21. Coming from a Jewish background with close familial ties he decided there was no longer a place for him to 'fit in'. So he left and rocked up in London.

It was whilst he was living a life of excess, by his own account, that his partner told him that he was 'positive' and so he had to be tested too and you can guess the rest. Meanwhile his relationship with his wider family had continued to suffer. The film tells the story of how he reaches out to his father and siblings to see if there is any common ground left that they might all be able to inhabit or would religious bias, old fashioned social attitudes and fear of his 'infection' mean that there was little hope.

Now this is a well made film that is essentially a personal journey on the part of Saar and it does challenge some universal issues. Not least that of being HIV and the effects that that can have both physically and emotionally. There is also the love and support he has received from all his friends in London that have helped sustain him. The wider family issues are very personal but will strike a chord with anyone who has been shunned, half understood or worse by a member of their family. At 85 minutes long it is a reasonable length too; it is mainly in English with some Yiddish that seems to be well translated and as such one that is recommended.

Who's Gonna Love Me Now? (2016) is an Israeli/English documentary, directed by Barak Heymann and Tomer Heymann. The film follows Saar, an Israeli man who now lives in London. He's HIV positive, but medication keeps him in overall good health.

Saar's biggest visible problem is his interaction with his family. His father isn't reconciled to the fact that his son is gay, and the rest of the family accept that he's gay, but they can't reconcile the fact that he "wasn't more careful," which allowed him to be infected with HIV.

When Saar's in London, he lives a quiet and peaceful life. His great pleasure comes from being a member of the London Gay Men's Chorus. When he's in Israeli, his life isn't quiet and peaceful. There are endless discussions about his HIV status, and whether or not it's safe for his nephews and nieces to be near him.

I had the sense that the documentary was very real. People didn't appear to be playing to the camera. The conversations, although very sad, appeared to be genuine. Still, HIV isn't a happy topic, and the movie isn't a happy movie.

I think the film is worth seeing. It's not great, but it's good enough to find and watch. We saw the movie at the excellent Little Theatre, as part of ImageOut, the wonderful Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It was one of 22 films at the festival that had their New York State premiere, or their East Coast premiere, at ImageOut.