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Chris Mason Johnson's 1980s-set AIDS panic drama "Test" belongs loosely to a trio of recent films that capture the realities and rhythms of gay urban life without succumbing to the cliches that tend to plague queer cinema. Let's call it the New New Queer Cinema. These filmmakers want to tell stories, and their films are as much about a specific time and place as they are about depicting real, relatable erotic relationships between men. Johnson's second film as writer/director, the startlingly intelligent, visually mesmerizing "Test" sets the moody tale of brooding modern dancer Frankie (Scott Marlowe) against a backdrop of dread as quickly-escalating as the outbreak of the then-unknowable HIV virus. Off the dance floor, the film flirts with death and looming romance, while evoking the emptiness and fleeting fulfillment of one-night stands, and the spikes of self-loathing, endemic to being gay in the city. Onstage, the choreography,...

Set in the free-spirited San Francisco of 1985, writer-director Chris Mason Johnson 's Test lovingly portrays this exciting and harrowing era as young Frankie (dancer Scott Marlowe in a breakout acting debut) confronts the challenges of being an understudy in a modern dance company where he's taunted to "dance like a man!"

Frankie embarks on a budding relationship with Todd (Matthew Risch), a veteran dancer in the same company and the bad boy to Frankie's innocent. As Frankie and Todd's friendship deepens, they navigate a world of risk - it's the early years of the epidemic - but also a world of hope, humor, visual beauty and musical relief.

We have an exclusive clip from Test, which makes its debut on DVD today. Watch as Frankie takes to the stage for an empowering solo routine in a scene you'll remember long after you see it.

The captivating dance sequences were especially...

Two movies you should see: a buzzy queer indie and a struggling would be blockbuster...

Test

Chris Mason Johnson, a former dancer turned writer/director, really comes into his voice with his second feature. (He previously directed The New Twenty). Test is about a young dancer named Frankie (Scott Marlowe) in San Francisco in 1985 who, like most gay men at the time, fears he might have AIDS. He learns of a new test he could take to find out. The surprise of Test is that it's not really about AIDS despite the setting and time period so much as a slice of life drama about a young man struggling to face his fears and live his dream. Frankie is an understudy learning a dance he might never get to perform. And a young gay man beginning a life he might never get to live. Test is beautifully lensed for a...

Six years after his debut feature, The New Twenty, writer-director Chris Mason Johnson returns with a film that's less polished but braver.

San Francisco, 1985: AIDS terror has everyone on edge, including Frankie (Scott Marlowe), a gay modern dancer who walks around with his Walkman at full blast — his attempt to drown out the fearful whispers he's hearing all around him (and inside his own head). Can you get it from sweat? Are those freckles or lesions on my back? Should I take the new blood test?

Some viewers may find him too quiet a character to carry an entire film, but when Frankie, an understudy in a small dance company, is given his chance to perform, he, and Test itself, come to life.

The dance sequences (mostly all-male) are riveti...

A few movies would venture into portraying the AIDs scare amongst the homosexual community of the 1980s.

In Chris Mason Johnson’s “Test,” rather than celebrating the death from AIDs, unlike many movies do, it showcased the community living in fear of the disease and the panics surrounding it.

The film is set around the free-spirited San Francisco of 1985 as it follows a young dancer in a modern dance company who must deal with the fear of disease, homophobia, effeminophobia during that period. And his ultimate escapism was through the music and dance.

The dance drama was on the film festival circuit for some time and won two grand jury prizes at Outfest.

Latino-Review had an exclusive phone interview with director Chris Mason Johnson last week. We discussed about the AIDs epidemic of the 1980s, homophobia, and the changes for gay cinema through the years.

“Test” is currently in theaters...

Set in free-spirited San Fransisco in 1985, "Test" is an award-winning portrayal of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that became the definitive issue in the gay community. In this exclusive clip, professional dancer Scott Marlowe stars in his on screen debut as troubled modern dancer named Frankie who channels his off-stage challenges into his performance. Written and directed by Chris Mason Johnson, "Test" was awarded top jury prize at Outfest 2013 and was selected to screen at prestigious festivals like NewFest, London BFI Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival. The dance sequences, such as the one featured in this clip, were choreographed by acclaimed stage choreographer Sidra Bell. "Test" also stars Matthew Risch as a veteran dancer who's bad boy nature compliment's Frankie's innocence as the two performers develop a deeper and deeper relationship. "Test" has been released in select theaters and VOD, and will receive a New York/ Los Angeles release on June.

Hitting theaters just two weeks after HBO's “The Normal Heart” dramatized the catastrophic stakes of the 1980s AIDS crisis and lionized the distraught activists at the political forefront, the lovely and contemplative “Test” focuses on the experiences of everyday gay men trying to figure out what it means to survive that fearful, fatal decade. For aspiring dancer Frankie (newcomer Scott Marlowe), that means waiting. As an understudy at a modern-dance company, he's used to anticipating the call that will change his life. But as a sexually active gay man in 1985 San Francisco, where signs of recent death are everywhere,...

Some Gentle People There: Johnson’s Sophomore Effort Recalls Place of Fear

Here’s an arresting point of intrigue into the miasma of historical reexaminations of the AIDS onslaught—the fear and trepidation associated with the initial development of the test used to detect infection. Would the government use it to quarantine, as a way to cordon off the diseased before they could spread the virus among others? Would it be information employers could get a hold of? The endless anxieties that resulted from something as simple as confirmation were boundless, and so, Chris Mason Johnson’s sophomore film, Test, manages to gain a unique perspective in this examination of knowing one’s status and the implementation of safe sex. Cineastes may compare its anxious final act to Agnes Varda’s New Wave classic, Cleo From 5 to 7, though Johnson’s film doesn’t quite grapple with its protagonist...

Exclusive: Deals done on the Panorama title [pictured] with the UK, France and Poland.

Panorama title Test by Chris Mason Johnson is heating up sales for Reel Suspects ahead of its European premiere.

Deals have been done with Peccadillo in the UK, Kmbo in France and Mayfly in Poland.

Test is based on the director’s own experiences as a professional dancer. It stars Scott Marlowe as a young dancer living in 1985 San Francisco.

The film won two prizes at Outfest; Wolfe and Variance will release in the Us on June 6.

Reel Suspects CEO Matteo Lovadina said: “Test has already proven its potential in Us festivals and we’re very happy to have sold it to some key territories already.

“Beyond the personal story, the film is a very sensitive historical representation of the early years of AIDS, a moment that touched all human beings. Additionally, the strong ’80s soundtrack and the specially choreographed dance sequences will attract...

John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary and new films by Michel Gondry, Kutlug Ataman and Robert Lepage are to feature in the Berlinale’s Panorama strand, which will open with Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent.Scroll down for first batch of titles

A total of 50 features will be chosen for the Panorama section of the 2014 Berlinale (Feb 6-16), films that “provide insight on new directions in art house cinema”, and the first 19 have been announced. A total of 11 of those selected are world premieres.

The opening film will mark the international premiere of Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent, a look at the life of the French designer from the beginning of his career in 1958 when he met his lover and business partner, Pierre Berge.

The opening screening on Feb 7 will see Berlin’s flagship cinema, the Zoo Palast, re-inaugurated as a Berlinale venue after extensive renovations.

Also in the line-up are new films from Michel Gondry, Kutluğ...

In 1985, AIDS was believed by most of mainstream society to be a gay disease, even though no one knew exactly what caused it, how it was transmitted, how to prevent it or how to treat it. Chris Mason Johnson's Test excels in fully immersing itself into the fear and self-loathing perpetuated by all of the uncertainty festering within the gay community in San Francisco. Experienced via Frankie's (Scott Marlowe) perspective, something dark and menacing is always lingering on the horizon, leaving it difficult to surmise if AIDS or the rampant homophobia is the more sinister villain in this film. A professional dancer, Frankie is as paranoid about AIDS as most gay men in 1985. Even working among a troupe of gay men, Frankie is trained to dance like a real man -- in other words, attempt to pass as straight men while performing. Frankie's stress level escalates to dizzying proportions...

Outfest announced its 2013 competition winners on Sunday, wrapping up the Lgbt film festival's 31st year in Los Angeles. Two grand jury prizes deservedly went to Chris Mason Johnson's period film "Test," an HIV/AIDS-panic drama set in the modern dance world of 1980s San Francisco. The film received the award for Outstanding Screenwriting, sponsored by SXSW, and the grand jury's RADiUS-twc-sponsored award for Outstanding Us Dramatic Feature. Funded via Kickstarter, Johnson's superb film premiered earlier this year at Frameline. Smartly scripted and visually atmospheric, "Test" features a winsome performance by promising newcomer Scott Marlowe as an antisocial dancer who begins to feel pressure and paranoia within the company as HIV makes its way around the gay community. A dual best actor award went to both Bill Heck and Marcus DeAnda, the male leads in Yen Tan's gay drama "Pit Stop." A prominent actress in lesbian film, Guinevere Turner...

Since 1985, Wolfe Releasing has been the largest exclusive distributor of Lgbt films. Its catalogue got even bigger this week at Frameline 37, San Francisco International Lgbt Film Festival, where Wolfe acquired the rights to four films. It acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Bruno Barreto's "Reaching For The Moon," Yen Tan's "Pit Stop," and Stephen Lacant's "Free Fall," as well as worldwide rights to Chris Mason Johnson's "Test." "Reaching For The Moon" tells the tale of the tumultuous yet romantic relationship between poet Elizabeth Bishop (Miranda Ott) and architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Gloria Pires). In addition to the Audience Award at Frameline, it won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2013 Toronto Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival. Set in 1985, "Test" stars Scott Marlowe and Matthew Risch in a love story that coincides with the burgeoning AIDS epidemic. "Free Fall," also known as "Freier Fall,...