Ana Kokkinos

Australian director Ana Kokkinos was interviewed June 21 by Kevin Thomas at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Village at the Ed Gould Plaza. Kokkinos, an attractive, poised young woman, talked about her first feature film, "Head On," in which a young man in Melbourne's Greek-Australian community struggles with his homosexuality and family pressures to conform. It was adapted from Christos Tsiolkas' novel "Loaded."

Australian director Ana Kokkinos was interviewed June 21 by Kevin Thomas at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Village at the Ed Gould Plaza. Kokkinos, an attractive, poised young woman, talked about her first feature film, "Head On," in which a young man in Melbourne's Greek-Australian community struggles with his homosexuality and family pressures to conform. It was adapted from Christos Tsiolkas' novel "Loaded."

Ana Kokkinos' "Head On" plunges straight into the eye of the storm that is the life of Ari (Alex Dimitriades), a handsome, ultra-masculine gay 19-year-old Greek Australian youth who finds himself in rapidly escalating conflict with his claustrophobic ethnic community, with its strong machismo and allegiance to rigid family values. Anyone of any generation who has ever felt at odds with his or her environment can identify with the characters in "Head On."

The 12th annual Los Angeles International Gay & Lesbian Film & Video Festival, which will present more than 200 works July 7-17 at the Directors Guild, 7920 Sunset Blvd., gets off to a terrific start with the Thursday 8 p.m. premiere of "To Die For," a sure-fire British heart-tugger written by Johnny Byrne and directed by Peter Mackenzie Litten, who've given a fresh spin to the popular Hollywood ghost lover genre.

Outfest '99, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, which shows more movies than any other festival in Los Angeles, opens at 8 tonight at the Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. The curtain rises on the 17th festival with a gala presentation of Lukas Moodysson's beguiling "Show Me Love," a wry coming-of-age story that could as easily unfold in any small American city as it does in Sweden.