In the Sundance hit The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, a slum-dwelling 12-year-old Filipino boy dresses like a girl and runs numbers for his dad. The motherless Maxi also cooks and cleans for his two crooked brothers. It’s a testament to this breezy film that the kid’s matter-of-fact sexuality isn’t played for laughs or exploitation. His supportive family doesn’t even seem to mind that he sports makeup and sashays through the hood like a cross-dressing Lolita.
Maxi develops a crush on a new cop, who is investigating the murder of a local teen. When the boy finds out that one of his brothers had something to do with the crime, conflict arises.
Thu., May 10, 9:20 p.m.; Fri., May 11, 7:30 p.m.
This article appears in May 9-15, 2007.