Maybe it the panoramic views of Cape Cod, or the hustle-and-bustle of Commercial Street, or just the way the sun sets on the beaches, but there’s always been something about Provincetown that’s made it feel so… cinematic.
Perhaps that’s why the queer mecca known as “P-town” becomes home to the Provincetown Film Festival every summer (as it just did this past weekend). And perhaps that’s why it’s inspired an achingly romantic drama from world-renowned playwright and filmmaker and Marco Calvani.
In High Tide, Calvani tells an intimate yet expansive story that explores how queer folks from all walks of life intersect at this popular, historic gay getaway.
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At the heart of the story is Brazilian immigrant Lourenço (Gen V‘s Marco Pigossi) who found himself abandoned in P-town after a sudden breakup and has been making a living picking up odd gigs here and there in the time since.
He may be alone, but he’s alone in what he considers “the best place in the world.”
Then, just as the busy summer season begins to come to and end, Lourenço has a chance encounter with a handsome vacationer named Maurice (Giants‘ James Bland), in town from New York. Their spark is immediate and deep, bonding over a shared feeling of loneliness in a country that hardly feels like home.
The “undocumented” Lourenço’s work visa is soon due to expire, while Maurice—a doctor—is next headed to a residency in Angola, so both know their time together is limited, their futures uncertain. Though that only makes it easier for the two to lay themselves bare, getting vulnerable with each other, especially as they discuss desire, otherness, and the challenges faced by queer people of color.
The latter is a topic Bland himself makes a point to explore in his work, so one can see why he’d be compelled by the story Calvani set out to tell with High Tide:
And there are other familiar faces who round out the rest of the film’s talented cast. Mad Men‘s Bryan Batt plays an immigration lawyer who may be able to offer some help. Bill Irwin—a.k.a. Sesame Street‘s Mr. Noodle—plays a kindly older gay man whose been renting his guest house to Lourenço.
Meanwhile, Mya Taylor—who won a historic Best Supporting Female trophy at the Independent Spirit Awards for Tangerine—plays a friend of Maurice‘s, while the great Marisa Tomei (also a producer) on the film, plays a confidant of Lourenço’s.
High Tide made its world premiere this past spring at the SXSW festival in Austin, then—fittingly—just made its way to the Provincetown Film Festival this past weekend. Next stop? Frameline48 in San Francisco, where it’ll screen on Friday, June 28 (tickets and more information available here).
Ahead of High Tide‘s bow at Frameline, check out the just-released trailer for the drama below:
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