By the bi

Barbara Karpinski’s comedy, Single Sexy Bilingual, will be shown tonight (14 June) at Frameline 31 – the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, the third time Karpinski has had her work selected for the prestigious event.

The short stars Helmut Bakaitis, who appeared in The Matrix Reloaded, as the still virile 70-year-old Jewish grandfather Isaac who takes great delight in challenging the religious morals of the staff at his Catholic nursing home.

Enter his granddaughter Zoya, played by Alice Ansara, who confesses to Isaac her love for her friends Tom and Kaos – the latter played by Zoë Ventoura who is currently starring in high-profile SBS drama Kick.

“It’s about aging, sexuality, tolerance and how people deserve and need love,” Karpinski said. “Just because you’re 65 or 70 doesn’t mean you want to sit in a room, listen to talkback radio and eat green jelly.”

Love and the many forms it comes in – from the vapid love of Tom and Kaos to the playful love practised by the grandfather – is a central theme of Single Sexy Bilingual.

“Love is always chaos, whether you’re 17 and a bisexual Goth or 70 and you’re in a nursing home,” Karpinksi said.

“Love is crazy, love is beautiful, love is kind and unkind and you can fall in love at any age – whether you’re straight, gay or bisexual, it’s a very universal feeling.”

Zoya’s love is as extreme as her bipolar depression. Although elated at her grandfather’s zest for life, she finds herself sobbing at the love-struck antics of Kaos and Tom, who seem to get more of a kick out of the nursing home’s religious paraphernalia than her.

Karpinski fell in love with Ansara, who plays Zoya, because of her unerring dedication to the role – including learning Russian.

Single Sexy Bilingual is the most recent in a long line of short films from Karpinski including 2001’s Night Trade – featuring Big Brother’s Johnnie Cass as a Yugoslavian hustler – which went on to win an award at the Chicago International Film Festival.

But while Single Sexy Bilingual has been shown in the US and Cannes,  Sydney audiences may have to wait a little longer to see it.

“It’s a moot point. It wasn’t selected by Queer Screen, which was interesting. Maybe it wasn’t queer enough,” Karpinski said.

The budget, beefed up by funding from the Australian Film Commission, was still a relatively modest $10,000.

And does Karpinski have any advice for filmmakers who want to make a living following in her wake?

“I advise them to choose heroin as an addiction or nice clothes, as it’s far more cost effective in the long run,” she said.