''Were the World Mine'' is a 2008 romantic musical fantasy film directed by Tom Gustafson, written by Gustafson and Cory James Krueckeberg, and starring

Tanner Cohen Tanner Cohen is an American stage, film and television actor, and singer. Career In 2006, Cohen appeared as Tad Becker in five episodes of the American soap opera ''As the World Turns''. He appeared in the 2007 thriller ''The Life Before Her Eyes ...

, Wendy Robie, Judy McLane,

Zelda Williams Zelda Rae Williams (born July 31, 1989) is an American actress, director, producer, and writer. She is the daughter of actor and comedian Robin Williams and film producer and philanthropist Marsha Garces Williams. As a voice actress, she is bes ...

Jill Larson Jill Larson (born October 7, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Opal Cortlandt on the ABC daytime soap opera, ''All My Children'' (1989-2011), and as titular character in the 2014 supernatural horror film '' The Tak ...

, Ricky Goldman, Nathaniel David Becker, Christian Stolte, and David Darlow. The film is a story of gay empowerment, inspired by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

’s ''

A Midsummer Night’s Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

''.

Plot

Timothy (

) is an openly gay student at a private boys' school. Although now in his senior year, he is still persecuted by the aggressive rugby team, on whose captain, Jonathon (Nathaniel David Becker), he has a crush. Timothy lives with his mother, Donna (Judy McLane), who is struggling with her son's sexuality and with getting a job, and his father who is not a part of his life. Timothy is cast as Puck in the senior production of '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. While reviewing his lines, he discovers the recipe for creating the flower love-in-idleness. Timothy uses the flower to have the

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

town take a "walk in his shoes". The entire town is thrown into chaos as previously heterosexual community members fall in love with their same-sex friends, bosses, and co-workers: whomever they first saw after being sprayed by the flower. The school drama teacher, Ms. Tebbit ( Wendy Robie), guides Timothy towards the question of whether his actions have caused more harm than good.

Cast

Musical numbers

# "Oh Timothy" – Jonathon # "Pity" – Frankie # "Audition" / "Be As Thou Wast Wont" – Timothy, Ms. Tebbit # "He's Gay" – Frankie # "Were the World Mine" – Timothy, Jonathon # "The Course of True Love" – Timothy, Frankie, Coach Driskill, Nora, Max, Donna # "All Things Shall Be Peace" – Ms. Tebbit, Timothy # "Sleep Sound" – Timothy # "Pyramus and Thisbe" – Frankie, Cooper

Production

The film is a feature-length version of director Gustafson's 2003 short film, ''Fairies'', which also stars Wendy Robie. The film was executive produced by Gill Holland, in association with The Group Entertainment.

Release

Film festivals

''Were the World Mine'' has played or was scheduled to play many film festivals in prominent slots in 2008. Awards already won include: Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

; Best Music in a Narrative Film at the

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

; Best LGBT Feature Film at the

; and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. ''Were the World Mine'' screened at the

Frameline Film Festival The Frameline Film Festival (aka San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival) (formerly San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) began as a storefront event in 1976. The first ...

in San Francisco on June 27, 2008, and at the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival on July 11, 2008. The film opened the Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on September 26, 2008, and closed the Reel Affirmations festival in Washington, D.C., on October 26, 2008. It was presented in November 2008 at the Gay/Lesbian Film Festiva
QUEERSICHT
in

Berne Bern () or Berne; in other Swiss languages, gsw, Bärn ; frp, Bèrna ; it, Berna ; rm, Berna is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city" (in german: Bundesstadt, link=no, french: ville fédérale ...

and Switzerland. The film was screened as the opening night gala at the 2009 Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

Theatrical

''Were the World Mine'' had a limited release in North American theaters on November 21, 2008.

Reception

The film holds a 71% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 24 reviews.

Soundtrack

The ''Were the World Mine'' original soundtrack album was released on CD on November 11, 2008, by

PS Classics PS Classics is a record label that specializes in musical theatre and standard vocals, founded in 2000 by Grammy-nominated freelance producer Tommy Krasker and singer/actor Philip Chaffin. Recent Broadway cast recordings from PS Classics includ ...

. The movie also features several songs used prominently in the film that were not included on the PS Classics soundtrack release, including " Relax, Take It Easy" by Mika, " The Magic Position" by

Patrick Wolf Patrick Wolf (born Patrick Denis Apps; 30 June 1983) is an English singer-songwriter from South London. Wolf uses a wide variety of instruments in his music, most commonly the ukulele, piano, and viola. He is known for combining electronic samp ...

and "Rock Star" by The Guts – sung by

. The Shakespearean podcast No Holds Bard uses "Pyramus and Thisbe" as their theme music.Episode #3 - Country Matters
- No Holds Bard (April 8, 2015)

Home media

''Were the World Mine'' was released on DVD in Europe on May 18, and in North America on June 9, 2008.

Accolades

* Grand Jury Award for Outstanding U.S. Dramatic Feature (Heineken Red Star Award):

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

2008 * James Lyon Editing Award for Narrative Feature: 2008 Woodstock Film Festival * Scion Award for First-Time Director: 2008 Philadelphia Int'l Gay & Lesbian Film Festival * Best Music in a Narrative Feature Film and Best LGBT Feature Film: 2008 Nashville Film Festival * Directors Award: 2008 Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival * Jury Award for Best Overall Film: 2008 Fort Worth Gay & Lesbian Film Festival * Adam Baran Rainbow Award for Best Narrative Feature: 2008 Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival * Jury Award for Best Feature Film: 2008 Outflix Film Festival ;Audience Awards * Best Narrative Feature: 2008

* Best Narrative Feature: 2008 Turin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival * Best Feature: 2008 Inside Out Toronto * Best Feature: 2008 Kansas City Gay & Lesbian Film Festival * Best Feature: Cinema Diverse 2008: Palm Springs GLFF * Grand Prize Best Feature: Rhode Island International Film Festival 2008 * Best Feature: 2008 Vancouver Queer Film Festival

References

External links

* * * * {{Inside Out Audience Award, Feature 2008 films 2008 fantasy films 2000s musical comedy films 2008 romantic comedy films American fantasy comedy films American independent films American LGBT-related films American musical comedy films American musical fantasy films American romantic comedy films American romantic fantasy films American romantic musical films Bisexuality-related films Features based on short films Films based on A Midsummer Night's Dream Gay-related films LGBT-related musical films LGBT-related adaptations of works by William Shakespeare 2008 LGBT-related films LGBT-related romantic comedy films LGBT-related coming-of-age films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films