One of the rules of most gay and lesbian film festivals seems to be that you have to sit though a stinker or two, but you'll also find films that sneak in under the radar to make a great viewing experience. Mom (retitled Big Dreams in Little Hope for dvd) is one of the latter. A light and funny low budget comedy, its characters and their predicaments are engaging and good for a lot of laughs and some sympathetic soul searching.

Uptight Kelly (Emily A. Burton, The D Word, Out at the Wedding) is a market researcher with aspirations of becoming a tv reporter. She's paired out in the field with her photographer Linda (Julie Goldman, The D Word, Out at the Wedding, "The Big Gay Show," Butch in the City), a wisecracking tattoo artist in training.

On a job out of town, they are forced to stay in a youth hostel, tortuous to Kelly. While Kelly unravels as she realizes how dissatisfied she is with her life, Linda sleeps with a bored housewife who is one of their research clients. Very unlike one another, Kelly and Linda bond at the local chili cookoff and look forward to bigger and better things. In the end though, the film gives us a message about the value of living in the now, enjoying each new experience as it comes our way.