25. - 29. 10. 2017
The Slovak Queer Film Festival is a festival for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered people and their families, children and friends.
Since 2007, the festival has been loosely inspired by the tradition of gay-themed festivals held in Slovakia from 1996 to 2001. Today, the Slovak Queer Film Festival (FFi) is the only LGBTI-oriented film festival in Slovakia, organized by the civic association Iniciatíva Inakosť.
FFi was established as a sophisticated venue for the presentation of quality Slovak and international cinema, intended to entertain heterosexual and non-heterosexual film fans, fight homophobia and xenophobia, and encourage society to discuss and address the problems afflicting Slovakia’s continually ignored LGBTI minority.
Intellectual Ned likes indie pop and hates sport with a passion. But everyone in his school is mad about rugby, and those who don’t conform are often bullied. When Ned gets a new roommate, he’s shocked to discover that it’s rugby star Connor. And a botched English essay sets off a series of academic predicaments. This coming-of-age story set in a boarding school is rounded out by a brilliant soundtrack. Show more
Three young girls' friendship is tested after they plant a very special flower; the Nectar from the flower changes their lives- and friendship - forever, as they get a taste of what it's like growing up as a boy. It's a story of how we've created gender, and how to know who you are when society is telling you who you should be, but also a story about young love and lust. Show more
When Chavela Vargas picked up her guitar and began singing traditional Mexican rancheras, sad songs of loneliness and unfulfilled love of women – which had previously been written and sung exclusively by men, audiences went wild. Her earthy voice and singular feel for rhythm touched the heart of every last listener. Wearing trousers and a red poncho, also traditionally belonging to men, she was unmissable andunmistakable. In 1960s Acapulco, she rubbed shoulders with the biggest stars of Mexican and international show business, art and politics such as Lana Turner and Frida Kahlo, of whom some (the women at the very least) ended up in her bedroom. Chavela Vargas was an unbelievably talented force of nature, and she never managed to live in moderation. After years of alcoholism, during which she gradually faded into obscurity, she was “resurrected” by Pedro Almodóvar, who decided to organize a concert of hers in Spain. The elderly lady returned to the stage as energeticas ever, enthralling young people who had never even heard of her. An extraordinary documentary about an inimitable human being who never made compromises, whether it be in her music or her personal life. Show more
Aria is a film about queer parents, identity and family constructions. It is through a series of portraits that Aria proposes a diversity of stories and reflections on motherhood, parenthood, the desire or not to have a child, descent, and childhood. Entirely shot using smartphones, the film proposes an intimate journey, told via sensitive, fun or moving words, a contemporary family album. Show more
16-year-old Berliner Mifti refuses to go to school, preferring to party, drink, slack off, experiment with sex and drugs, and spurn adulthood as an axolotl, a Mexican amphibian which nature has granted the ability to spend its entire life in the pubescent stage of development, quickly regenerate anything lost, and transform into someone completely different. {Sundance Film Festival 2017} Show more
A documentary on a sociocultural movement that originated as an offshoot of punk, protesting against the stigmatization of the LGBT community and reacting to the increasingly violent and masculine character of the 1980s punk scene. Involving leading exponents such as Bruce LaBruce, G.B. Jones and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, the film attempts to document the historical development of the movement while also encouraging inclusivity and diversity today. Show more
Trisha is a transgender woman with only one dream - to become a „Total Beauty Queen“. Trisha is a son of a very conservative father. Trisha died. Trisha but still has some fabulous friends who know the proper ways how to sashay away: they turn her into one pop icon a day for the full week. Die Beautiful unveils as a delicately (de)constructed flamboyant puzzle showing the brightest and darkest aspects of Trisha’s errand life. Show more
Yoon-ju is a graduate student of fine arts and is working on her graduation exhibition. One day she runs into Ji-soo at a junk shop. After a series of accidental running-ins, Ji-soo invites Yoon-ju to her place and the two eventually start dating. Never having enjoyed dating men, Yoon-ju finds Ji-soo fascinating and becomes completely lost in her… Show more
120 BPM. The average heart rate. The protagonists of 120 battements par minute are passionate about fighting the indifference that exists towards AIDS. Show more
One day 11-year-old Tomo decides she’s had enough of her perpetually drunk, depressed mother and moves in with her uncle. Makio gladly takes his niece in and shares with her the little he has, but there’s one little problem: how to explain to her that his sweet, loving girlfriend was born a man? Are words always the best way to make someone feel loved? Should a girl’s real mother be the one to pack her exquisite lunches, wait for her in front of her school and give her a real home? What if it takes the strength of two? When nothing else helps, there’s always a new ball of yarn for knitting socks – and strong nerves. A surprisingly simple, intimate story about a very (non)traditional family with very traditional family values. Show more
Mahmoud is a refugee living in Germany who comes to Istanbul to organize in the Mr Gay Syria competition. Husein is a Syrian refugee who makes a living as a barber in Istanbul and lives a double life: six days a week he's openly gay at work, but on Sunday he returns home not only to his devout parents, but to his wife and daughter as well. He enters the competition with a single goal in mind – to win and earn a passport, a visa and passage to Europe, where he can create a life without fear for himself, his family, and most of all his daughter. The refugee crisis has changed many people's lives, bringing with it fears and problems that are new to the world, and above all Europe. It's a topic that has been treated from all sorts of angles – but the lives of queer refugees remains a taboo. Show more
The story of an American singer who, enchanted by the decadence of interwar Berlin, makes the Kit Kat Club stage her first stop on the road to film stardom, befriending a fellow American English teacher and a German millionaire in the process. This film adaptation is distinguished by its powerful use of allusion and brilliant choreography. In exemplary counterpoint, it brings together a dramatic plot, song and dance numbers, and sentimentality, along with an analysis of the growing aggression and fascist intolerance of the time (a metaphor for the ire of crowds, for the manipulation of the masses). On another level, you have the cabaret itself – grandiose, ironic, tragicomic – and the fascinating character of the vaudevillian. The overall effect of alienation is intensified by suggestive flourishes reminiscent of magical realism. Every level of the film is meticulously interconnected, depicting a time and place that was fertile ground for the rise of Nazism while also demonstrating the impossibility of breaking free from dogmatic conventions. Show more
After taking over the family farm from his ailing father, John Saxby spends his evenings drinking away his frustration at local watering holes. One-night stands with unknown men are his escape from his father’s eternal criticism and his own non-existent prospects in a place that was “God’s own country” to his parents’ generation, but where life for him is a never-ending struggle. When he hires farmhand Gheorghe, a young economic immigrant from Romania, John’s life takes on a new dimension. But things certainly don’t get easier as he fights tooth and nail for the life of his dreams. {Sundance Film Festival 2017: Directing Award} Show more
A timeless story of human self-discovery and connection, Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. Show more
THE GIRL KING paints a portrait of the brilliant, extravagant Kristina of Sweden, queen from age six, who fights the conservative forces that are against her ideas to modernize Sweden and who have no tolerance for her awakening sexuality. Show more
An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents. Show more
A biography of the gay icon and artist that changed the world with his paintings, forcing people to shift the way they think about differences. – Touko Laaksonen, a decorated officer, returns home from World War II and quickly finds out that life in Finland during peacetime proves equally distressing. The city of Helsinki is rampant with homophobia and all men are being pressured to marry women and have children. Touko finds refuge in his art, specializing in stylized homoerotic drawings of muscular men. His work – made famous by his signature 'Tom of Finland' – became the emblem of a generation of men and fanned the flames of a gay revolution. However, it has always raised the question of whether it is art or rather pornography. In his film, the director Dome Karukoski gives us a pleasantly simple answer: Of course it is both.
Legend:
eAT - electronic english subtitles Show more
Jasmine has been happily engaged for some time now. When her fiancé leaves on a business trip, she and a friend head to the club. There, an encounter with a female roofer named Dallas changes everything. Dallas is sick of short-term relationships, and to her, meeting Jasmine is like a dream come true. Jasmine's indecision, however, causes Dallas nothing but pain. This vicious circle is brought to an end when Jasmine's fiancé finally catches them in the act. One of 2017's freshest, most erotically adventurous hits. Show more
A remote fishing village in Iceland. Teenage boys Thór and Christian go through a turbulent, unforgettable summer as one tries to win a girl’s heart while the other discovers new feelings toward his best friend. As summer gradually ends and the harsh Icelandic wilderness reclaims its throne, the boys are forced to leave their carefree childhood behind and face the trials of growing up… “Heartstone is a personal story based on my experience growing up in a small fishing village. […] The village is a place full of contrasts, where kids discover how nature and people can be both amazingly beautiful and incredibly cruel.” (Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson) Source: Art Film Fest 2017 Show more
A Brooklyn teenager spends his days experimenting with drugs and looking online for older men to meet with. Show more
Damien lives with his mother Marianne, a doctor, while his father is on a tour of duty abroad. He is bullied by Thomas, whose mother is ill. The boys find themselves living together when Marianne invites Thomas to come and stay with them. Show more
After a summer spent with his his best friend Kat to escape his family, Phil goes back to school and starts to question his feelings towards Nicholas, a new classmate. http://www.imdb.com Show more
17-year-old Kerou is nothing special. Like most people her age, she doesn't quite know what she wants. But her friend Yuezhen does: she fancies Shihao, a bit of a rebel who takes his swimming training pretty seriously. Yuezhen sends Karou to scout out her chances with Shihao. Then things get a little complicated. Blue Gate Crossing is an early Taiwanese festival treat: a sweet, lovely little film, though never quite reaching the level of cuteness of its successors in our current decade. In any case, Shihao marks the first major role played by Chen Bolin, who currently enjoys great popularity in mainland China and Hong Kong as well. Blue Gate Crossing was premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section, and it's the second queer-themed film from director Yee Chin-yen, who debuted with 1995's Lonely Hearts Club. Yee wasn't entirelypleased when the French press labelled Blue Gate Crossing a gay film,preferring to describe it more generally as a film about young people or puppy love. Show more
'Mad’ Mary McArdle returns to her hometown after a short spell in prison - for something she’d rather forget. She can’t wait to meet the only person she has ever loved and had by her side while she was trying to ruin her life. That is, all the time. Her best friend, Charlene, is about to get married and Mary is maid of honour. When Charlene refuses Mary a ‘plus one’ on the grounds that she probably couldn't find a date, Mary becomes determined to prove her wrong. But her attempts at dating are a disaster and she winds up feeling more alone… until she meets Jess and everything changes. Show more
Business trips can bring a variety of surprises, but not the fact that certain encounters sometimes grow into serious affairs. After several months, however, the affair between Thomas, a pastry chef living in Berlin, and Oran, a married man from Israel, is cut short by a tragic event. Oran is killed in a car crash, and Thomas feels he has no choice but to seek out his lover’s widow, who is now bringing up their son alone. Despite initial mistrust at his German origins, grieving Anat gives the taciturn young man work in her café, unaware that the unnamed sorrow which connects them is for one and the same man. Debuting helmer Ofir Raul Graizer has submitted a feature melodrama whose strength rests in its subtle treatment of the love theme. (source: Karlovy Vary IFF) Show more
Mining the jewels of the BFI archive, Queerama tells the story of an extraordinary century of gay experiences. Directed by Daisy Asquith with a soundtrack by Alison Goldfrapp, Hercules & Love Affair and John Grant, the film takes us into the relationships, desires, fears and expressions of gay men and women in the 20th century – a century of incredible change. Legend: OV - original version eST - electronic slovak subtitles QFaK - Queer Film and Context Show more
Marina, a waitress who moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend.
Show more
A successful businesswoman gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse as she tracks down the unknown man who raped her. Show more
Neglected by her husband, Sarah embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her best friend, Mindy. Along the way, the dynamic between the two friends intensifies before circumstances force them apart. Years later, Sarah attempts to rebuild their intimate connection in the days before Mindy's wedding to Leif. Quietly cinematic and picturesque, and peppered with unexpected supporting turns from the likes of Rosanna Arquette, Brooklyn Decker and Amy Seimetz, Lovesong is a bittersweet, beautifully modulated love story about muted desire and the grey areas that define every friendship, romance and marriage. Show more
Fresh out of high school, Joey has to decide what’s next. Her one-horse Pennsylvania town doesn’t offer much in the way of gainful employment, so her mother sends her off to the army, giving her a chance to see the world and save some money for college while she’s at it. But Joey’s plans for the future get complicated when, out of the blue, she falls in love with local seductress Rayna. This feature debut of screenwriter and director Deb Shoval, based on the award-winning short of the same name, is an absorbing, brilliantly acted love story of two women, full of well-written plot twists. Aside from its muted critique of a certain segment of American society, AWOL is primarily a deeply moving portrayal of the intoxicating blindness of a first love. It’s a story of courage, of what it means to put complete trust in someone, despite not knowing whether doing so will be a blessing or mean your downfall.Source: Art Film Fest 2017 Show more
