2015 FESTIVAL
FILMS A-Z
A Moor (43) [s]
A MOOR (or a “room” inverted), is the first part of the CONTENTE triptych. It synthesizes the multiple meanings of securing, uncultivated land, and racism within the gay community in its portraits of six white men who engage in sex tourism filmed entirely through the POV of an unheard and unseen male Asian escort.
Al Nisa: Black Muslim Women in Atlanta’s Gay Mecca (57)
Al Nisa: Black Muslim Women in Atlanta’s Gay Mecca is the story of how filmmaker Red Summer brought five women together who sought to establish a community, where there was none, for Black Muslim Lesbians in Atlanta. The women in the film, who have the ability to be visible and vocal, have decided to do so for all the ones who cannot. They came together, in this film, to declare their existence, share their stories, start a critical discussion and set a foundation of communal existence for themselves.
All Out! Dancing in Dulais (23) followed by Q&A with Mike Jackson from Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners
The South Wales miners' strike of 1984-1985 saw the formation of a curious alliance between a plucky group of young homosexuals from London and miners in Dulais Valley. In Dancing in Dulais, an initial wariness on the part of the young gays, the miners, and the miners' families gives way, through sometimes delicate interactions, to a loving and purposeful solidarity. The unembellished videography captures well this fascinating-to-witness union of two disparate yet ultimately kindred groups. The "Pits and Perverts" benefit concert features Bronski Beat. We are especially excited to be joined by Mike Jackson, former LGSM activist, for a post-screening Q&A.
Americanreflexxx (14) [s]
American Reflexxx is a short film documenting a social experiment that took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Director Alli Coates captured performance artist Signe Pierce as she strutted down a busy oceanside street in stripper garb and a reflective mask. The pair agreed not to communicate until the experiment was completed, but never anticipated the horror that would unfold in under an hour. The result is a heart wrenching technicolor spectacle that raises questions about gender stereotypes, mob mentality, and violence in America.
Ashes of the Afternoon: 134 Deaths (9) [s]
"Ashes of the Afternoon (134 deaths)" is a surrealistic film portraying a contemporary political criticism about the everyday violence suffered by transgender people in Brazil.
Bare (5) [no dialogue]
Every step we take against the sameness of the society by getting rid of our given titles to enter our own existence is a step forward but at the same time with this step we enter a suppressive environment. This step initiates a resistance against life in which we take part in our purest self.
Bedding Andrew (5) [s]
On the eve of his 30th birthday, Andrew Morrison-Gurza reflected on his life as an LGBTQ man with Cerebral Palsy, and the event that helped shape his identity as a gay man. With wit and candour, Andrew's unvarnished recounting of his loss of innocence shines a light on the culture of desire perpetuated within the LGBT community, and ideas of body image, ableism and gay identity.
Chance (16) [partly subtitled]
Trevor's life has become a void, following the passing of his wife and long term companion, Doris. Days run into weeks, as Trevor slowly finds himself isolated and alone, and unconcernedly slipping towards death. A chance encounter in the park with a mysterious stranger equally troubled by his own dark past jarringly reawakens him, and forces both men to once again start to live.
Crossing Over (46) [s]
Three transgender Mexican immigrants navigate different stages of political asylum in Los Angeles - all striving to establish stability and support systems in a foreign city.
Dressing Queer (12)
Three genderqueer people open their hearts and wardrobes and question the way they use clothing to play with gender in this intimate short documentary.
En Pojke (A Boy) (5) [s]
En pojke (a boy), deals with the privileges that become burdens. The privilege of being a creator. The privilege of being able to penetrate. The privilege of being a seeker/hunter. The video was an attempt to put myself in the most vulnerable place in order to see and accept my lack of importance. The imposed masculinity.
En Retour (In Return) (17) [s]
Jean-Marc, around 50 years old, invites a young man, Simon, for dinner in his Parisian apartment. After an initially warm meeting, they discover each other's expectations, creating a mounting tension throughout the evening…
Escaping into Common Places, having Gothic Adventures in the Neoclassical and Other Ages. Or: My Life is Framed by You (6)
Caught between hypervisibility and erasure, a trans* body is a rare body. Different normativities, embodied and enacted, make it a body in limbo. The trans* body can draw upon diverse embodied patterns, as attitudes, points of view and actions, that are typically reserved for different genders. A trans* body performs politics by morphing those patterns countering gendered assumptions about space, shape, intention, position, and norms. The trans* body can break open these invisible assumptions by rebounding them, by ignoring them, by being unable to comply with them, and by simply refusing them.
Falling in Love with Gay Abandon (8) [no dialogue] followed by Q&A with filmmakers Fiona Thompson and Addie Orfila
Produced for a concert performed by Leeds LGBT choir 'Gay Abandon', and with choir members as the actors, this film is an homage to the silent movie era with the usual silent movie tropes but also with a twist creating a queer perspective on love. Also acts now as an homage to Henry Tickner, Leeds based political activist for LGBT+ issues, who died in early 2014, and plays the despicable villain, Sir Jasper.
Furious Saint Jack & Otter, Alone (6)
A lonely young man rhythmically narrates his leap from isolation to ecstasy when he meets a beautiful stranger in a bar.
Future Sex [10] [no dialogue]
An art film about future gender and sex.
Goodbye Gauley Mountain (70)
What happens when we change our relationship from Earth as Mother to Earth as Lover? This is the story of how two ecosexuals, Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle, came to marry the Appalachian Mountains and join the fight to abolish mountain top removal (MTR). Documenting a trip back to Beth's hometown of Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, the film examines how small communities face destruction for short-term corporate gain and the brave activists who put their own bodies on the line to try to stop it. Featuring extreme tree hugging, rock kissing, and skinny-dipping, it shows how the fight against environmental injustice can be a little more sexy, fun, hopeful, and diverse.
Hidden Away (96) [s]
Ibrahim, a 14 year‐old Moroccan boy, walks down a road in the outskirts of a big city, alone and disoriented. He has just been informed that he will be deported in two days, so he has packed up and ran away. He is alone with no place to go. Rafa, a 14 year‐old Spanish boy, runs into a club toilet like a bundle of nerves. Outside, there is a girl, Marta, waiting for him. A girl who expects far more than what he can give. These two boys´ paths are about to cross and change their lives forever.
ICyborga (3)
An identity is 3D printed into a plastic model who tries to find meaning in her form while recognizing how she is different than most beings. cyberfem. cyborg manifesto. self representation.
It’s Who We Are (28)
The film documents the first twenty years of Australia's Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria, the first LGBTIQ Jewish group to come out publicly to express pride in their Lesbian and Jewish identities, and fight for visibility and against all forms of discrimination. 'It's Who We Are' provides an intimate view of the controversies these feisty women have confronted as they have challenged hetero-sexism, lesbophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia in their communities, and in Australia. Along the way, they have created a community that honors their Jewish and Lesbian cultures.
Jellyfish (12) [s]
Set in a Muslim fishing village in Borneo Jellyfish is the coming-of-age story of Danice, a fourteen-year old fisherwoman who tastes first love with Riya—an alluring transgender woman who arrives in the village one day.
Kiss Me Softly (16) [s]
17 year old Jasper lives in a very grey, small town. In his family, he cannot be himself. Jasper’s dad is a singer, named Lukkie Luk. All the attention in the family goes to his career. Jasper searches a way to handle this and is faced with the typical questions in the live of an adolescent. Questions that will not be answered when he stays in his own routine.
Kuma Hina (77) [partly subtitled]
KUMU HINA is a powerful film about the struggle to maintain Pacific Islander culture and values within the Westernized society of modern day Hawaiʻi. It is told through the lens of an extraordinary Native Hawaiian who is both a proud and confident māhū, or transgender woman, and an honored and respected kumu, or teacher, cultural practitioner, and community leader. (kumahina.com)
Le[s]banese (26) [partly subtitled]
Le[s]banese is a one-of-a-kind documentary exploring the lives of lesbians in Lebanon. Who are they, where do they hang out, what do they wear, and most importantly, how do they negotiate their desires within a troubled nation like Lebanon? This documentary will open a window to a hidden world, and introduce you to women who are savvy, sexy and confident about themselves. It will delight and surprise you!
Like It (6) [s]
LIKE IT is a short film reminiscent of another era. It was written, shot and edited on an impulse - three days. Starring the French singer Douce angoisse, it is the melancholy journey from the suburbs to the city of a woman full of doubts.
Midsummer in Paris (15) [s]
From Taipei to Paris, Joe just tried to forget her ex-girlfriend. One day, a girl from her past showed up in Paris, to bring her a birthday present... A story about freedom, reconciliation, and rebirth.
NoFace (6) [s]
We are surrounded by commercial images. Everywhere we look, everything we touch is already marked with economical value. And as we construct our identity out of images and impressions we encounter every day, our selves become more and more commercialized. We are sucked into the economic domain. We become our own advertisement. Things become even more complicated, if our identity is a gay one, an identity constantly needing to rearrange its relation to straight mainstream culture and constantly searching for a centre to form a reassuring subculture. But what if this subculture, this gay self, is being commercialized as well? An experimental film on gay iconographies in a commodified age.
Open Windows (62) [s]
In Madrid and in Paris, Boti, Empar, Mi and Jo, lesbian women in their seventies, tell of their differences, their desires, their fear… They refuse to be pushed aside because of their age. Beyond the taboos, those third age’s teenagers reflect on their loves, past and present, because their love-lives and sex-lives are not yet over.
Paper Thin (20) [s]
17 year old Mina isn’t like most teenage girls. Her concerned parents decide to act before it’s too late. But things don’t quite go according to plan. Part horror movie part magical realism, “Paper Thin” is a subversive take on psychiatry, religious fundamentalism, the power of fairy godmothers…and the truth. Filmed in stop motion animation.
Pepper (8) [s]
The painful awakening of a couple after an evening of fantasies...
Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back! (56) [s]
“Pinkwashing" is a term activists have coined for when countries engaged in terrible human rights violations try to promote themselves as "gay friendly" to improve their public image. Israel is the country most famous for this strategy, having initiated it as part of a rebranding campaign has been engaged in for the last decade. In 2012, activists in the Pacific Northwestern region of the US responded to an Israeli Consulate-funded pinkwashing tour featuring Israeli gay and lesbian activists that was coming to the region. Local queer Palestine solidarity activists exposed the "Rainbow Generations" tour as pro-Israel propaganda and got some of the events, including the tour's centerpiece event hosted by the City of Seattle's LGBT Commission, cancelled. A significant backlash ensued involving the Seattle City Council and Seattle's leading LGBT and HIV organizations. Through the inspiring story of these activists' victory, Pinkwashing Exposed explores how pinkwashing works and what local activists are doing to fight back.
Putting on the Dish (7)
London, 1962. Two strangers strike up a conversation on a park bench about life, love, sex and the hostile world they find themselves in as gay men. The topics might be commonplace, but the language isn't, because the two men are speaking in Polari - a mostly extinct form of gay slang used in Britain in the first half of the 20th century. Shedding light on a little-known and fascinating slice of gay history, this film is a moving and darkly comic exploration of oppression, resilience and gay subculture in 1960s England.
Red (5) [s]
Through a merger between performance and documentary, this video art talks about the physical and psychological restraints that build the female being.
Roxanne (14)
Roxanne is a cold and isolated transgender sex worker who takes in Lily, an 11 year old girl who has been abandoned by her mother, when she sees the girl in danger. Bringing the girl into her home throws Roxanne’s life into disarray, and as the pair begin to bond, she is forced to question her priorities.
Seahorses (10)
Seahorses is a short film about a person’s reality of dealing with his conflicting emotions regarding intimacy, sex and a relationship, at the same time as being confronted with intruding memories of experiences from a traumatic past.
Sock Puppet (3) [s]
An ode to an ex girlfriend and to five fingered love. With puppets.
Something Must Break (85) [s]
Sebastian is a shy trans teen whose world is rocked by the arrival of an alluring young man named Andreas. Initially captivated by Sebastian’s non-traditional outlook, as the relationship between the pair develops Andreas soon begins to feel threatened by it, and the sense of impending tragedy is never far away. Stylistically daring, yet always emotionally accessible, the love story that exists at the centre of this distinctive mood piece exudes integrity and truth. By offering far more than mere romance, Something Must Break is also a subversive and often erotic reflection on the body, and what it means to fearlessly forge your own identity.
The Cream (9) [no dialogue]
Gilbert, a quirky young man, is out for a Sunday jog in the forest. When a muscular, athletic man passes him at tremendous speeds, Gilbert is left confused, curious and ultimately aroused by his secret.
The Very Last Plea From My Heart (7) [no dialogue]
A short film exploring one person's love affair with one of Birmingham's (soon to be destroyed) most iconic buildings.
Transforming Family (11) [s]
Transforming FAMILY jumps directly into an ongoing conversation among trans people about parenting. It's a beautiful snapshot of current issues, struggles and strengths of transexual, transgender and gender fluid parents (and parents to be) in North America today
Triangles: Witnesses of the Holocaust (41)
TRIANGLES is an unprecedented, inclusive and history changing film that shines an intimate light on the broader community and culture of the Holocaust not previously revealed. The Holocaust was a cruel and inconceivable tragedy and TRIANGLES presents victims and survivors of other religions, different classes, and gender preference. The disabled, three million Soviet POWS, fifteen thousand male homosexuals, lesbians, transsexual and transgender people, one million Gypsies/Roma and two million Poles were also murdered.
Twitch (5) [no dialogue]
TWITCH is a 5-minute experimental performance video incorporating contemporary dance, contortion and acrobatics. TWITCH chronicles the life-pulse of a creature in conflict: its stirrings/twitching/convulsions, its agonizing missteps and battle with demons. It’s an ode to overcoming dark energies that lie within, and the ascent of the spirit that soars to its resolution.
Your Weight on the Nape of my Neck (10) [s]
One morning, I saw a man I’d never seen before, in the building opposite mine…
Ze Zombie (42) [s]
Ze, Zombie is an independent film about a group of queers surviving the zombie apocalypse.
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WORKSHOPS AND ACTIVITIES
Zine in a Day:
On Saturday 18th July at Leeds Queer Film Festival 2015, Shape & Situate and Footprint Workers Co-op will be making a Zine In A Day.
We’ll be making a special issue of ‘Shape & Situate: Posters of Inspirational Women in Europe’ zine.
It will be a zine full of A5 posters specifically focused on radical self-identified Queer Women in/from Europe. Women whose actions and contributions are inspirational and influential. Women who have perhaps acted as organisers, activists, agitators, pioneers, educators, or role models in various fields.
We’re looking for posters/zine-pages that tell and share the stories, lives, actions and histories of self-identified queer women.
In particular, if possible we’d love to capture knowledge of local queer women who are/were active in our communities; those inspiring women that we encounter on a day-to-day basis.
We want to question and challenge traditional/hegemonic history which suppresses, ignores or omits.
Help us document queer women and remember the voices of the underrepresented and the oppositional.
How to get involved: Make an A5 poster to bring along on the day, or email your poster to us at: m_k_maddison@hotmail.com. You can also create a poster at the film fest, perhaps inspired by the people you meet or learn about in the films, stories or workshops.
There will be dedicated workshop space for this poster making & also to learn about & discuss other creative, grassroots social-history memorial projects.
We’ll be Riso Printing the zine in various coloured inks live at the Film Festival & selling copies/displaying the posters from late afternoon on Saturday 18th June.
Get involved & let us know in a poster who inspires you!
www.facebook.com/shapeandsituatezine
Card & letter writing to people in prison & detention:
Materials provided, throughout the day in Wharf Chambers bar room
Banner & placard making for alternative bloc for Leeds Pride on Sunday 2nd August:
All welcome! Drop in from 12-6pm
Courtyard area of Wharf Chambers, bring ideas/paint/glitter/fabric/wood/t-shirts etc if you can!
Planning for the queer bloc at Pride:
All welcome, come along & chat about ideas for the Pride march on Sunday 2nd August. Courtyard area of Wharf Chambers, inside bar if raining!
Raffle extravaganza:
Will be drawn in bar area, amazing prizes from Suma, LUSH, That Old Chestnut, Hyde Park Picture House, Footprint and more. All money raised goes to covering festival costs and LGBTQ causes.
Buy your raffle tickets at Wharf Chambers before the festival! Also available on the door during the festival.
QueerStories social history talk (in Wharf Chambers cinema room):
Listen to stories about the queer history of Leeds as remembered by locals. What was it like being queer in Leeds in the dark days of Thatcher? What was the activist scene like in those days? And where did all the queers hang out before Wharf Chambers appeared?!
Can’t Fuck/Won’t Fuck: A Queer Feminist Discussion on the Limits of Sex Positivity (held at MESMAC):
Have you ever felt pressure to feel/perform desire, to be (or be seen to be) sexually active, to have relationships or date people, to do non-monogamy (or to do it in a specific way), to have fulfilling/pleasurable sex or to have certain kinds of sex? Do you feel like sex-positivity often ignores the reality of living, and trying to be sexual, in a racist ableist cissexist hetero-patriarchal rape culture? Have you ever felt like consent shouldn't be framed in terms of sexiness? Does your queer or feminist community fail to make space for people on the asexual and aromantic spectrums?
Can't Fuck/Won't Fuck is a facilitated, participant-led discussion for people who feel left out or alienated by sex-positivity and the way it plays out in their interpersonal relationships or in the queer or feminist spaces where they hang out. In order to create as safe a space as possible, we ask that people arrive on time and do not join the discussion once it has begun. Sex-posi people welcome! This discussion is being facilitated by the writers of the zine FUCKED: on being sexually dysfunctional in sex-positive queer scenes. Contact us: sexcritical@gmail.com
This talk is framed as a queer feminist discussion and is open to people of all genders and sexualities. There should be no accessibility issues, it is a seated event. Although we do not know what issues will arise in the session, we always content note for possible discussion of abuse, sexual violence, mental health issues.