QUEER SHORTS FILM NIGHT
Wednesday 22nd February 2017
from 7pm at Live Art Bistro
Come along and watch this amazing collection of queer short films
----- Free entry - no booking needed -----
Over 400 films were submitted to Leeds Queer Film Festival this year and we were so overwhelmed with the amount of incredible films! We’re sad that we don’t have enough time in our programme to include all the films we like so we decided to create a one off screening event of some of the shorts that almost made it into the programme but that we didn’t have enough space to include. The programme’s a great mix of fiction, documentary, experimental and animation!
We’ll also have our festival programme to pick up as well as the opportunity to watch trailers of the feature films we’ll be screening at our festival that takes place March 24-26.
There will also be snacks!
---- FILM PROGRAMME -----
(in order of screening)
3 Friends (dir. Michael Moody Culpepper, 22 mins, subtitled)
Based on a Colm Tóibín short story, 'Three Friends' follows Fergus, a pensive, young Irishman, who is propelled on a powerful journey that begins at his mother's funeral and wake. There, Fergus confronts how his family shapes and defines him only to continue this journey at a beach rave where he becomes aware of the defining impact his friendships have on him. Ultimately, it is through death, grief, joy, and sex that Fergus looks inside to define himself.
(content warning: drug use, nudity)
Just Like Arcadia (dir. Jordi Estrada, 8 mins, subtitled)
A journey into the beginning of times, when mortals lived like Gods, without worries and no caring about old age. A melancholic and dreamy voyage back to cruel adolescence and the discovery of a boy who will let us enter into the garden of eternal youth.
(content warning: nudity)
A Letter of Love to You (dir. Judith Rifeser, U.K. 3 mins, not subtitled)
This short experimental film seeks to question our common use of the three-word sentence that is supposed to be the ultimate declaration of love. Why do we objectify what we love? By making use of Luce Irigaray’s call to insert a "to" in the sentence "I love you", this short film explores the importance, usage and influence of language for our understanding of relationships, gender and power. It ultimately seeks to be a letter of love to ourselves and the world that surrounds us.
HYPER HYPER I-Id. (dir. Iris Borovčnik, 17 mins, subtitled)
The conceptual short film HYPER HYPER I-Id. explores debates on neoliberalism, self-management and identity politics. Three protagonists attempt to discover a way together, and within their own space of work/identity. With lots of dark humour, poetic language. powerful costumes and settings, and the ongoing beat of petra und der wolf’s music, the film opens up new spaces for queer images.
------ BREAK ------
Bootwmn (dir. Paige Gratland, 11 mins, subtitled)
Deana McGuffin is a third generation New Mexico boot maker, handcrafting wearable pieces of art. When she is approached by a Canadian artist and a San Francisco tattooer to create a gay themed cowboy boot, a story unravels of a unique collaboration that takes them to the heart of cowboy country in Northern Texas. BOOTWMN is a heartwarming, intimate and at times funny portrait of the queering of a traditional art form.
Nails (dir. Jack Faulkner, 3 mins, not subtitled)
A young boy named Daniel innocently paints his nails at school before a big exam, however he discovers the struggles of self expression when teased by others.
(content warning: scenes of bullying)
Persistence of Memory (dir. Natalie Tsui, 16 mins, not subtitled)
Grappling with the loss of her beloved, a reserved programmer begins employment at a controversial tech company specializing in high-end, artificial companions.
(content warning: scenes of drug use)
Park Ghost Park (dir. Pedro B, 14 mins, subtitled)
The park still alive at night and the noise of young people echoes through the city. These are hard times around here but friends can still count on each other.
(content warning: scenes of sexual content)
--- Venue and Accessibility ---
Live Art Bistro will be hosting this event as well as our festival that will take place March 24-26. Entry to the venue and the screening space is wheelchair accessible. There will be wheelchair-accessible toilets at our festival in March but unfortunately there isn't one available for this event and we apologise for this. We include English subtitles for films whenever available but 3 of the 8 films (A Letter of Love to You, Nails and Persistence of Memory) in this programme don’t have subtitles. Please contact us in advance with any specific access needs: leedsqueerfilmfestival@gmail.com
Queer DIY Film Making Workshop
Create DIY short films with Leeds Queer Film Festival FREE two day workshop for beginner film makers. Learn how to write, create, film and edit your own short film using your smart phone.
This workshop is for anybody over 18 who identifies as queer and has an interest in films. You do not need to have any experience as we will be starting from scratch. Participants will be using their smartphone to create short films with any completed ones to be shown at Leeds Queer Film Festival in March. If you have any other film making equipment or a laptop/tablet feel free to bring this along too. We hope that participants will take away their new skills and continue to make more films, building up and broadening the queer films we want to watch.
No expertise is needed, we’ll be teaching you how to use your smartphone to make a DIY film.
Dates: Saturday 11th and 18th February 2017
Time: 11:00am to 3:00pm
Venue: Leeds City Museum (room TBC, venue is fully accessible)
Cost: Free
There are limited places for this workshop so please apply early - apply online here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScE1gbWhCZEPmhnP1oaLu5Rd88VW1FeGZgqmReFS7ereRdajg/viewform
We will let people know if they have a place on the workshop by February 4th. Any questions please email leedsqueerfilmfestival@gmail.com
LGBT HISTORY MONTH EVENT
Celebrate LGBT History Month at Leeds City Museum with our FREE programme of films, stalls, activities and talks on Saturday 18th February 11am til 3pm. All are welcome to come along and get involved!
A selection of films on LGBT History from our past festivals will be screened and we’ll be having a panel discussion on local LGBT history.
There’ll be stalls of various local LGBT community groups so that you can find out about the great long-running and more recent LGBT support groups, campaigning groups and social groups in our city. This will be a great opportunity to find out about the work they do, how to get involved, support them, or how to get access to services you need.
We’ll also have various activities and workshops so you can tell your own story or just have some fun! They’ll all be on a drop-in basis throughout the day. Workshops will include:
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LGBT History-themed Zine-In-A-Day with Footprint Workers Co-op
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Character-making/character-building - make your own poseable figure with Hannah McCann
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Kendama with Ingi
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Monoprinting with Susie Rumsby (of Leeds Print Workshop)
-
Clay Pendant making with Kim Searle (Darn It Workshops)
We’ll also be releasing the Leeds Queer Film Festival programme for our 2017 festival (24-26 March) and selling advance weekend passes.
Access information for the venue is available here: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/leedscitymuseum/Access-at-Leeds-City-Museum.aspx
FILM PROGRAMME NOW RELEASED
We're excited to be screening Pay It No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson, an audience favourite from past festivals, as our feature film at this event! Following this will be a collection of shorts.
FREE entry, no tickets required
11:30am
Pay It No Mind (55 mins) [no subtitles]
This feature-length documentary focuses on revolutionary trans-activist, Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson, a Stonewall instigator, Andy Warhol model, drag queen, sex worker, starving actress, and Saint. "Pay It" captures the legendary gay/ human rights activist as she recounts her life at the forefront of The Stonewall Riots in the 1960s, the creation of S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with Sylvia Rivera in the '70s, and a New York City activist throughout the '80s and early '90s. Through her own words, as well as in-depth interviews with gay activist Randy Wicker, former Cockettes performer Agosto Machado, author Michael Musto, Hot Peaches founder/ performer, Jimmy Camicia, and Stonewall activists Bob Kohler, Danny Garvin, Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, and Martin Boyce, Marsha's story lives on.
(content warning: discussion of transphobic violence and homophobic violence)
12:25-12:35 BREAK
12:35pm
All Out! Dancing in Dulais (23 mins) [no subtitles]
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.
Not Guilty (4 mins) [subtitled]
Gay and guilty? In 1961, Heinz stroked another man’s knee. As a result, he was convicted to two years on probation and three weekends in juvenile detention, a conviction that still stands to this day. But he is gay and #NotGuilty. More than 50,000 men were convicted under Section 175 of the German Penal Code because of their homosexuality. It’s high time they were exonerated.
Putting on the Dish (7 mins) [no subtitles]
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.
Stop the Clause Demos 1987/88 (6 mins) [no subtitles]
Back in 1987 the inclusion of Clause 28 in a local government bill brought thousands on to the streets of Leeds, Manchester and London. A Gay Switchboard volunteer who worked for YTV at the time put together this video of the marches.
Sylvia Rivera: Y’All Better Quiet Down (4 mins) [subtitled]
Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of STAR (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries) and one of the trans women who started the Stonewall Riots, faces boos and curses as she takes the stage at the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day rally, and condemns the gay liberation movement for leaving behind the gay, queer, and trans people in jail, as well as those facing violence, racism, unemployment, and homelessness.
(content warning: discussion of transphobic violence, sexual violence and physical violence)
We Are Queer (30 mins) [no subtitles]
"We are queer" interrogates the process of queer artists in San Francisco. Being a pejorative adjective in USA before the 1990s, the term Queer was reappropriated and resignified in a fight of emancipation. Today, Queer appears not only as a philosophical concept, but also as a self-designation policy. Through the portrayal of the ones who fight against the hegemonic gender rules, the documentary explores the link between their artistic creation and identity claim.
(content warning: discussion of homophobic violence)
Pink Flamingos
Thursday 1st June 2017
at Live Art Bistro
1-2 Regent Street, Leeds, LS2 7QA
Film starts at 9pm
FREE screening of PINK FLAMINGOS - John Waters' queer cult classic from 1972
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive”.
“one of the most vile, stupid and repulsive films ever made.” Variety
“its success launched John Waters into a career as America's leading authority on poor taste” Rotten Tomatoes
“it’s the only movie that ever made me throw up and feel faint. It was so horrific and absolutely vulgar that I can’t even describe the scenes to you. Needless to say, I loved it.” autostraddle
The venue is wheelchair accessible with a single step entrance with ramp.
Off-street parking is available nearby (charges may apply).
All toilets will be gender-neutral. An accessible toilet will be available.
There is a range of seating available in the screening room: hard backed chairs, sofas, beanbags. If you need to enter the screening room first or need a particular place in the room please let an organiser know.
Film will be shown with English subtitles.
Popcorn and vegan pick n mix will be on sale. No booking required, just turn up!
Part of the Gender Roadshow
http://notyetarobot.co.uk/portfolio-item/the-gender-roadshow/
Pride Friday Film Fest
Friday 4th August 2017 at
Live Art Bistro, 1-2 Regent Street, Leeds, LS2 7QA
Doors open 5.30, films start at 6pm
QUEER 50 - DOCS, Shorts And Talks
Saturday 16th September 2017
at
Live Art Bistro
1-2 Regent Street, Leeds LS2 7QA
Come join us for a full day of films and talks. We’ll be looking at LGBT+ lives, the issues and triumphs of our communities from the 1960s up to the present day.
There’ll be feature length documentaries, short films, talks, artefacts display, zine workshop, vegan food and snacks and a bar.
FULL PROGRAMME
12:00 – 12:40 SHORTS
My Aunt Mame (Krissy Mahan, USA, 8:58) [A] [S]
A butch dyke remembers her working class, butch dyke great-aunt.
Nocturnal (Alfonso Guevara, Mexico/USA, 15:41) [D] [S]
A photographer reflects on his work dealing with loss and change in the AIDs crisis era.
Afterglow (Akira Kamiki, Brazil, 11:53) [F] [S]
A man helps his boyfriend through his depression.
1:00 – 2:25 FEATURE
Britain on Film: LGBT Britain (Various, UK, 85:00) [D] [S]
With films spanning 1909 to 1994, this collection documents a century of activism, and the shifting attitudes to LGBT+ people and their rights across the board throughout a time of explosive social change. Including some of the earliest known representations of LGBT+ people on screen, the collection includes a 1925 film on ‘Cutie Cattaro’, a boxer more interested in flirting than fighting and a drag queen, ‘Percy’ competing for a prize in 1909. Exploring the struggles and identity politics of the 80s and 90s, the films cover early AIDS victims recounting their experiences; the formation of the London Gay Black Group and the 1980 fight for transgender rights in the European Court.
Please note: the film contains a sequence of flashing lights which might affect audience members with photosensitive epilepsy.
2:50 – 3:50 SHORTS
Lying Women (Deborah Kelly, Australia, 3:56) [A] [ND]
Women from art history escape from servitude to form a revolution.
Out Of Breath (Shauly Melamed, Israel, 13:12) [F] [S]
A man confronts his past by making a memorial film.
The Devil is in the Details (Fabien Gorgeart, France, 19:25) [F] [S]
Set in 1859, an intersex trainee teacher is forced to resign.
Decoding DarkMatter (Crystal Waterton, USA, 22:00) [D] [S]
Two trans performance artists discuss their work and challenges they face as activists and people of colour.
4:05 – 5:00 TALK
The stigma of HIV/AIDs on screen – a talk by Pat McCusker of Yorkshire MESMAC
5:15 - 6:25 FEATURE
Last Men Standing (Erin Brethauer & Tim Hussin, USA, 66:12) [D] [S]
Rich and distinguished stories unfold among the lives of long-term survivors who have learned how to celebrate, heal, love, and thrive after the devastation of the early AIDS crisis. In this cathartic and intimate documentary, eight men look back on their experiences and then toward the future with the strength and resiliency they have cultivated over the past 30 years.
7:00 – 8:00 SHORTS
Man and Me (Marval A Rex, USA, 9:21) [E] [ND]
An exploration of trans masculinity through experimental imagery.
Fragments of a Round Table (Esra Özban, Turkey, 5:00) [D] [S]
Pink Life, a queer group in Turkey, discuss what to do with their archive.
As Human As I Am (Alice McDowell, Ireland, 30:00) [D] [S]
Stories from LGBT+ communities in Nepal, Malawi and Fiji, as they campaign for recognition, protection and inclusion.
Bride of Frankie (Devi Snively, USA, 18:48) [F] [S]
Comedic, feminist nod to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
8:15 – 8:45 TALK
A talk and Q&A from Sophia of Trans Leeds 'Self-gentrification in the queer scene, and the damage of rejecting personal experience in favour of academia'.
9:00 – 10:45 FEATURE
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (David France, USA, 105:00) [D] [S]
Academy Award nominee David France (How to Survive a Plague) follows a new investigation into the mysterious death - and lasting political legacy - of self-described “street queen” Marsha P. Johnson. Featuring never-before-seen footage and rediscovered interviews, this documentary is a timely tribute to a courageous black trans activist and veteran of the Stonewall riots.
[S] subtitles [F] fiction [D] documentary [E] experimental [A] animation [ND] no dialogue
