Mervi travels to her hometown in Finland, with her German-Iranian girlfriend Kata, to confront her parents and come out of the closet. There, she finds out that she’s not the only one hiding secrets. The two girls will find themselves in the middle of social mayhem in a community of gang bangers, bisexual pastors, activists, racists, refugees, alcoholics and drug abusers. Finally, a belligerent neo-Nazi group break in. Directed by Teemu Nikki, 2020, 95 min, Finland, Finnish, German, English with English subtitles, L __Content Warning: Racism.__

"There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another; nothing more. [Those] who [have] felt the deepest grief [are] best able to experience supreme happiness.‚" -- Alexandre Dumas 2021 marks the centennial year of the Tulsa race massacre. I have felt a plethora of emotions processing this; no doubt, mirroring the sentiments of the rest of the BIPOC community. The most powerful of those emotions has been an existential and spiritual connection to my ancestors. We have experienced so many atrocities up until this very day.Yet, we continue to alchemize all of that pain into a fierce ball of eternal fire. An inferno that we metamorphose into love, laughter and life in countless mediums. Then, we pass the strength of that magical fire along to our community, our descendants and finally, the world. While I celebrate us all year long, once a year, I am honored to use the medium of cinema to shine a light on our stories. I give visibility and a platform to the artists celebrating our lives, our sorrows, our magic‚ in front of the lens and behind it. This year, through Afro-futurism, contemporary dance, animation, documentary, and many more, I present to you: Wicked Queer 2021's BIPOC short film program. Thank you to all of my BIPOCs, past, present and future.

A subversive love story between clashing cultures and families, KISS ME BEFORE IT BLOWS UP is a romantic misadventure crossing all borders. When two generations of Israeli women fall for a German woman and a Palestinian man, chaos follows. What happens with lovers who don't fit but do belong together?