Wicked Queer 34

A Moment in the Reeds is an intimate drama about the chance encounter of two men by the Finnish lakeside. Leevi, who left Finland behind to study abroad, has returned for the summer to help his father renovate the family lake house. Tareq, a Syrian asylum seeker, has also been hired to help, and when Leevi’s father returns to town on business, the two young men give in to their mutual attraction, spending a few midsummer days discovering one another. Among the first queer-themed feature films made in Finland, A Moment in the Reeds puts the long-marginalized voices of sexual and ethnic minorities at center stage in a story about the search for freedom, acceptance, and a place to call home.

Linn da Quebrada is a black transwoman from impoverished periurban São Paulo; she is also a pop performer who raises her voice for queers of colour from the favelas. Accompanied by her childhood friend and partner in crime, black transwoman and singer Jup do Bairro, her concerts are nothing short of dazzling. Aided by exorbitant costumes and plenty of twerking, her performances are onslaughts of electro against Brazil’s white heteronormative gender order and the machismo of the country’s funk scene.

Writer-director Tadeo Garcia follows up his 2004 debut feature ON THE DOWN LOW with a powerful love story set against the backdrop of the controversial U.S. immigration system. Both Abel (Nelson A. Rodriguez), who works in Chicago in social services, and Diego (Andrew L. Saenz), an auto mechanic, have waited a long time for the love they have yearned for. After several chance meetings the two finally hook up and quickly fall deeply for each other. But Diego has been hiding a secret: he’s an undocumented immigrant and his repeated attempts to attain citizenship have led nowhere. When word reaches him that his mother is dying, Diego must decide whether or not to risk a trip back to Mexico, knowing he will jeopardize his chances of returning to America and to a future with Abel. And what will Abel do when he learns the truth? Can their love survive the dangerous choice the couple ultimately makes?

Andi (Constance Wu) and Lu (Angela Trimbur) are excited to celebrate their upcoming wedding with a joint bachelorette weekend in wine country. On the first night, the brides and their friends get wasted, and Lu admits to everyone that she’s never had an orgasm. This admission comes as a complete surprise to Andi and derails the weekend in unexpected and poignant ways. It causes everyone to reflect on trust, love, and their journeys to experiencing their first orgasm.

‘Shakedown’ was a series of parties founded by and for African American women in Los Angeles that featured go-go dancing and strip shows for the city’s lesbian underground scene. Inspired by transwoman Mahogany who, as the mother of the scene, presided over queer strip shows and balls for non-heterosexual audiences in the 1980s, butch Ronnie Ron created, produced and presented the new shows. In them, the largely female clientele from the ‘hood’ slipped dollar notes into lap dancers’ panties while celebrating lesbian sexuality to pulsating hip-hop beats.

Paternal Rites is a first-person essay film that examines the secret underbelly of a contemporary Jewish American family as they grapple with the aftereffects of physical and sexual abuse on their present-day lives. It is also a groundbreaking film about the nature of trauma and memory itself: the ways in which trauma encrypts in uncanny ways; the function of speech and narrative in the process of decryption; and the role of film and filmmaking in the practice of healing. Paternal Rites draws inspiration from podcasts like This American Life and Radiolab and the long lineage of LGBT essay filmmakers in the U.S. such as Jenni Olson, Marlon Riggs, and Richard Fung.

A feature documentary exploring NYC culture through the influence of nightlife legend Susanne Bartsch.

Arshad always knew he was different. Soon after emigrating from Pakistan to Canada with his family, Arshad realized he was gay. Merging clips from Bollywood films, animation, and home movies that capture awkward teen phases as well as significant life revelations, Arshad narrates his own cathartic journey, alongside his entire family’s. With charming lyricism and a dash of good humor, director Arshad Khan shares a deeply personal story of self-discovery and familial reconciliation, as he explores the challenges that can threaten the bonds between children and their parents. ABU is an intimately open and dazzling visual memoir about the complex dynamic the filmmaker has with his father, who was at once extremely modern and also rigidly traditional and unaccepting of his son’s true self.

A closeted young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.

Koichi is a Japanese man living alone in Berlin. He has no job and hardly any friends. One night Koichi meets Ryota at a bar which is also a sex club. Ryota came to Berlin to visit a German guy whom he had “met” on a dating app. His high hopes for romance (and marriage?) were quickly crushed since the German was only interested in sex, not even letting Ryota stay for the night. That is why Ryota ended up spending the night in the dark room of the sex club.

During a hot and hazy summertime in northern Ontario, 13-year-old Bea wants a best friend more than anything else, but when she meets boisterous Kate, she gets more than she imagined. A story of bravery, small-town summer love, and the secret world of girls.

To A More Perfect Union: U.S. v Windsor is a feature-length documentary that tells a story of love, marriage and a fight for equality. The film chronicles unlikely heroes -- octogenarian Edie Windsor and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, on their quest for justice: Edie had been forced to pay a huge estate tax bill upon the death of her spouse because the federal government denied federal benefits to same-sex couples – and Edie’s spouse was a woman. Deeply offended by this lack of recognition of her more than forty-year relationship with the love of her life, Edie decided to sue the United States government – and won. Windsor and Kaplan’s legal and personal journeys are told in their own words, and through interviews with others of the legal team, movement activists, legal analysts, well-known supporters and opponents. Beyond the story of this pivotal case in the marriage equality movement and the stories behind it, the film also tells the story of our journey as a people, as a culture, and as citizens with equal rights.

Armed with a limitless Rolodex and a Benedict Canyon enclave with its own disco, Allan Carr threw the Hollywood parties that defined the 1970s. A producer, manager, and marketing genius, Carr built his bombastic reputation amid a series of successes including the mega hit musical film GREASE and the Broadway sensation LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, until it all came crashing down after he produced the notorious debacle of the 1989 Academy Awards.

Recently single, Korean-born LA artist Sophia Lee devotes herself to her public performance art, whether it’s a provocative Korean perspective in the park on the LA Riots or quirky digital art on social media. To pay the bills, she does odd jobs for TaskRabbit. When a filmmaker reaches out to discuss an acting role in his film, she is excited to explore the opportunity, only to realize he can’t distinguish between her art and her real-life identity. Meanwhile, when a stranger makes Sophia late for a TaskRabbit gig, she loses her temper with her, only to run into her repeatedly and discover a strong connection. Sophia develops feelings for her, but it’s unclear if her love is reciprocated. Played by performance artist Vivian Bang (who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Daryl Wein), Sophia is a delightfully refreshing character to watch. Emotionally open, curious, and unapologetic, Sophia’s art is fueled by unfettered self-expression. Her insatiable thirst for meaning and experience would make anyone want to follow her down the rabbit hole in this quirky, deeply felt dramedy.

Created from a treasure trove of archive, Queerama traverses a century of gay experiences, encompassing persecution and prosecution, injustice, love and desire, identity, secrets, forbidden encounters, sexual liberation and pride. The soundtrack weaves the lyrics and music of John Grant, Goldfrapp and Hercules & Love Affair with the images and guides us intimately into the relationships, desires, fears and expressions of gay men and women in the 20th century – a century of incredible change.

Pedro earns a living in chat rooms. The image resolution may not be perfect but when Pedro transforms himself into NeonBoy in front of the webcam he still manages to create the desired impression. Slowly, this young man dips his fingers into pots of coloured paint and glides them across his naked body. Glowing in the dark, NeonBoy follows his users’ commands until he agrees to meet one of them in a private chat room for money. But things change when Pedro’s sister Luiza moves out of their shared apartment and he notices that somebody is imitating his performances. He agrees to go on a date with his mysterious rival. This rendezvous will have far-reaching consequences. As with all of the previous films by directing duo Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, we find ourselves again in Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, where we encounter young queers in search of intimacy, community and security. The elegantly interwoven virtual images and protagonists’ stories may take us away from the real world, yet in actuality we remain in an increasingly homophobic Brazilian society to whose misfits this sensitive, affectionate portrait in three acts is dedicated. Description courtesy Berlinale.

In focusing his attention on the competitors of Mr Gay Syria, director Ayse Toprak shatters the one-dimensional meaning of “refugee”. Using the pageant as a means of escape from political persecution, the organiser Mahmoud — already given asylum in Berlin — hopes to offer the winner a chance to travel as well as bring international attention to the life-threatening situations faced by LGBT Syrians.

This intimate documentary is an interwoven coming of age story of seven trans young adults in the southern city of Austin, Texas.

YOU CANNOT LIVE SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE. Public Intimacy is a movie about how we deal with sexuality and love on public and private levels. The four stories of "Public Intimacy" deal with urgent and profound themes, like homofobia, prostitution, transsexuality and madness. "Public Intimacy" proposes a cinema that is focused on its characters. They struggle to become who they really are.

The unconventional life of Dr. William Marston, the Harvard psychologist and inventor who helped invent the modern lie detector test and created Wonder Woman in 1941.

Maya, a 19 year old queer pixie, gets romantically involved with her sexually fluid insta-crush and unknowingly inserts herself into a twisted love triangle.

After being neglected by her mother, a little girl is taken in by her uncle and his transgender girlfriend, who create a loving home for her.

In Paris in the early 1990s, a group of activists goes to battle for those stricken with HIV/AIDS, taking on sluggish government agencies and major pharmaceutical companies in bold, invasive actions. The organization is ACT UP, and its members, many of them gay and HIV-positive, embrace their mission with a literal life-or-death urgency. Amid rallies, protests, fierce debates and ecstatic dance parties, the newcomer Nathan (Valois) falls in love with Sean (Biscayart), the group’s radical firebrand, and their passion sparks against the shadow of mortality as the activists fight for a breakthrough. Simultaneously a period-piece, a heartbreaking love story, a medical drama, and an activist procedural, BPM is one of the most emotionally gripping films of the year. Undeniably powerful in its ability to connect with the viewer on multiple levels, Campillo doesn’t shy away from the messy details of life, sex, death, or parliamentary procedure but he marries the bad times to transcendent moments of cinematic bliss.

Billie #hatesherjob and quits mere months before getting married. She meets a ragtag group of women also looking for employment, and finds herself juggling her upcoming wedding with launching a new tech start-up.

Trisha, a Filipino transgender woman, suddenly dies while being crowned in a beauty pageant. Her last wish was to be presented as a different celebrity on each night of her wake.

An exploratory journey highlighting the largely unrecognized yet hugely vibrant Pan European feminist movement that is very much alive today, from Turkey to Portugal, by the way of the Balkans, to Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Invited to present his first feature film « My life with James Dean » in Normandy, the young director Géraud Champreux has no idea this film tour is about to change his life. From wild stampedes to woeful screenings, from trawler trips to drunken evenings, Géraud ends up finding inspiration in this unlikely town at the end of the earth.

Sophia Pinsky is doing just fine: she has a job, an apartment, and a girlfriend. That is, until her girlfriend breaks up with her and her grandfather dies on the same day. As her life starts to unravel, Sophia moves back in with her overbearing Russian-Jewish grandmother in the Boston suburbs. When her grandmother reveals that not only is she dating again but she's in love with the family's rabbi, Sophia is pitted grandmother in a struggle to define loyalty and love, all while trying to become a "real adult," once and for all.

Wayward Canadian, Matthew, crushed by the isolation of being new to Berlin, turns his sexual desires toward Matthias that spiral into a dark fixation of assumed identity. Soon, this obsessive power struggle between the two, careens toward brutal passion and violence in a bid for dominance. M/M is a film of unique contrasts. Hot queer bodies entangled together, but against the drab, heavy grey sky of Berlin. Extreme explorations of identity and desire, but with an underlying familiarity. Surreal, but completely grounded in truth and naturalistic vibes. Pulsing techno that draws you in and washes over you. Director Drew Lint and his team have created something unbelievably fresh here - a film that must be experienced to be understood. Description courtesy Slamdance Film Festival

A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and was distinguished by its discontent with society's disapproval of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender communities.Interviewees discuss homophobia, gender, feminism, AIDS, assimilation, sex, and, of course, art. The extensive participant list includes Bruce LaBruce, G.B. Jones, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, John Waters, Justin Vivian Bond, Lynn Breedlove, Silas Howard, Pansy Division, Penny Arcade, Kathleen Hanna, Kim Gordon, Deke Elash, Tom Jennings, Team Dresch, and many more.

Just after Isidore moves to France to study filmmaking, his best friend dies back in the US. Through documentary, performance, and animation, a ghostly portrait emerges, prompting Isidore to question his relationships with his parents and his boyfriend in Paris. Isidore Bethel's film is a haunting meditation on loss, love, and the ability to move on in the face of tragedy.

Eva and Kat enjoy a carefree existence on their houseboat on a London canal. Until Eva's dream of becoming a mother is reignited by the death of their pet. Kat just wants to get a new cat. But when Kat's best friend, Roger, visits from Barcelona, they decide in a moment of drunkenness that he can be Eva's sperm donor. But what are the consequences for the lesbian couple, the biological father, the child and their relationships with one another?

A poet in his late 30s, who has spent all his life in Jeju Island, lives off his sturdy wife. Despite his wife's constant nagging about his inability as a breadwinner, all he does is thinking about and writing poetry. One day, the poet meets a teenage boy working at a donut shop and helplessly develops feelings he has never had before.

The music. The spectacle. The grace. The costumes. Ballroom dance is enjoying a renaissance here in America, as well as abroad, embraced by everyone from grandparents to grad students. Ballroom hoofing has even become a widespread competitive event, dubbed dancesport. But there’s one form of this storytelling-in-motion that is not seen in mainstream venues: same-sex couple dancing. Yet it too is surging in popularity, remaking lives and bodies, along with popular culture and gender politics.

In this new restoration of the iconic New Queer Cinema classic, Derek Jarman offers a postmodern take on Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan drama. Pleasure-seeking King Edward II sets the stage for a palace revolt by taking as a lover the ambitious Piers Gaveston – who uses his favor in bed to wield political influence – sending the gay pair from the throne to a terminal torture dungeon. This landmark of gay cinema features an incredible performance from Jarman muse and Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton as Edward’s spurned Queen Isabella and a rare film appearance by singer Annie Lennox.

Article 18 of the Polish Constitution talks about the protection of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. This fact has been used as a weapon by those in Poland who are opposed to formalizing same-sex unions. After a quarter century of freedom, not only are same-sex marriages still prohibited, but there hasn’t been any sort of regulation of civil unions whatsoever. In his film, Bartosz Staszewski tries to find out why this is the case. In addition to giving a voice to activists and experts, he creates a portrait of gay and lesbian couples and raises awareness among the wider public about the kind of problems that this sort of systemic discrimination creates for them. How it fundamentally negates their right to a decent and safe life. And how much it says about contemporary Poland. This first film chronicle about the debate on same-sex relationships in Poland was financed by individual contributions. While it is entirely apolitical, it painfully exposes the lack of substance in Polish politics.

From the filmmakers of That's Not Us comes a new feature about relationship and commitment. When Sarah accidentally proposes to her girlfriend in Provincetown, she finds herself at odds with her partner's expectations of their future. The mixup sends both women on different journeys of marital exploration. Sarah, a documentary filmmaker, begins interviewing same-sex couples in an attempt to overcome her fear of divorce. Kristen, who's ready to tie the knot, sees a future version of her life with Sarah where career and passion threaten to pull the women apart. Integrating interviews with real couples, The Ring Thing explores the intimate constructs of marriage and what it means to be committed - to your partner and to yourself.

A collection of some of the most fun, strange, bizarre, and challenging films submitted to the festival this year.