The section presents 9 animated short films in collab with Fest Anča.
In nature, a couple is a male and a female. Well, not always! A couple is also a female and a female. Or a male and a male. You may not know it, but homosexuality isn't just a human story.
For 18-year-old Finnish–Kosovan Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public. Luckily his best friend Rai, a young woman on the spectrum of autism, is there to ferociously support him through the voyage.
A dip, a shablam, a death drop is when a dancer strikes a pose and dramatically falls on their back. The higher the fall, the spicier the dip. The story follows Shesa Quinn dipping from the top of a skyscraper.
While non-binary representations are rare, Lou talks about their relationship to gender, clothes, and other markers.
An ordinary neighbourhood in an ordinary town. Two women sit on a sofa and scratch their pregnant bellies. Four days till the due date. The situation is as unbearable as it is unavoidable. It’s simply intolerable. Masturbation isn’t an option, the clitoris can’t even be reached, and the boyfriend is absent, but he’s boring anyway. The only advantage in having another child is that one no longer has to play with the first one.
Two friends talk about their relationships. In between polyamory and politics, they only let their love decide.
While transitioning from male gender to female, Matia struggles with finding a sincere intimate relationship with a heterosexual male.
An animated film that presents a journey of a queer person where he explores his sexuality and the queer community; the film illustrates an observation of the modern queer society and fantasies toward the freedom of gender fluidity. This work is to reflect the real situation of the community where discriminations, freedom, and love coexist.
Confused by the whole world and his own body, a teenager is forced to discover in a strange way the truth about his sexual identity by confronting his other half.
Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett shines in the titular role of Lydia Tár, one of the world’s most famous conductors. Tár is a powerful character study of someone who realizes that conducting a huge orchestra can, paradoxically, be much simpler than conducting one’s own life. Conductor Lydia Tár is at the height of her creative powers. She is in her seventh year of conducting a prestigious German orchestra, planning to publish a book, and preparing a performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony that is expected to be the peak of this concert season. Lydia comes across as confident, self-assured, dominant and powerful. But under this seemingly solid mask hides an ordinary human being, complete with fears, insecurities, desires and needs. With her conductor’s baton in hand, Lydia stands by her every decision, but when she leaves the orchestra stage, she often feels the earth start to shake beneath her feet. Sometimes just slightly, but at other times downright fatefully.
 @sydwonphotography.jpg)
Vicky, a strange and solitary little girl, has a magical gift: she can reproduce any scent she likes, and collects them in a series of carefully labelled jars. She has secretly captured the scent of Joanne, her mother for whom she nurtures a wild, excessive love. When her father’s sister Julia bursts into their life, Vicky reproduces her smell and is transported into dark and archaic memories which lead her to uncover the secrets of her village, her family and her own existence.
Ren, a young transgender woman in her mid 20s who accompanies her family on a vacation, during which she is torn between her desire to establish her independence and the comfort of retreating back into being taken care of by other people.
This story of devastating love plays out during China's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. René Gallimard works at the French embassy in Beijing. One night, while watching an opera performance for diplomats, he is enchanted by an aria from Puccini's famous opera Madame Butterfly. Transfixed by the Chinese M. Butterfly and obsessed with the notion of Asian women as loyal, humble, delicate and chaste, he begins the most fateful romantic adventure of his life.
In this exceptional film from Canadian provocateur David Cronenberg, Jeremy Irons and John Lone excel in the starring roles. We present the film to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its release.
The selection presents 6 darkly tuned films, which can even evoke a horror atmosphere at times.
Gabriel, young father in a relationship, leads a double life. It is through a dedicated application and the pseudonym «Scred TBM» that he is brought to live a part of his sexuality in secrecy. He scrupulously organizes his meetings in order to never be unmasked, but everything changes the day he meets a new profile.
Two strangers are scared on a late walk home. As they try to escape one another, their worlds collide at an intersection forcing them to question who they're afraid of and why.
A weekend retreat with his partner turns sinister for social media influencer Adrian when he is pursued by an online stalker.
A nightmare in reverie: five young queer people are admitted into a clinic to undergo conversion therapy. Enduring several different and harrowing methods to change their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, the sterile space of abject trauma struggles to suppress the abundance and beauty of queer love.
.jpg)
Scenes of Soul and Body is a minimalistic adventure of a first intimate encounter. Max goes on a date with a stranger, where he experiences new sensations beyond the limit of reality. Will he leave as the same person that came?
Wen, an insecure transfer student dislikes her disapproving mother, and vows to be nothing like her. When Wen is bullied at school, she meets a cool school girl Jo who avenges her. Wen becomes infatuated with Jo and follows her down a rabbit hole
Baptiste is in a relationship with Samia when he first meets Cookie Kunty, a young drag queen from the Parisian scene who immediately mesmerizes him. Initially motivated by the idea of a photography project revolving around Cookie, he immerses himself into this world, eventually embarking upon a relationship with Quentin, the young man behind the drag queen.
Helena, is about to give birth and face a rosy future in a modern city, as the pregnant wife of an important factory manager. However, all her illusions soon perish, as the dead body of a newborn intersex baby is found in the middle of their factory. Helena needs to find out what happened here for the safety of her own child, but she runs into her own prejudices.
Language: Slovak/Czech
In their masterclass, screenwriter Miro Šifra and director Matěj Chlupáček will give attendees a guided tour of the making of their latest film, We Have Never Been Modern. The film was premiered at the Karlovy Vary IFF and, despite being set in the 1930s, continues to be highly relevant today.
Helena, is about to give birth and face a rosy future in a modern city, as the pregnant wife of an important factory manager. However, all her illusions soon perish, as the dead body of a newborn intersex baby is found in the middle of their factory. Helena needs to find out what happened here for the safety of her own child, but she runs into her own prejudices.
Feña, a young trans guy bustling through life in New York City, is faced with an increasingly challenging day. Over 24 hours, his foreign father, his straight ex-boyfriend, and his 13-year old half-sister are thrust back into his life. Having lost touch since transitioning, Feña mustnavigate the new dynamics of these old relationships while tackling the day-to-day challenges that come with living a life inbetween.
Selection of queer Shorts from Ukraine presented by Bohdan Zhuk, the director of the Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ film festival SUNNY BUNNY.
Two queer people meet on a train and spontaneously decide to get out in Kyiv and spend the day together. They hear explosions while talking about intimacy and tenderness. They share thoughts about living in this cruel reality. They share their pain. Their youth was stolen from them. Can they still feel something other than pain?
Max and Artem are roommates. Artem was expelled from the university and he is going home tomorrow. Will the last word be said? Does it even make sense?
Simeiz is a small village on the southern coast of Crimea, which is temporarily occupied by Russia. In the Soviet era, an underground gay resort arose in the village. It started with a small nudist beach, then a popular bar and a nightclub called Hedgehogs appeared later in independent Ukraine.
This is a story about the capital of the country in which a full-scale war is taking place, but life in all its manifestations does not stop. The film itself looks like a high-speed drive through Kyiv at dawn, seized in one shot. What will happen when the car stops?
Subversive collective Rebel Queers defies the suffocating heteronormative and patriarchal world. When their country and community came under attack, they resolved to document the experiences of queer Ukrainians during wartime - collecting queer soldiers’ reflections after a year of war and broadening the focus to include other forms of queer resistance.