If being in isolation is becoming, lets us politely say, a bit predictable then it is time to have a few slices of the sideways looks at the world offered in this latest series of shorts.
It does not contain the kind of surprises that will sit you bolt up from your coronavirus sofa slouch. Rather, in the unusual circumstances we all find ourselves in, it contains a reminder that the world is always full of lives, emotions, stories and identities that veer slightly off the expected track.
Director & Writer: Jamieson Pearce
Country: Australia
Language: Greek/English
A mother who demanded of her child ‘Are you a man or not?’ is left hunting gay sex shops after his overdose to find evidence of the man her porn actor son became. Actor and director artfully make it impossible to tell whether she is driven by grief or shame.
Director & Writer: Anthony Schatteman
Country: Belgium
Language: Dutch
It’s hard to do right by your kid when you are a single parent. And if you are Arthur, a sick drag queen balancing babysitting with performing in a club then there are even more challenges. When the slacking mother turns up to spend time with the kid Arthur faces a battle between resentment and kindness.
Director: Wes Hurley, Nathan M. Miller
Country: USA
Language: English
Hugely enjoyable documentary style autobiography of a kid born in the Soviet Union whose open-minded mother weds a Christian fundamentalist via mail order to secure a life in the West. When the husband comes out as trans the practical mom believes she can stick with it but is in the end defeated by their demanding behavior “Transgender was fine with me. But not the karaoke. Nobody wants karaoke every night”
Director & Writer: Tavo Ruiz
Country: Mexico
Language: Spanish
It is hard to get a handle on this tale of teen angst until you realize that it must have been inspired in part by Beyonce’s “If I were a boy” video. When the perspectives shift it all clicks and you see the different sides of a teen’s first love.
Director: Hakim Mastour
Country: Tunisia / Switzerland
Language: Arabic
Who doesn’t love a twist? To make his family happy Malik is set to marry Halima and leave behind his real love Fouad. It seems like a familiar tale of boy meets boy, boy marries girl, girl draws the short straw. But is it?
Director & Writer: Jared Joven, Kaj Palanca
Country: Philippines
Language: Filipino
Retreating into your past can stop you from moving with the world. A friendship between a young gay man and an older one allows the first to embrace his identity and the other to embrace change.
Social distancing is the perfect time to be reminded that what we think of as normal is just the set of circumstances we have been in most recently. Seeing Is Believing is a great accompaniment as our perspective gets a little stretch.
Review by Andrew HebdenQueerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.
