PRIDE Month sees a whole host of queer Film Festivals being mounted around the globe. The first one out of the gate is the 18th Edition of XPOSED in Berlin which kicks off on May 30th and runs through to June 2nd. It was, and still is, very much a passion project as it celebrates queer film in all its forms : glory. shame, distaste, trash and beauty.
When you look through their the eclectic program you can clearly see that is made by people who enjoy making festivals, who enjoy queer films, filmmakers and queer Berlin. XPOSED has built itself with the aim of creating entertaining, odd, left of centre queer film programs that also in turn create further exposure for queer filmmakers on the global queer festival circuit and beyond.
Plus here are some of our fav picks of MUST SEE MOVIES at this year’s XPOSED
Agniia Galdanova’s extraordunary documentary QUEENDOM …… a rare queer film from Russia …w is the story of Jenna, a queer artist from a small town in Russia, who stages radical performances in public that become a new form of art and activism ..Using drag as both a personal expression and a political statement, Jenna challenges the status quo and protests against the oppressive Russian government and their involvement in the war in Ukraine. Jenna fearlessly confronts injustice, even at the risk of arrest.
Queer Greek Filmmaker Fil Ieropoulus his second feature film AVANT DRAG. sticks to the subject of queer rights which in the present political climate is more urgent than ever: he follows ten drag performers who find solace in each other as they rebel against their oppressive reality and those who control it. As the title indicates, these are not those Queens who are just about makeup, wig, or dress that the ubiquitous Ru Paul insists on. Thank God
Whilst the film focuses on how the queens must deal with the different (mainly hostile) reactions they evoke just going out in public, it fails to mention how (more straight-acting) members of the LGBTQ community equally hate them. It challenges their perceptions of how we should all behave in public. Whether they be self-hating queers ….. or just merely pretentious …… it doesn’t help them ‘pass ‘ in society, hence their anger. I have to confess by the closing scenes when all the queens get to have a rather unruly dinner together, I am completely both in awe and in love with them.
This is a MUST-SEE film to support those on the front line fighting for the rights that we will all benefit from in the end
From Indian filmmaker Afrad Vk comes RIPTIDE a heartfelt romance concerning, two college students who are very close friends with a mutual love of literature. At first we see them reading aloud from famous works, such as poems by Neruda, during their reading sessions. But this soon develops into having intimate moments to fulfill their inner desires.
What drewus in was seeing the reality of difficulties of being in a same-sex relationship in India in the late 1980s. Looking at Charlie and Suku together, we see two young men who love each other unconditionally. but however prior to India’s legalizing homosexuality it was nigh on impossible to be openly gay, and the effects of closeting in public take a real toll on the couple
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XPOSED: Queer FILM FEST Berlin
will begin on 5/30 and
end on 6/2. To see the whole
program and book tickets check out https://xposedfilmfestival.com/2024/
for full reviews on over 1800 queer films check out www.queerguru.com and whilst you are there be sure to subscribe to get all the latest raves and rants on queer cinema ...best of all its FREE
