Queer Sarajevo Festival 2008 – (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2009)

Queer Sarajevo Festival 2008 – Documentary (in Bosnian w. English subtitles)

The first Queer Sarajevo Festival (QSF) was scheduled to take place from September 24-28, 2008, in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The „city of tolerance and multiculture” framed the QSF as a „faggot’s provocation” and its organizers as „imported scum activists”. The government, subtly and verbally, hooligans and wahhabis, brutally and physically, stood on the same side – against the festival. The police was somewhere in between. QSF was opened leaving a dozen of people injured. Although it did not continue, it remains open, questioning the very nature of democracy in BiH.

The First Queer Sarajevo Festival (QSF) was organized by Organization Q. The aim of the QSF was to present ‘life stories’ of LGBTIQ persons – their daily lives, loves, relationships, friendships, families, activism, fears, and all other ‘life matters’ and questions with which LGBTIQ persons are confronted. In order to include queer theory, art and culture into Sarajevo cultural mainstream scene, Festival’s organizational team prepared five day program, including exhibitions, films (documentary and featured), round tables, and performances.

Imagined as safe and free space, based on the principles of freedom, non-violence, self-definition and self-identification, Festival was publicly opened on 24th of September at the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although protests against QSF were evident before its scheduled date, physical violence against the QSF, guests and organizers ensued at the opening ceremony. Violence was orchestrated and caused by several individuals and organized groups around the Academy as well as kilometers away. Minimum of ten persons was injured during that night, while the organizational team became a target of hate speech and threats received constantly a month before and after the opening of the Festival.

Although the program of QSF was not implemented, the Festival itself was never officially closed, turning itself into a political struggle against violence, nationalism and fundamentalism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the period from September 4th to October 3rd, 2008, Organization Q has filed twenty charges to the police authorities against NN persons who have participated in violence against guests and organizers of QSF.

Only two indictments have been raised thus far. The investigation is, allegedly, still under way.

Authors – Maša Hilčišin and Ćazim Dervišević
Producer – Organization Q (2009)
Donors – Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in BiH, Embassy of Switzerland in BiH, Canadian Embassy in BiH, Global Fund for Women, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Urgent Action Fund, OffStream, Heart and Hand Fund, and COC HIVOS.

Organization Q thanks all individuals, as well as local and international organizations who have publicly supported Queer Sarajevo Festival and the rule of law and human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Yo soy asi – (Chile, 2004)

I Am Who I AM

„While legal freedoms for transgender persons have been granted in many countries, it’s important to remember that transphobia persists around the globe. This film takes place in Chile and is the story of Karina, a transgender woman who talks about her struggles in becoming and being a man in a culture of machismo and homophobia. Despite her struggles and with the support of her straight partner, Karina emerges as a powerful and independent individual.”

(…) All Karina Parra wants is to lead the life of an ordinary 27-year-old woman. But, as filmmaker Joui Turandot explains, a normal life for a transgender person in Chile is no easy task. „Transgendered people are almost always rejected by their families and end up on the streets. Basic human rights and opportunities do not apply.” Many of them, says Turandot, become child prostitutes, and many who have mainstream jobs often lose their jobs as soon as they assume a female identity and are then forced into prostitution to survive.

Turandot spent a year studying in Santiago, where she was surprised to find a visible community of transvestite prostitutes in a society characterized by overt homophobia. With her film, she wanted to explore what it was like to be transgender in a fiercely Catholic and conservative country such as Chile.

„It’s difficult for transgenders to make it as professionals. They are often condemned to dwell at the margins of society,” says Turandot. „With few exceptions, Chilean universities will not accept openly transgendered students, and the best schools often expel male pupils who come to school dressed as a woman.”

In this revealing personal portrait, Karina talks to the camera with a disarming frankness as she takes you through her daily life and early struggles, not to mention her physical and mental journey toward femininity. She says she is one of the lucky ones, having survived a childhood on the streets without resorting to prostitution.

„I left home when I was 10, so I learned a lot of things and I became aware of everything,” Karina says. „I was never stupid. Back then I knew that if I dressed like a woman, I would have had to prostitute myself. But I don’t like prostitution. So I asked myself, ‘What can I do?’ Work. And I started selling dish towels.”

Today, she runs her own hair salon and is in a committed relationship with a longtime partner.

Chile has been rated as one of the freest nations in conservative Latin America – the country elected its first female president in January, socialist Michelle Bachelet, who advocates for much greater tolerance in Chile – but it is still criticized for its rigid class structure. And in this class-obsessed society, the only people lower than the indigenous peoples are those in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities – sectors of the population many Chileans prefer to ignore. Compounding the prejudice, transgendered Chileans are often shunned by gay, lesbian and bisexual Chileans.

As a hairdresser, Karina earns 2,000 pesos – about US$4 – for each haircut. Prostitutes earn 10,000 pesos or more for each sexual encounter. Yet for Karina, self-respect has been enough to keep her on track. Turandot says that although Karina would like to travel outside the country, she is not permitted to as long as she is legally „a man living as a woman.” Ironically, with sex change surgery – a lengthy, painful and expensive procedure she may never be able to afford – she could qualify for a passport.

(text: Joelle Jaffe
Associate Producer)

 

Amos Gutman, Filmmaker – (Israel, 1997)

Amos Guttman  s-a născut pe 10 mai 1954, în Transilvania, România. Emigrează împreună cu familia în Israel la vârsta de 7 ani. A studiat cinematografia la Beit Zvi. Moare pe 16 februarie 1993 ca urmare a complicaţiilor provocate de SIDA. În scurta sa carieră de regizor a realizat 4 lung-metraje şi 3 scurt-metraje

Director Ran Kotzer documents the life of an Israeli cinematographer in AMOS GUTMAN, FILMMAKER (1997). This film was featured in the 1998 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

„From 1977 to his untimely death in 1993, Amos Gutman directed six films, all of them deeply personal reflections of his own life. Interviews with lovers, family and friends–including some of the most important people in Israeli cinema–tell the gripping story of a strikingly handsome, charismatic and deeply passionate gay man who has become a revered cult figure in Israeli cinema. Interviews with the late filmmaker and fascinating footage of him on the set convey the same passion that comes through in scenes from his films, lovingly selected by documentarian Ran Kotzer. Like Fellini, Gutman transformed his dreams and everyday conversations with friends and family into integral parts of his pictures. He is most remarkable for his striking and original use of the frame. Every shot is a treasure. Amos Gutman dared to portray subjects that were taboo in his society, and his search for the right of individual expression is the connecting link of his works.”

Between 1977 and 1982 directed three short films: A Safe Place, Returning Premiers, and Drifting. In 1983 he directed his feature debut, Drifting (no relation to the earlier short film). He then directed three feature films: Bar 51 (1985), Himmo Melech Yerushalaim (1987), and Amazing Grace (1992). Guttman was homosexual, and most of his films (except Himmo Melech Yerushalaim, a film about the Israeli War of Independence, based on a story by Yoram Kaniuk) were about homosexual experience and AIDS. Many Israeli players made breakthrough performances in Guttman’s films, including Jonathan Sagall, Alon Abutbul, Sharon Alexander, Aki Avni, and Rivka Michaeli. Guttman was part of a group of young Israeli directors who called for quality films at the expense of commercial cinema. While he was an active director, He created a rich and stylish cinematic language, providing a unique sound. His films were notable for his attention to the visual and his distinct content. Guttman died in Tel Aviv in 1993 of AIDS, the subject of his last film, Amazing Grace. He was buried in the Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv. (text wikipedia)

 

Stage left – (USA, 2012)

O istorie a teatrului şi a trupelor de teatru experimental, gay, politic, pacifist în San Francisco – perioada 1950-2011. 

(film documentar în lb. engleză fără subtitrare în lb. română)

„On any given day in the last 50 years, someone in the Bay Area might attend a performance for a theatrical political protest, a bacchanalian festival, a humorous satire, a surrealist manifesto, a gay fantasia, or perhaps all of the above. Stage Left traces the evolution of this rich culture, including the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop, which premiered and staged works by the most avant-garde playwrights of its day; the San Francisco Mime Troupe with its long history of political engagement; the Magic Theatre’s fruitful relationship with playwright Sam Shepard; El Teatro Campesino, the world’s first Chicano theater; the Cockettes and Theater Rhinoceros, who reveled in alternative and gay culture; the groundbreaking experimentation in the 70s and 80s of George Coates, Soon 3, Snake Theater, The Blake Street Hawkeyes, and Antenna Theater; and the world premiere of Angels in America at the Eureka Theater in 1991.”

documentary aired on KQED Truly CA Season 8

 

 

STAGE LEFT: A STORY OF THEATER IN SAN FRANCISCO profiling the likes of El Teatro Campesino, the Cockettes, and Theater Rhinoceros.

 

It Came from Kuchar – (USA, 2009)

It Came from Kuchar (film documentar în lb. engleză fără subtitrare)

** aired on KQED Truly CA Season 8

By the 1960s, twins George and Mike Kuchar were shaping the underground film scene alongside Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger. It Came from Kuchar interweaves the brother’s lives, their admirers and a ‘greatest hits’ of Kuchar clips into a hilarious and moving tale. A film by Jennifer Kroot.

„It Came From Kuchar” is a film about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, George and Mike Kuchar. As kids in the 1950s, George and Mike began making no-budget 8mm epics in their Bronx neighborhood, starring friends and family. In the 1960s the Kuchars became part of Warhol’s New York, underground film scene. The Kuchar brother’s films have inspired many prominent filmmakers, including John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Guy Maddin and Wayne Wang.

Twins Who Are as Eccentric as the Movies They Made

 

Johnny & Lyman: A Life Together (World’s Longest Gay Relationship) – (USA, 2010)

Johnny & Lyman: A Life Together (World’s Longest Gay Relationship)

„Viaţa împreună  pentru 63 de ani a lui Johnny cu Lyman… istoria emoţionantă a unui cuplu masculin gay.”

The documentary profiles the relationship of two men who enjoyed perhaps the longest term gay relationship ever recorded (65 years). They lived together through tremendous social change—who met the day WWII ended, and since then, have never parted. As an art director and film editor, they worked in film, television, and on Broadway. Their historical perspectives span pre-Stonewall to present, providing fascinating insights into how much has changed for GLBT people. After 63 years of committed life together, we are privileged to watch them obtain a marriage license and legally marry, and watch the community honor and recognize their life together. They share their insights on monogamy and commitment with disarming candor and insight. Their touching story offers a universal message that resonates with audiences and illuminates some of the many complex facets of the GLBT experience. Their edifying story is their legacy to dispel stereotypes and to help change hearts and minds, moving our nation forward towards providing equality for all its members.

**Click bellow on the link to see the video

SCREENINGS AND AWARDS:
1. San Diego Film Festival, Sept. 29–Oct. 3, 2010
2. Long Beach Q Film Festival, Oct. 8–10, 2010
3. Reeling 29: Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, Nov. 4–13, 2010
*** (Second Place, Audience Award for Short Film)***
4. Indianapolis GLBT Film Festival, Nov. 12–14, 2010
5. Des Moines Social Club, Des Moines, IA March 15, 2011
6. Love Unlimited Film Festival, Venice Beach, California, April 15–18, 2011
*** (Honorable Mention, Short Film)***
7. Out Film 24: Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Hartford, CT May 26–June 4, 2011
8. Out Takes 2011: Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand, May 26–June 12 2011
9. Out Film: The Kentucky LGBT International Film Festival, Covington, KY, June 4, 2011
*** (Audience Choice Award, Short Film)***
*** (Special Jury Prize for Inspiring Hope and Education)***
10. Frameline 35: San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, June 16–26, 2011
11. Palm Springs International Shortfest, Palm Springs, California, June 21–27, 2011
*** (Audience Favorite Documentary Short)***
12. Rhode Island International Film Festival, Providence, Aug. 9–14, 2011
*** (Honorable Mention, Best Documentary Short)***
13. FilmOut: San Diego LGBT Film Festival, Aug. 19–28, 2011
14. Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, Austin, TX Sept. 6–12, 2011
15. Flickers North Country Film Festival, Brattleboro, VT October 2011
16. Eau Queer Film Festival, Eau Claire, WI Oct. 13–16 2011
17. Pittsburgh Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Oct. 14–23, 2011
18. Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, Oct. 14–23, 2011
19. LesGaiCineMad, Madrid Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Madrid, Spain Nov. 3–13, 2011
20. Spokane Film Festival, Spokane, WA Nov. 4–6, 2011
21. Out in the Desert: Tucson International LGBT Film Festival, Tucson, AZ Feb. 17–26, 2012
22. Jamestown Arts Center RIFF Encore Screenings, Jamestown, RI Feb. 2012
23. CinHomo Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain, March 20, 2012
24. Cleveland 36th International Film Festival, Cleveland, OH March 22–April 1, 2012
*** (Honorable Mention, Best Short Film)***
25. American Academy of Religion Western Region Annual Conference, Santa Clara, CA March 28, 2012
26. Torino GLBT Film Festival, Turin, Italy April 19–25, 2012
27. Southern Maine Pride Festival, Portland, ME June 15, 2012
28. Birmingham SHOUT Film Festival, Birmingham, AL August 25–26, 2012
29. Llamale H International Film Festival, Montevideo, Uruguay, Sept. 1–8, 2012
30. North Louisiana Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Shreveport, LA Sept. 7–12, 2012