Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest

A week-long celebration of queer film & arts with discussions, workshops, parties and more across East London.

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Finding queerness in nature and the animal-world

Molly Moss

Queers have long sought to reconnect with nature as an act of protest in a dominant culture that says we are unnatural and don’t belong. Othered by society, we’ve long found ourselves empathising with animals, plants, trees, mountains and rivers.

Sound crazy to you? This year’s Fringe programme has a perfect selection for the earth-based queer community and animal-lovers out there. Both ‘The Whisper of the Jaguar’ and ‘Swedish Candy, Some Violence and a bit of Cat’ use themes related to nature and the animal-world to get messages across about what it means to be natural, and what it means to belong.

Thais Guisasola and Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau’s ‘The Whisper of the Jaguar’ is a queer-punk road movie following the story of Ana as she journeys across the Amazon in the footsteps of her late queer Brazilian sister. Under the influence of various sacred hallucinogens and medicinal plants, and guided by the Amazon’s shamans who open the door to the underworld, Ana reconnects with an earthy queerness. Her journey proves to be sexually, spiritually and culturally liberating as she recovers her pre-colonial and queer authentic self.

During one of Ana’s trance states, she has a vision of her sister wishing she could be a jaguar, and transform into the animal-world with which she could empathise and connect her queerness. In Ana and her sister’s world, queerness becomes a sort of fluidity and limitlessness, and a freedom too strange to be othered. It becomes a decolonising structure. Queerness becomes a sexuality, a gender and a landscape: a place full of possibilities of a boundless world.

Ana eventually comes to terms with the loss of her sister, realizing that our impermanence is the key to life. In Ana’s words, (re)discovering ‘nature as something that surpasses us. If we become, we surrender.’

Queerness, like nature, is something that should be eternal, but that continues to be threatened. Thais and Paetau track the environmental destruction of the Amazonian forest by GMO crops and monocultures. An end to biodiversity would, of course, also mean an end to medicinal plants and hallucinogens.

The film challenges the false divisions between different species, encouraging co-existence, fluidity and empathy between nature, animals and humans.

Ester Martin Bergsmark’s latest surreal, comical and uncategorizable film ‘Swedish Candy, Some Violence and a Bit of Cat’ also questions what it means to be natural, but this time with whispers from a much smaller cat— the tabby from next door. If you like your queer film to be a challenge, pretty dark and a little fucked up, then this one’s for you.

Bergsmark interweaves three different elements: as little girls chew gelatinous sweets and poke at a dead cat in the forest, performance artists Eva Johansson and Louise Lowenberg portray lesbian cousins whose Tarzan and Jane routine sees the two dance around their desire for each other. And all this while a man in an apron takes us through the modes of gelatin production with a creepy smile. This seems random as hell at first. But, by showing us that gelatin is made from the natural bonds in animal body parts, he makes us ask: where is the line between what is natural and what is man-made?

The cousin’s attempts to come to terms with their queerness, desire for each other and to figure out where they belong ends in tragedy. If their set of model trees, green ikea furniture and rendition of Jane and Tarzan— a story of otherness— is an attempt to reconnect with the natural and find where they belong, then it fails spectacularly.

Between the four walls, love seeps into hate, attraction becomes repulsion, and their psychotic, co-dependent relationship spirals into disaster as they realise they can’t just be ‘normal’ cousins.

Featuring a lot of vodka and a melon-(and cat)-shaped disaster, the film asks whether right and wrong is as simple as society makes out, and why we label things as unnatural just because the dominant narrative tells us to do so.

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Soufiane Ababri asks hard questions

Soufiane Ababri’s art deals with contradiction. It can be sweet, funny and hopeful. But it comes from a perspective of marginalisation and pain - and asks the viewer hard questions.

So when I found out that he was coming to London to show for the first time - the exhibition is now on at SPACE, as part of this year’s Fringe! Festival - I couldn’t have been happier.

My first encounter with the Paris- and Tangier-based artist had been pretty unforgettable. I’d caught his show at the Praz-Delavallade gallery in Paris earlier in the year. There, the walls were painted pink, with selfie-friendly mirrors separating his small drawings.

These are Ababri’s Bed Works, which, as the name suggests, are drawn in bed. They show gay couples and naked men, mostly at home - cooking dinner, having sex, lazing around. Most of these men have north African roots, like the artist. But they live in Europe. As he told SPACE: “The fact that I belong to several groups, namely: immigrant, homosexual, brown skinned, and being part of a post-colonial generation, allows or gives me the opportunity to see things differently!”

As I walked around the Paris gallery, I couldn’t get the Delacroix retrospective, which I’d seen at the Louvre across town the day before, out of my head. Ababri’s show seemed like an effective riposte to the 19th century Romantic giant’s patronising and reductive depiction of Arab women as recumbant, exotic, sexually available - on absolutely enormous canvases. These brown skinned men, depicted in modest materials on A4 paper, shared similar effeminate poses. But their agency had been restored. They tend to be smiling - and blushing. They’re in on the joke.

In the London show, the time for jokes is over. Ababri draws on his artist predecessors, with the mural on the wall owing an obvious debt to Keith Haring. (He’s also cited Orientalists like Delacroix, along with Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Bruce Nauman, that mid-century master of the hostile artistic gesture, as influences.) But his subject matter for ‘This is a Strange and Bitter Crop’ is darker and angrier than anything Haring ever did.

The title of the exhibition itself links the 30s civil rights anthem Strange Fruit, sung by Billie Holliday and evoking lynchings in the deep south, and the suicide by hanging of Justin Fashanu - Britain’s first out gay footballer, who faced a deluge of race-infused homophobic hatred after going public with his sexuality.

Even the series of drawings are harder-edged than those I saw in Paris. Their source material is online porn, and they show groups and pairs of deliberately depersonalised men in various sex acts. In the context of the exhibition space (which also includes a quote from a speech by Malcolm X, and a cage) the viewer feels complicit in the fetishisation of black bodies. The darker-skinned guys in the drawings are big, muscular tops. They’re blushing - but maybe more in shame than in pleasure.

“The artist is interested in how the role of dominance penetrates and contaminates the history of representation,” adds art historian James Smalls in an essay accompanying the show. “The simplicity of these images manage to rebuke and subvert hierarchies of repression and control.”

And those colourful drawings in Paris? While I was seduced by the sweet domestic scenes, they were also packing a political punch. “I go back to Tangier regularly for work purposes and I’m sure this must play a role in my colour choices,” Ababri tells an interviewer. “But I also intend to use the colours to seduce the viewer into uncovering the history of violence and the mechanisms of control that have been used against ethnic and sexual minorities.”

Further, the fact that the men are portrayed at home, comfortably in bed (just like the artist) shouldn’t reassure the viewer too much. “It was a question of privileging a relationship with domesticity, intimacy, the fact of approaching and problematizing relations of domination without using an authoritarian language or vocabulary,” Ababri adds.

With this latest London show, the artist brings his angry rejection of the political status quo front and centre. We are challenged, again and again: whose bodies are we looking at, and why?

Hard questions for any viewer to answer. Try to answer them for yourself by visiting this great exhibition.

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Lessons from La terremoto

It’s hard to give joy to others. But moments of joy in the midst of daily hardship are exactly what’s on offer from the 26 de Diciembre foundation.

This Madrid-based LGBT charity for elderly people is the subject of the deeply bittersweet and inspiring documentary of the same name - showing as part of Fringe! on Sunday November 18 at Hackney House.

The charity’s residents have had a past of social repression and imprisonment, and face present-day economic hardship and marginalisation. So how does the foundation - and its volunteers and residents - help? With companionship, patience… and the odd singalong. No spoilers, but one of the most heartwarming bits of 26 de Diciembre involves the 1971 diva classic Achilipú - belted out in this video by its co-writer Dolores Vargas, aka La terremoto - or ‘the earthquake’.

(And yes, Dolores’ iconic hand movements also get due tribute, as do a couple of her high kicks.)

In Silvia Maggi’s film, the residents’ different stories are objectively horrifying. In the Franco era, they were imprisoned and beaten up. These days, they find themselves invisible to a younger LGBTI population, and have a hard time even finding a roof over their heads, after the financial crisis pulverised Spain’s economy.

But, with the help of the foundation, and Dolores, they can find some moments of joy.

To which you can only say: A-chi-li-PU a-PU a-PU.

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2017 Highlights: Our Focus on Documentary Filmmaker Catherine Gund at Fringe! 2017

Catherine Gund in Act Up

Last month’s festival brought with it many successes, celebrations and, as ever, unexpected surprises and pleasures at every turn. One of our programme’s special events, branching from a focus on the documentation of queer lives in our recent past, was a focus on the films of critical documentarian Catherine Gund with her company Aubin Pictures.

Starting with a screening of the not-quite-believable, heart-stopping portrait of controversial choreographer Elizabeth Streb and the STREB SLAM company’s day of performance to accompany the 2012 London Olympics, Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, we found Cat warmly open and generous in discussing her work with all in attendance. Hosted by Chisenhale Dance Space Creative Director and Fringe! luvvie Justin Hunt, and with fans, film lovers and even a STREB performer in attendance, this was a great start to Gund’s stay.

On festival Friday we occupied a part of the stunning Geffrye Museum to hold a masterclass of the director’s early works around queer activism, her first feature on Ron Athey, as well as more recent journalistic project Dispatches from Cleveland, and on towards feature docs Born to Fly and Chavela.

Warmly welcomed into our festival hub’s pink bosom, Friday night also saw the big space filled with queers eager to see and discuss lesbian activist images of the late 20th century in a screening of Gund’s early social conscience films, Lez Be Honest. The room was packed with film-hungry dykes.

But the real showstopper of Gund’s visit was a full house in the Rio’s 402-seater balcony screen for her magnetic, affecting achievement, CHAVELA. Roars of pure emotion flew from the audience as soon as the first few notes of La Llorona started up. 

Early in the week Gund had discussed chronicling time-based performers whose work already cuts to the heart of an audience, but her perspective was palpable throughout. The works themselves stand alone as powerful and vital documents of queer reality: imperfect, honest icons, hard-fought realities, and creative histories.

Chavela, dirs Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi

The gorgeous Gund’s willingness to engage with the Fringe! family at each screening, generosity of advice and connection, and creative spirit really rendered her a more special guest than often experienced. From our hearts to yours Catherine, thank you.

Read more about Cat’s projects with Aubin Pictures, including the vital Dispatches from Cleveland, here.

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LSFF18 Fringe! Picks

by Fringe! programmer Martha Margetson

Tearoom, dir William E. Jones

The full LSFF programme has just dropped for 2018, the festival’s 15th birthday, and it is [fire emoji] [fire emoji]. As anyone who’s been able to have a peruse will tell you, the whole programme is [fire emoji], with vital new partnerships, industry events and special presentations, but here are our top queer picks for Fringe! friends and fam to seek out.

Superdyke Meets Madame X, dir Barbara Hammer

Making our hearts fly with excitement is a special Barbara Hammer event, Radical Softness through a Haptic Lens featuring her classic DYKETACTICS, infamous SUPERDYKE MEETS MADAME X, and recently restored Chick Strand work SOFT FICTIONS. Barbara Hammer skypes in to join us for a Q&A with Club des Femmes goddess Selina Robertson. (13 Jan, ICA)

The Cricket and the Ant, dir Julia Ritschel

Later that night is the first installation of New Queer Visions: Don’t Look Back in Anger, which amasses films chronicling heartbreak, romantic return, and the function of memory in queer love connections. A programme that queers the notion of eternal recurrence seen in such films as Eternal Sunshine. (13 Jan, Moth Club)

The next day LSFF host a special screening of Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash’s iconic 1991 portrait of the Black women of Gullah and their struggle to retain traditions over generations. The influence of Daughters’ cinematography on today’s visual culture can’t be overstated. (14 Jan, Moth Club)

The Body Beautiful, dir Ngozi Onwurah

Later than night sees a retrospective of Ngozi Onwurah’s films as LSFF screen Onwurah’s vital cinematic images of blackness in a long overdue retrospective of her work. A stunning programme filled with personal stories of British black womanhood with socio-political consciousness. There will also be a panel on Onwurah’s career with Ngozi herself in attendance, alongside producer Simon Onwurah, and actors Hilja Lindsay-Muwonge and Sian Ejiwume-Le Berre. Includes the unmissable mother-daughter film The Body Beautiful. (17 Jan, ICA)

Make sure to catch a screening of Chris Kraus’ shorts, Cruelty and Crime. From feminist readings of Antonin Artaud to Cold War sleeper agents, via dominatrices and New York City crime scenes, these funny shorts from acclaimed writer of ‘I Love Dick’ Kraus form an exceptional programme. Writer and editor of Afterall, David Morris, filmmaker Ruth Novaczek and the writer Joanna Walsh join for a post-screening discussion of Kraus’ films. (18 Jan, ICA)

Fringe! Director Alex Karotsch speaks on LSFF Industry panel Let’s Talk About Sex with other industry pros. Come discuss the practical and ethical issues of exploring sexual desire on film. In partnership with Docheads. (18 Jan, Moth Club)

Another industry event that caught our eye is Female Collectives. Talk to the women driving change in film with this line up of superstars: Club des Femmes’ Selina Robertson, Bechdel Test Fest’s Corrina Antrobus, I Am Dora’s Jemma Desai, and Final Girls, Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe. (19 Jan, Moth Club)

Innocence, dir Lucile Hadzihalilovic

Attendees may also be interested in a day of events looking at female auteur Lucile Hadzihalilovic. Don’t miss this day of celebration of  Hadzihalilovic’s distinct auteurship; the director’s films from the 90s onwards express a texture and sensuality over topics of teen sexuality and human perception. The event begins with a programme of her shorts at midday, followed by a screening of Hadzihalilovic’s first feature Innocence, set in a secluded girls’ boarding school and starring Marion Cotillard. (20 Jan, Curzon Soho)

MC Paigey Cakey

Closing night Home Girls is comprised of a screening From Cookie Crew to Now, which gathers onscreen representations of women in hip hop with a special guest panel, and closing night party with Paigey Cakey heading a stellar line up, this ICA takeover celebrates the journey and legacy of the female MC. Tun up. (20 Jan, ICA)

But the fun doesn’t end with Home Girls as the next day LSFF host a programme of New Shorts: Highly In/Visible. This exciting programme of new work considers visibility in the context or religion, race, sexuality and gender, chronicling people’s becoming visible. Especially enlightening are Amrou Al-Kadhi’s auto-biographical Run(a)way Arab, and lesbian sci-fi short Joey. (21 Jan, Curzon Soho)

Tearoom, dir William E. Jones

We’ll also be hoping to catch this incredibly exciting event: ‘Originally filmed in 1962 by the Ohio police’ … Video artist William E. Jones’ cruising and police surveillance exploration Tearoom screens in full, alongside Robert Yang’s video game response The Tearoom which, when censored, the artist replaced all visible genitals with guns to secure release. To discuss the issues raised by this video game response, this act of censor evasion, and by Jones’ original work which repurposes surveillance footage in a vital comment on public space, LSFF amasses artist Prem Sahib, filmmaker Sam Ashby, Robert Yang & Dr. Fiona Anderson for a panel. (21 Jan, ICA)

WOLVES, dir Maria Balduzzi

LSFF treat us to another New Queer Visions screening of lengthier, or ‘meatier’ shorts in their Medium Rare programme: 5 longer shorts about queer sexual desire and expression, including the infamous Sodom’s Cat by Fox Huang. (21 Jan, ICA)

See you there!

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Reclaiming Queer Icons, Recovering Queer Histories at Fringe!

For our opening night film this year, we've chosen to shine a spotlight on the fascinating and tragically accelerated life of British footballer Justin Fashanu. This unforgettable documentary recounts a soul that shone too bright for their time and circumstances, and packs a harsh reminder of how recently people struggled to find any sense of acceptance in society.

Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story unearths the reality of British society's uncomfortably recent prejudice and cruelty through the story of an icon who went from having everything to feeling as though he was nothing, and almost escaping our collective memory. Unearthing and redressing our history, especially through those enigmatic figures who dared to stand out - and be known, has always been a distinctly queer endeavour.

Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story

Though heartbreaking, this topic and the act of engaging with it as a community is vital, and allows us to heal as a community with many shared experiences amongst our differing and unique queer perspectives. Within this year's festival programme we have chosen many films, art works and events that push us to consider ourselves as a movement and a community.

Dann Parry's short animation Birds of a Feather will screen before the feature. We are thrilled to welcome Forbidden Games directors Jon Carey and Adam Darke to participate in a Q&A. Get tickets to opening night here 

This year we also unearth the stories and films of queer histories in the recent past, as well as those within our lifetimes that we failed to celebrate, as an act of taking stock and adjusting our consideration of those brave enough to stand out as queers in the past and around the world presently, in times that seem as harsh and divisive as ever.

Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity

Over the festival we are celebrating the bold and vital work of special guest filmmaker Catherine Gund, whose documentaries first chronicled activist movements over the past decades, and whose films since have benefitted from building durational relationships with their gargantuan subjects.

Her 2014 work on contemporary choreographer Elizabeth Streb and the Streb Lab for Action Mechanics (STREB SLAM), Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity, remains one of the most arresting and unforgettable documentaries of recent history. A renegade, unswerving career is documented in a film so startling, the audience feels like that of a live art audience. We screen Born to Fly on Thu 16 Nov.

Chavela

Gund’s more recent doc-biopic traces the later life of Mexican ranchera legend Chavela Vargas. Known for scandalising Mexico throughout the 20th century by singing, drinking, smoking, gambling and loving ‘like a man’, Chavela chronicles Gund’s discovery of the infamous ranchera singer just before her death in 2012. This powerful work screens Sat 18 Nov.

Lust, Plenary / Keep Your Laws off My Body / Like A Prayer / KYLOMB

We also look back to Gund’s early career, presenting works from 1989-1994 in a programme called Lez be Honest. A rare opportunity to catch some of the filmmaker’s formative works, which she will also sharing during a filmmaking masterclass at the Geffrye Museum, on Friday 17 Nov, in partnership with Open City Docs. This is an amazing opportunity for queer and activist filmmakers, or those with an interest in documentary, to learn from an incredible force in cinema.

With queer feminist curating collective Club des Femmes, we are hosting an event to celebrate and reclaim the work of another female filmmaker, British feminist director Jacqui Duckworth, with An Invitation to Jacqui D. The filmmaker left three exceptional 16mm experimental dramas before her premature death in 2015. Her films are pioneering for their unflinching representation and exploration of a newly visible lesbian feminist identity, community and moving image aesthetic coming out of 80s London. 

Homemade Melodrama

With speakers Mandy Merck, Cherry Smyth and Jay Bernard, join Club des Femmes and Fringe! in tribute to Jacqui D on Sat 18 Nov.

In another work of reclamation we are proud to host the UK premiere of Rafal Morusiewicz’ Uprooting Ghosts: A “Queer Fantasia” on National Themes - a tapestry of rare and banned works that queer the filmmakers’ found memories of Poland and Hungary from 1952-1989, which screened as an installation at the Research Pavilion of this year’s Venice Biennale.

A Queering of Memory: Parts 1 & 2 / Uprooting Ghosts: A “Queer Fantasia” on National Themes

Uprooting Ghosts screens alongside A Queering of Memory: Parts 1 & 2, reinterpretations of folklore by local director Timothy Smith. (top image)

The Fabulous Allan Carr

We also look to celebrate another Hollywood big wig and larger-than-life presence finally finding his place on the big screen thanks to Jeffrey Schwarz, in the riotous new documentary, The Fabulous Allan Carr. This film is the fun sort of recent-history doc that demonstrates how camp and Kitsch are vitally joyous outlets for queer sensibilities. Tracing the work of the titular producer from the hits to the misses, The Fabulous Allan Carr is a celebration of being un-changeably oneself. Screening on Sat 18 Nov.

‘Being GAY is FUN!’, My Wonderful West Berlin

Earlier in the festival week you’ll find Jochen Hick’s incredible My Wonderful West Berlin. Part of Hick’s trilogy on Gay Berlin a fascinating historical portrait of the west part of Germany’s capital that combines rare archival material with powerful testimonies from Berliners including trans* icon and David Bowie lover Romy Haag, pre-eminent German gay filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim, Teddy-Award co-founder Wieland Speck and techno DJ Westbam. Screens Wed 15 Nov.

A joyous and fascinating historical document - unmissable.

LGBT Britain: Heaven

Our history strand is inspired by a collection of archival gold we’ll be screening on Sat 18 Nov, Britain on Film: LGBT Britain. Part of the Britain on Film season, LGBT Britain is comprised of incredible archive footage from the advent of moving image technology and onwards throughout the last century.

LGBT Britain: Gaylife

A treasure trove of representation throughout British moving image history, and a vital resource, LGBT Britain is wholly unmissable at this juncture in history. 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, and what a time it’s been.

As well as looking backwards for power, strength and survival strategies, this year’s Fringe! programme also looks at the energy of queer youth movements and communities worldwide in celebration. Films such as Upon the Shadow, Paris is Voguing, #BKKY and My Nature paint a picture of the situation today...

Click here to see what else is in store during Fringe! 2017.

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.www.filmlondon.org.uk/filmhub

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Five Gender Fuck Titles at Fringe!

At Fringe! 2017, we’re taking gender for a joyride and you’re all invited, so hop on! Let these five incredible films and events guide your way:

1. ACTING BEYOND GENDER WORKSHOP

Friday 17th November, Hackney Showroom

Despite the creative potential which theatre and film hold, gender stereotypes abound and present many challenges to actors, theatre and film makers hoping to work beyond these moulds. This free interactive workshop will equip participants with the tools to counter unwanted constraints.

2. MY NATURE

Sunday 19th November, Hackney Showroom

Gender can sometimes be a journey, and the process of arriving at a more comfortable self can unearth a variety of truths. This exquisite documentary follows Simone as he travels across the Umbrian countryside, on a path to self-discovery.

3. WHO WILL FUCK DADDY?

Saturday 18th November, Hackney Showroom

Anarchic, playful, and sexy, this surreal Swedish fantasy sets out to positively dismantle gender and the patriarchy all in one. Literally burying our differences, the patriarchy becomes compost allowing new life to flourish. It’s fabulous!

4. (SHORTS) GENDER WITHOUT BORDERS + Q&A

Saturday 18th November, Hackney Showroom

Unmissable collection of shorts offering a celebratory and rebellious indictment on gendered conventions. And, it’s free!

5. KAIROS DIRT & THE ERRANT VACUUM

Sunday 19th November, Hackney showroom

Join the strange adventures of a pan-sexual lunch lady and her genderqueer companion in feature-like-no-other Kairos Dirt. Traversing time and space, all under the watchful tutelage of a trans-worldly erotic being, you’ll be amazed at where it takes you.

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Ready for Round 2 of our Festival Team’s Festival Picks?

We love you, we really love you. So we’re giving you a helping hand in exploring our programme. We can’t wait to give you these queer filmic treats and watch you guzzle them down enthusiastically. Here’s a taster...

Audience Development Assistant Katrina shares her picks...

1. Upon the Shadow – My top pick goes to this poignant and eye-opening documentary from director Nada Mezni Hafaiedh. Showing former Femen member Amina Sboui’s life and her lgbt+ friends she shares her home with, we follow their daily lives and struggles, and heart-breaking stories of rejection, abuse, and abandonment from their own families, country, and culture. Upon the shadow shines a light on the horrific treatment of lgbt+ people in Tunisia, and is a reflection on the stark reality that faces queer people around the world. Please be aware of these trigger warnings: Self-harm & Suicide, for some scenes in the film. (Wed 15 Nov)

2.  #BKKY – This mix of documentary and drama showcases the experiences and feelings of Thai teenagers in a country that wants them to conform and obey. They can’t ignore their burgeoning sexualities and gender identities, but still want to keep their parents happy. The acted scenes – re-enactments of the real teens stories – have some really cute moments with a backdrop of the beautiful country in question. (Sun 19 Nov)

3. Shorts: Gender without Borders – 7 different short films from 7 different countries that show, examine, and deconstruct the gender binary. Best of all, it’s FREE! (Sat 18 Nov)

4. Who will fuck daddy? – Want something different? Then this is the film for you. A Swedish, psychosexual, colourful, and fetishist exploration of sexual identity and pleasure beyond gender standards. (Sat 18 Nov)

5. Shorts: Fleeting Glances, Taking Chances – Another completely FREE mix of 8 great shorts depicting queer encounters. (Sat 18 Nov)

Technical Assistant Gati gives her top picks...

1. SHORTS: UN-BREAK MY HEART - No surprise that shorts are on top of the list of my top 5 recommendations. UN-BREAK MY HEART starts with a hilarious first date film 'Call your Daddy' where everyone will relate to at least one of the awkward moments of dating, falling in and out of love.  Did I mention that all short film screenings are free? (Sun 19 Nov)

2. CHAVELA - Cigars, tequilas, songs about cowboys, the legendary lesbian singer from Mexico City, and a documentary made by a female director. I'm in! (Sat 18 Nov)

3. #BKKY - Interesting documentary about entering adulthood in the queer community across the world, where coming of age stories can be so similar and so different to ours at the same time. (Sun 19 Nov)

4. BORN TO FLY: ELIZABETH STREB VS. GRAVITY - Jaw-dropping stunts that are a result of slightly psychotic Streb’s movement philosophy are well explained in this documentary by Catherine Gund. (Thu 16 Nov)

5. ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION - Watch the Fringe! team and audience dress up for this epic classic. Dust off your 90s disco outfits now and join us! (Fri 18 Nov)

Audience Development Assistant Adam gives these recommends...

Tomcat - Andreas and Stefan have it all - idyllic house in the suburbs of Vienna, top jobs at the same orchestra, beautiful cat Moses, a circle of close friends. But their peaceful existence is disrupted by an unexpected violent and impulsive event. Full of nail-biting suspense and gorgeous cinematography, Tomcat took home the Teddy Award at Berlin last year. (Fri 17 Nov)

Paris is Voguing - The legendary 1990 doco Paris is Burning - which showcased voguing culture in NYC - was my introduction to queer cinema. Almost three decades on - with voguing experiencing a revival - Paris is Voguing introduces the next generation of ballroom talent in the city of Paris itself. (Sat 18 Nov)

Dream Boat - I'm not the kind of person who'd choose to spend my holiday on a gay cruise ship, but Dream Boat had me transfixed. Amid the six-packs this doco is a tender portrait of compelling characters with important things to say about race, disability, body image and religion. (The eye candy's pretty good too.) (Sun 19 Nov)

Fluid0 - If you're into fluids you can't miss this surreal cyber-porno. My personal highlight were the lengthy panning shots (front and rear) of rows of men in jockstraps wanking into glowing urinals. (Sun 19 Nov)

#BKKY - Thai teens seem to have a gift for talking eloquently and sensitively about sexuality and gender. This docu-fiction is interspersed with interviews with Thai youngsters discussing queerness in their country. A gorgeous film which challenged my preconceptions about Thailand. (Sun 19 Nov)

Audience Development Assistant Marco reveals his favourites….

#BKKY - A warm, empathic look at what Thai teenagers think and live queerness and sexuality. This blend of documentary and fiction by director Nontawat Numbenchapol really touched me for the playful and complex way in which he portrays these wonderful young men and women. Plus, the fact that this is the cutest film ever doesn’t hurt. (Sun 19 Nov)

My Nature - If the story wasn’t already very interesting, this film should be seen for the beauty of its cinematography and the amazing view of the Italian landscape. And just like its scenery, the beautiful story of Simone, narrated with skill and compassion by Massimiliano Ferraina, makes this documentary a real treat. (Sun 19 Nov)

Uprooting Ghosts: A Queer “Fantasia on National Themes” - This experimental film takes a look at queer representations on film that have been censored and suppressed during the time Poland and Hungary where under Soviet regimes. This is a powerful memory exercise and a true discovery for cinephiles interested in the works of Jerzy Skolimowski, Tadeusz Konwicki, and Karoly Makk and Janos Xantus. Screens with Timothy Smith’s Queering of Memory. (Sat 18 Nov)

Britain on Film: LGBT Britain - It is a truth universally acknowledged that many Victorian ladies at the turn of the century were actually men wearing fabulously those delightful dresses (and winning 100£ prizes because of it). This and other wonders are in in store for anyone who will attend this screening of treasures from the BFI Archives. Don’t miss it! (Sat 18 Nov)

Panel: Shame Academy - Every year Fringe! Host a wide variety of free panels on many subjects, and my pick for this year focuses on shame. This sentiment is still a part of every LGBTQ+ person even in the most open minded of societies. Looking at what still causes shame is best way to discuss about how we can make the world we live in a more welcoming and less threatening place. Be sure to check this panel out! (Sat 18 Nov)

Most events are free or only £5! Click >>> here <<< to see what else is in store this Fringe (14-19 Nov) 

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Documenting Queer Lives

Chavela, dir Catherine Gund & Daresha Kyi

As in previous festival editions the documentary presence at this year’s Fringe! is strong and runs from biographical docs  documenting the lives of forgotten queer pioneers to films exploring the realities of queer people globally. So come and immerse yourself in a myriad of queer experiences both past and present.

Queer history is often erased and assimilated into the mainstream with our heroes’ sexuality not acknowledged, so we are very excited to bring you four documentaries this year which look at the marginalised stories of four LGBTIQA+ icons, some of whom you might have not ever heard of, even if they were very well known figures when they were alive. One such revelation is Chavela, Catherine Gund & Daresha Kyi’s portrait of Mexican singer Chavela Vargas - an incredible performer and headstrong woman who came to fame in the 1940s. Vargas’ career was almost destroyed by alcoholism but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s due to the championing by superfan Pedro Almodovar. This one is absolutely not to be missed.

The Fabulous Allan Carr, dir Jeffrey Schwarz

Jeffrey Schwarz’s (I am Divine, Tab Hunter Confidential) latest biographical doc The Fabulous Allan Carr tells the tale of the producer of Grease and Grease 2 whose flamboyant persona was a mainstay of 1970s Hollywood. Allan Carr had major producing successes and debacles on and off-screen, always displaying his love for camp and kitsch. This culminated in his infamously disastrous production of the 1989 Academy Awards ending his career forever.

Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story, dir Jon Carey & Adam Darke

It’s often assumed that no major league footballer has ever come out during their careers - completely erasing the fact that there was indeed a UK footballer, Justin Fashanu, whose coming out made waves in 1990 and elicited an onslaught of homophobic and racist responses at the time. We are opening this year’s festival with Forbidden Games: The Justin Fashanu Story to shine light on this often overlooked chapter in the UK’s LGBTIQA+ history. 

The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson, dir David France

Activist Marsha P Johnson is one of the foremost LGBTIQA+ pioneers who was at the very forefront of the Stonewall riots with her fellow trans* activist friend Sylvia Rivera, whose story has often been erased from historical accounts. We are screening documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson, not without its own controversy, that shines a line on Victoria Cruz, a contemporary of Marsha and Sylvia, and her quest to get justice for Marsha. The screening will be followed by a panel discussing the issues raised by the current controversy - please also head to our website for our statement.

Upon the Shadow, dir Nada Mezni Hafaiedh

We are also delving into the lives of contemporary LGBTIQA+ people around the world with a slew of films. Upon the Shadow explores the life of former Femen member Amina Sboui and the queer friends for whom she is providing refuge in her Tunisian home. We are also showing the heart-warming documentary/fiction hybrid #BKKY, which looks at the multitude of love lives of Thai teenagers. We are proud to present the beautiful My Nature, which follows protagonist Simone’s quest for love and what it means to be a man post-transition set against the sumptuous Umbrian landscape in Italy, Finally Paris is Voguing looks at the burgeoning ballroom scene in the French capital.

Paris is Voguing, dir Gabrielle Culand

Paris is Voguing is not the only documentary that looks at dance from a queer viewpoint. We are also proud to host the European premiere of same-sex ballroom dancing doc Hot to Trot and, part of our Catherine Gund Focus,  Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs Gravity on the daredevil circus artist and choreographer. You might have seen their performances walking down City Hall and jumping off Millennium Bridge, which were part of Cultural Olympiad in 2012.

My Wonderful West Berlin, dir Jochen Hick

We’re also taking a stroll through the rich gay history of the west part of Germany’s capital in My Wonderful West Berlin, exploring the timespan from 1945 to the fall of the wall in 1989: the struggles in the 1950s and ‘60s, the sexual freedom of the 1970s, the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s to the beginnings of the city’s famed electronic music culture.

Dream Boat, dir Tristan Ferland Milewski

And if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be on a cruise for a week, with 2000 gay men, then stray no further than Dream Boat which follows five men from different backgrounds as they enjoy a week aboard a gay cruise for sun and frolics (lots of frolics).

Explore the full programme: http://fringefilmfest.com/fringe-17/

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Enjoy some of the Fringe! team’s Top 5 Festival Picks!

There’s only 2 weeks to go until we flood East London venues with over 100 of the best queer films we could find (and all the events, panels, and parties...)! As a fully volunteer-run organisation, our fuel is queer passion and voracious film consumption, so we want to help you through our programme, using the charm of our lovely volunteer team. Consider them pathways if you will.

Martha, Programmer and Marketing Co-ordinator, says...

1 UPON THE SHADOW Wed 15 Nov, The Castle Cinema

This film is a stunning reminder of the situations many in our global queer community face, and that there’s human lives of our friends / family on the receiving end of tiresome and ignorant Western anti-immigrant sentiment. The doc looks at Amina Sboui and she and her friends, of all genders, persuasions and experiences, are so beautiful that you fall in love instantly. The gorgeous azure backdrop of the Mediterranean separating them from Europe, and the discord between the ‘freedom’ of the sea and reality is heartbreaking. Director Nada Mezni Hafaiedh feels like a hugely important new voice.

2 BORN TO FLY: ELIZABETH STREB VS. GRAVITY Thu 16 Nov, Genesis

Just holy shit, is all. Some of you may have seen this Catherine Gund doc from 2014, about the STREB Extreme Action dance group and Elizabeth Streb’s theory of Extreme Action, but it’s an experience I personally can’t wait to have in the cinema; with a crowd reacting, gasping and holding their breath it feels like watching live art. Chronicling the contemporary choreographer and her dancers, this is a fascinating study of the body and of honest, ‘real’ work, but also of the curious ethos and intentions of Elizabeth Streb herself. Gund sure knows how to pick a doc subject, and we’re lucky to have her over to talk it out!

3 FUCK THE POWERS THAT BE, HEY! Sat 18 Nov, Hackney Showroom

This packed shorts programme (free to attend btw, like all of our shorts programmes 4eva) is characterised by its inclusion of films that acknowledge the other aspects of jeopardy and oppression faced by queer people, and the films’ recognition of other aspects of queer life. I’ve used the Audre Lorde quote about ‘single-issue lives’ as its copy line, and this early notion of intersection is palpable throughout. It’s packed with gems! Check out Chrissy Mahan’s Fisher-Price class analysis, Carol, Carrie Hawks’ Black Enuf, Eli Jean Tahchi’s epic The Migrant Mixtape, and i’m sure you’ll not miss Charles Lum and Todd Verow’s Secret Santa SEX Party.

4 CLUB DES FEMMES + FELICITY SPARROW PRESENT: AN INVITATION TO JACQUI D Sat 18 Nov, Rio Cinema

As a working class lesbian growing up in Britain there are certain voices that you recognise get left behind, and that you seek out in private. The fantastic Club des Femmes have chosen to celebrate the late Jacqui Duckworth, whose films focussed on both the personal and political of lesbian relationships, and situate lesbian life in awkward tension with the home and the feminine. I just can’t wait to see these films screened in tribute on the big screen, accompanied by the productive discussion and exploration provided by Club des Femmes.

5 NEUROSEX3 and THE TOILET LINE Fri 17 Nov, Hackney Showroom

You may have noticed a taste for sci-fi erotica in our 2017 programme. Well, for me, this is where it all started. I met Eric Pussyboy at a screening of part of his Neurosex Pornoia trilogy that played alongside I.K.U (by closing film Fluid 0 director, Shu Lea Cheang!) at AutoItalia’s Speculative Sex in 2016. Imaginative, transgressive, but also earnest and loving, which enhances its hotness. It screamed many things at me, but one of them was FRINGE! I am v excited that Fringe! favourite Goodyn Green has delivered yet again with the short that will screen alongside Neurosex3: The Toilet Line sees two femmes queueing for a club bathroom start to fuck, before being released back into the night. The two films together create the perfect document of queer sex today, from our sister community in Berlin.

For more sci fi and sex, see our (s)Express Yourself shorts programme, and closing film FLUID 0, the infamous new work by maestro of the emerging genre, Shu Lea Cheang.

Fringe! Programmer Sean has some recommends...

1. FORBIDDEN GAMES: THE JUSTIN FASHANU STORY Tue 14 Nov, Rio Cinema

The true, sad story of queer pioneer sportsman, whose life was cut short tragically.

2. DREAM BOAT Sun 19 Nov, Rio Cinema

A week-long cruise with 2,000 gays all looking for the same thing... themselves! It's also totally gorgeous.

3. #BKKY Sun 19 Nov, Hackney Showroom

Teen romance Thai-style, i.e. sexually progressive in a completely matter of fact and insanely cute way. Go see it.

4. PANEL: NO ACCESS: YOUNG, BLACK AND POSITIVE. Sat 18 Nov, Hackney Showroom

A searing, short documentary from VICE about being HIV positive in Mississippi - and how grassroots activism there is a saviour when the state apparatus is there to discriminate. Very important. Screened in partnership with PrEPster and BlackOut UK. **FREE**

5. SHORTS! Fri - Sun, Hackney Showroom, FREE

All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years. But my particular favourites are the very sexy (s)EXPRESS YOURSELF SHORTS and UNBREAK MY HEART cos I'm doing those ones. **ALL FREE OMG** 

BONUS:

6. ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION Fri 18 Nov, Rio

As if I need an explanation.

Fundraising Manager Daniele shares his picks...

1. DREAM BOAT Sun 19 Nov, Rio Cinema

A beautiful, touching documentary about a gay cruise… and it’s not all about speedos! We get to know some of the men who embark the ship; their stories, their hopes, their dreams.

2. TOMCAT Fri 17 Nov, Castle Cinema

An award-winning feature. Andreas and Stefan are the perfect gay couple - until a sudden dramatic event makes them question everything.

3. SHORTS: FLEETING GLANCES Sat 18 Nov, Hackney Showroom

We pride ourselves on offering several free events every year, so that Fringe! is as inclusive as possible: this is one of them. A programme of short films about encounters... of a queer kind.

4. THE FABULOUS ALLAN CARR Sat 18 Nov, Barbican

The story of Alan Carr, the extraordinary impresario behind Grease, La Cage aux Folles and Can’t stop the Music… an amazing glimpse into the extravagance of the Seventies (Studio 54, anyone?)

5. BEYOND THE BINARY Fri 17 Nov, Hackney Showroom

Another free event. An interactive workshop exploring the stereotypes and challenges that actors, theatre and film makers face when it comes to gender roles. As a theatre and film maker, I am looking forward to this!

Programmer and Marketing Co-ordinator Anna shares some faves...

1. FLUID0 Sun 19 Nov, Genesis Cinema

The hottest, stickiest, most viscous ticket at Fringe! This film elicited walkouts when it premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year to a more traditional (read: straight and narrow) public, but I love this dripping-with-splendour anarcho-queer sci-fi epic about delirious ejaculate, and think you will too ;)

2. MY NATURE Sun 19 Nov, Hackney showroom

Stunning landscapes and epic beauty abound in this heartwarming documentary about self-discovery. Perfect Sunday afternoon fare.

3. ALL BORN SUPERSTARS: EVERYDAY QUEER PERFORMANCE Sun 19 Nov, Hackney Showroom

The act of performance can often be one of reinvention and discovery, ironically revealing a truer version of oneself through taking on a facade. These varied shorts all bring something new to the table (including one or two card tricks!) and are recommended to anyone interested in the on- and off-stage of everyday queer performance.

4. KAIROS DIRT Sun 19 Nov, Hackney Showroom

The night after I first watched that this, I fell asleep and dreamt of cross-dimensional erotic possibilities. Playful, funny, strange, Kairos Dirt is utterly unique and 100% Fringe!

5. PANEL: SHAME ACADEMY Sat 18 Nov, Hackney Showroom

One of the best things about Fringe! are the talks, panels and events, and this year is no exception. Pushing back on all the noise made about partial decriminalisation this year, the panel will address the residual issue of shame, how it manifests, and how LGBTIQA+ people are overcoming it.

Full programme on sale >>> here <<<

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Queer Cinema Magic from Female Filmmakers at Fringe!

Chavela, dir Catherine Gund. We don’t want to prematurely herald The Year of the Lesbian, but this year’s Fringe! programme displays a very welcome breadth of feminine film talent, as well as dynamic female subjects. With a Catherine Gund strand throughout and a range of female, non-binary, lesbian and trans directors in attendance for panel discussions, we have really seen a shift in the queer film-making landscape, and the range of queer cinema being made is all the better for it.

Catherine Gund, Act Up.

First we’ve got to talk about our Catherine Gund Focus. From two unbelievable feature documentaries that see Gund ingratiated in the lives of her subjects: Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity and more recent work, Chavela, will leave you gasping at the strength of their subjects’ presence in the world. Gund’s films celebrate lives lived fully. We will be tracing this fervour in her earlier career with a presentation of early, social justice based, short films in the aptly titled Lez be Honest. We are even treating you to a masterclass with the master documentarian herself, presented in partnership with Open City Docs School.

Hot to Trot, dir Gail Freedman.

Continuing with a look at dance, Hot to Trot, Gail Freedman’s delicate portrait of same sex ballroom champions preparing for the Gay Games comes to Europe, and we’ll host a Q&A with the director herself. Following the routines and preparations of a section of professional and romantic same sex partnerings, this intimate record will sweep you up in the rapture of bodily movements that express love, passion and tensions between our dance mavericks.

Paris is Voguing, dir Gabrielle Culand.

Repeat attendees will remember our Vogue strand last year, complete with an English Breakfast London ball, a Kiki discussion on the history and relevance of the scene and art of voguing, and films including Kiki and Strike A Pose which each included valuable images of the expressive and vital scene. This year Fringe! screens a new documentary on a European vogue scene. Paris is Voguing sees Willi Ninja’s words “make the real Paris burn!” come to life through the ferocity and tenacity of its vogue champions. Gabrielle Culand’s document of Paris Ballroom culture seen through the bickering and banter of House Mothers Stephane Mizrahi & Lasseindra Ninja is something you will not want to miss.

Homemade Melodrama, dir Jacqui Duckworth.

With queer feminist curating collective Club des Femmes we take a look back at feminist filmmaker Jacqui Duckworth, whose incredible 16mm works discussed open relationships, ‘sweet dyke revenge’ in the porn industry, multiple sclerosis, identity and coming out were pioneering, years before her premature death in 2005. Curated in her honour, and with a great deal of love and thanks, An Invitation to Jacqui D comes to Fringe! on festival Saturday.

195 Lewis, dir Chanelle Aponte Pearson.

Festival Sunday sees a special event at the Barbican: a screening of Brooklyn web series 195 Lewis by Chanelle Aponte Pearson in full. Getting the lesbian series right has been an occasionally disappointing endeavour, but web-series 195 Lewis is definitely the hottest kid on the block.

From the creators of Revival: Women and the Word and An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (two films chronicling the efforts and grace of strong women), 195 Lewis engages with and reflects our London scenes with its hilariously self-referential art talk, playful explorations of gender and sex, and a genius, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Bette Porter reference. This is accompanied by shorts including the award-winning We Love Moses by Dionne Edwards, and a panel discussion on QTIPOC representation and successes in film and media.

Upon the Shadow, dir Nada Mezni Hafaiedh.

Don’t miss gems of female achievement earlier in the festival too! Head to Tunisia, where first time director Nada Mezni Hafaiedh’s incredible and heartfelt documentary Upon the Shadow follows former Femen member Amina Sboui and her group of activist friends whose lives hang in the balance and at the whims of nations and border forces. The friends and their matriarch Amina look out at cool blue seas wondering what destinies await them and what forces will impact their futures in this stunning documentary that shines a spotlight on the lifestyles of those members of our global queer community that are still fighting for many of the freedoms we have already inherited.

FLUID0, dir Shu Lea Cheang.

Closing out the festival with a lasting impression (and a palpable climax), moving image artist and provocateur Shu Lea Cheang of Fresh Kill; IKU comes to London to accompany our opening film in its UK premiere, FLUIDØ. This sex-capade from the Taiwanese director concerns a future Berlin, a genderfluid race of ZERO GENs, and a struggle to gain control over the production and exploitation of bodily fluids.

Representations of feminine sexuality range from the DIY to the delicate at this year’s Fringe!

There are so many more gems from female filmmakers in the Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest programme that I hope you’ll explore, displaying, expressing and recording tenacity, vivacity and the distinct queer feminine perspective.

Full programme info: fringefilmfest.com

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FRINGE! POSTERS HAVE ARRIVED.

Go book your tickets for the festival at http://fringefilmfest.com/fringe-17/