International Short Film Competition 2020

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GAY AS IN HAPPY: A QUEER ANTI-TRAGEDY Canada 3:22
An experimental autoethnographic documentary about queer joy, resistance, and resilience in the face of abuse, trauma, and transphobia.

COMING OUT Canada 8:01
‘When did you come out?’ A comical exposition of the (continuing) answer to the perennial question.

A THRONE FOR MISS GHANA Spain 14:09
Veso Golden, a transgender woman from Ghana who lives isolated due to social rejection, dreams of succeeding in a great international beauty pageant.

FAMILY FIRST Australia 6:30
Impulsive and quick tempered Sam and his anxious husband Mitchel break into Sam’s father’s house after falling into financial strife, only to discover that his father has secretly been on a journey of sexual rediscovery with Sam’s former gym teacher.

A BIG FAT TAIWANESE SAME-SEX WEDDING BANQUET Taiwan 4:27
In celebration of becoming the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, Taiwan threw a big wedding banquet in front of its Presidential Office Building in Taipei.

AMARE AFFONDO Italy 15:00
Giacomo and Samuele are two young men born and raised in a small town in a province of southern Italy. The strong friendship between the two begins to turn into something more. But one day something goes wrong ….

2 BLACK BOYS United States 6:27
Giovanni Adams’ poetry on his black queer journey from boyhood to manhood, isolation to intimacy, roots the narrative of this entrancing film that combines spoken word, dance and song.

BRIDESMAID Taiwan 14:28
At home, Jean is reluctant to put on her bridesmaid dress for her sister’s upcoming wedding. But things go differently later that night at a favourite restaurant when Jean and her girlfriend meet up with her drunk father.

BEAT Canada 9:18
Caleb is a dancer. He’s also deaf. Caleb hears music through feeling—and when he meets Thaddeus, a local musician, he begins to feel a lot. A mutual interest in music (and one another) brings the two young men together. Sometimes, love doesn’t have to be complicated.

OP SHOP Australia 5:00
Shop assistant Lucy, helps William purchase a much desired item of clothing and in doing so gives him an opportunity to express his true self.

STALLS United States 3:10
Jonathan goes to the restroom in the middle of an opera performance. He has a very specific mission.

SWIVEL United Kingdom 6:39
What if, you can be all of who you are and still allow another? What if, love is not a gender, it is a swivel of the heart? A short gender fluid dance story.

International Short Film Competition 2021

Documentary and True Stories

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SAFE Germany 8:55
A documentary that portrays five personalities from the Berlin ballroom community who share their stories and values while exploring the ideas of beauty, dance and gender.

NUMBER 52 State of Palestine 15:00
In the middle of the first lockdown caused by Covid-19 Ahmad with the help of his friend Nour goes on an inner journey to explore what freedom means to him. It all started when 7 years ago Ahmad had to run away from his motherland Jerusalem. Number 52 is a profile about the struggles of a young gay man in a search for freedom and a place to call his own.

THE GAYTRIACHY AND WHY WE NEED PRIDE Australia 10:00
Three of Australia’s leading LGBTQI+ activists comment on how bigotry and oppression supposedly in the name of religion or “traditional culture” affect the LGBTQI+ community across the world.

FORGIVENESS DAY Australia 15:00
Thirty years ago, 13-year-old Derek Ho outed his older brother Jeremiah to their traditional Singaporean Chinese family — and changed their lives forever. In the years that passed, Derek too came to identify as queer and returned home to seek forgiveness for what he did. Forgiveness Day is a portrait of love and trauma, where two brothers find themselves navigating the space between trust, faith and healing.

SWIMMING TO THE END OF THE WORLD United States 7:00
A world-weary gay man remembers lost lovers as he swims from the Christopher Street Piers in New York City to Provincetown, Massachusetts.

TOUCHING AN ELEPHANT Germany 14:33
What if someone would ask you to prove your sexual orientation? What if your life would depend on the evidence? Ritah, a 20 year old lesbian woman from Uganda, is confronted with the absurdity of a system that asks people to prove their identity in order to grant them protection.

In the parable of the blind men and the elephant she finds a metaphor for her state of mind.

BABY LIES TRUTHFULLY United Kingdom 6:00
It’s 1987. David Robilliard is a young artist and writer in London. His work is raw as it is refreshing. It’s coarse but laceratingly clever exploring everything from dating and sex to depression and loss.

“David Robilliard didn’t like to perform his own poetry live, so instead he recruited people to perform them for him, so to be asked to perform this piece ‘Swallowing Helmets’ by David was an honour that feels completely within the spirit of Robilliard’s work.” Russell Tovey

ROAD United States 1:52
“She had told […] that the car belonged to the friend for whom she was waiting. And gradually, […] that Carol wanted to go to New Mexico.” Patricia Highsmith, The Price Of Salt (1952)

Archival footage of New Mexico, as well as educational films of the period steeped in settler colonialism, help capture the romantic thrill of two characters in love viewing New Mexico during a different era.

International Short Film Competition 2021

Drama and Comedy

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THE CORNER  Norway 5:00
Tired of waiting, Veronika tries to give her girlfriend direction over the phone, but Susan gets more and more confused with every word.

BEFORE THE ERUPTION Spain 10:26
Although a volcanic eruption can occur without any prior signal, volcanoes will most likely issue different types of warnings before the eruption begins. We barely saw it coming.

YOU CAN RUN United Kingdom 1:16
In Glasgow’s Southside, someone realises that they can run, but they can’t hide.

FAIRYOCIOUS France 13:21
Simon : ”I want to be a girl, mommy.” Alma freezes. She asks for help from her neighbours. Soon the whole building is debating on Simon’s choice for gender orientation.

THE ODYSSEY Australia 6:44
Zoom class finally gets interesting for 13 year old Kiki when she discovers that her computer screen doubles as a portal into her crush’s bedroom.

THE LONELY PRINCE India 15:00
A lonely Prince, drowning in melancholy, invites a Sculptor to his court to create a piece of art just for him. As the Sculptor spends his days chiselling away on a block of marble, the Prince too discovers a new side of himself, for a brief moment forgetting the world of solitude that surrounds him.

HUSH DARLING Australia 5:00
Hush Darling is the story of Simon and Layan in the all too familiar scenario of first date nerves, anxieties and excitement.

THE TEST Australia 7:37
Hoping to take the next big step in their life together, two women await the results of a test that could not only put an end to their plans, but perhaps even their relationship.

WITH MY SWORD OF TEARS Canada 4:10
Dog is impaled with a sword of pain and hides away in his basin of blood protected by large walls. Rabbit ventures into Dog’s emotional space to seek resolution. An experimental animation about two characters who overcome their emotional barriers through acknowledging the other’s emotional pain.

ROADKILL  United States 15:00
Tillie’s lonely life as a roadkill removal worker is destabilized when Wanda, a lively stranger, comes to town.

BEAT 97 Brazil 11:51
Alvaro has been quarantined for 97 days without leaving home, and uses delivery apps to order everything he needs. When the delivery man arrives at the building with another meal, an unexpected situation imposes a difficult decision for Alvaro.

FAREWELL Sweden 4:45
Agnes and Ellen fell in love and spent their lives together. A story from the other end of the rainbow.