Queerfilmfestival

The best queer films of the year! Queer Film Festival 2023: Power to the People! The Queerfilmfestival celebrates its half-round birthday and presents the best non-heteronormative films of the year on the big screen for the fifth time this year! From Thursday 7 September to Wednesday 13 September, we’ll be celebrating the diversity of queer cinema in 16 cinemas and 12 cities for a whole week.

This year’s programme includes 25 outstanding non-heteronormative feature films and documentaries. Included are highlights from Venice and Toronto, Sundance and the Berlinale. A retrospective and a spotlight complement the cinema programme online. The opening film is the dreamy gay love story “Stop Lying” from France. In Olivier Peyon’s film adaptation of the queer bestseller of the same name, an author returns to his homeland and remembers his first great love as a 17-year-old during a shimmering summer.

From Paul B. Preciado’s masterful essay film “Orlando, my political biography” about his own transformation and a world that is now full of Orlandos, comes our festival motto this year: “Power to the People”. The militant demand is reminiscent of the New York drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the central figures of the Stonewall Riots in the summer of 1969. A queer liberation story is also told by Georgia Oakley in her stirring drama “Blue Jean”, in which a lesbian teacher in England under Margaret Thatcher has to fight against everyday repression. Anhell69″ is also an indictment: in his poetic portrait film, Theo Montoya conjures up the ghosts of his deceased friends, queer outsiders in Medellín, Colombia.

In addition to “Orlando”, two impressive feature films testify to the power of trans cinema: In “Mutt”, Vuk Lungulov-Klotz authentically and stirringly depicts 24 hours in the life of a young trans Latino in New York. In “Something You Said Last Night”, Luis De Filippis draws a multi-layered portrait of a young trans woman who wants to be cared for by her Italian-Canadian family and at the same time wants to be independent from them.

Three films are set in Berlin: Hannes Hirsch tells the story of a young man’s second coming out in the queer party scene in “Drifter”. Fabian Stumm reunites a gay couple in his relationship comedy “Bones and Names”. And Harvey Rabbit sends a queer superhero to save Kreuzberg and the whole universe in his camp fantasy film “Captain Faggotron Saves the Universe”.

Love films from all over the world prove that it is worth fighting for love everywhere: In Zeno Graton’s “Le Paradis”, two teenagers have to break down the walls of a Belgian juvenile detention centre for their passion. In Leiv Igor Devold’s “Norwegian Dream”, a Polish migrant worker and an entrepreneur’s son fall in love with each other against the breathtaking backdrop of the Norwegian fjord landscapes. And in Welby Ings’ “Punch”, a young boxer in New Zealand learns from a young gay Māori what is really important in life.

In “Breaking the Ice”, Clara Stern tells the story of two female ice hockey players in the Austrian countryside who dare to trust each other. In “Golden Delicious”, Jason Karman has two young basketball players from the Asian-Canadian community practise slam dunks until they spark. Zaida Carmona shows lesbian relationship chaos in Barcelona in her eloquent rom-com “The Girlfriend of My Girlfriend”. And in the survival drama “The Cave” by Roman Němec, a pupil and a teacher have to find a way out of a far-flung cave system together – and come closer to each other emotionally in the process.

In addition, the Queer Film Festival presents a classic of New Queer Cinema in a restored version: Isaac Julien’s “Young Soul Rebels” (1991) is a sophisticated mix of gay love story and thriller and paints an authentic picture of British youth cultures in the late 1970s.

In “Horseplay” Marco Berger demonstrates the sexual dynamics within a group of young men who come together in a villa and have too little to do. The Queer Film Festival takes Berger’s new film as the occasion for an online retrospective: digitally, four other films by the Argentinian director can also be seen: from Berger’s debut film “Plan B” (2009) to the Teddy winner “Ausente” (2011) and “Young Hunter” (2020).

With a two-part spotlight, the Queer Film Festival also commemorates online the British director Ron Peck, who died last year: “Nighthawks” (1978; co-directed by Paul Hallam), the authentic portrait of an un-outed teacher cruising through London’s gay clubs after dark, is considered the first openly gay film in British film history. In the documentary sequel Strip Jack Naked (1991), Peck puts Nighthawks into a personal context and also provides fascinating insights into the making and later reception of his classic.

Let’s celebrate the best queer films of the year together – we look forward to seeing you!

Date: Thursday – Wednesday, 7-13 September 2023
Venue: Votiv Kino, Währinger Straße, Vienna
or Kino De France, Heßgasse, Vienna
Admission: 7.90-9.90€
Contact: office@votivkino.at / +43 1 3173571

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