One of the best things about this spring’s showings are that the films are being shown at events that are not specifically for queer audiences (Beyond Earth, Stony Brook University, PopUp Anthology, Indie Meme, Workers Unite Film Fest, Bechdel Film Festival and Splice Film Festival). This gives me the opportunity to talk about accessibility, class, and queerness to a broader range of audiences, which is what I’ve always wanted to do. One day I will show my movies at a sports bar!
Here is an updated listing of what’s showing where.
March 23, 2019 I DREAM/ YALINIDREAM was selected for the Beyond Earth Film Festival at Club Eco Vista New Town, Action Area II, Kolkata India. This was the film’s World Premiere.
March 28, 2019 MY AUNT MAME will be shown at qFLIX Philadelphia on Thursday, March 28, 7:30 PM @ Connelly Auditorium.
Ayanna Ife at qFlix PhillyLisa Dietrich of WGSS Stony Brook
Friday, April 19 MY AUNT MAME will be shown in the Local Animation showcase at the PopUp Anthology held at ArtWorks in Trenton, NJ.
April 27, 2019 IndyMeme Film Festival in Austin, TX will host the US Premiere of the film version of I DREAM / YALINIDREAM, which was originally created for Sharon Bridgforth’s RIVER SEE theatrical installation. This event will be held at AFS Cinema in Austin.
May 11, 2019 FOUR BILLION REASONS will be shown at 16:45 at the Woodhouse Community Centre at the Leeds Queer Film Festival!
This festival initially had to be rescheduled, but the queers of Leeds are back to finish what they started. Relaunch Event! “We’re really touched by all the love and support so can’t wait to spend four days in a cozy queer utopia at Woodhouse Community Centre.”
May 15, 2019 ALL IN A DAY’S WORK Thrilled to announce that the collaborative film made by Patricia Silva and me will be shown in the Workers Unite Film Festival, 5/15/19 at 4:00pm at the Cinema Village in Manhattan. Our movie is screening with THE WASHING SOCIETY and DIVISION AVE.
May 30, 2019 MY AUNT MAME was selected for the (US) Inaugural Bechdel Fest in Akron, Ohio. The Bechdel Film Fest, in partnership with the Nightlight Cinema and Akron Summit County Public Library, will feature high quality curated films that pass the “Bechdel Test,” which brings attention to gender inequality in film and fiction. THE BECHDEL TEST: AT LEAST TWO FEMALE CHARACTERS, WHO ARE GIVEN NAMES, TALK TO EACH OTHER ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN A MAN OR BOY.
June 6, 2019 MY AUNT MAME will screen as part of QueerBee Film at the Curzon Soho. Get your tickets today!
June 20, 2019 MY AUNT MAME will be shown at 7:30pm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in the 2019 Splice Film Festival.
June 22, 2019 I AM/YALINIDREAM will be shown at 7:30pm at the Cinema Noir in Brooklyn also as part of the 2019 Splice Film Festival.
March 15, 2019 MY AUNT MAME was selected to be shown at the Mosaic Film Festival at Georgia Piedmont Technical College in Clarkson, GA, in their Animated Shorts program, held at the DeKalb Conference Center.
March 21, 2019 CAROL was selected for Queers In Shorts at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge, England. They host a monthly night of short films, an exciting venture to create a new social space for LGBTQ+ people in Cambridge, England. Not only am I flattered they they chose my parody of CAROL, here’s what they said:
“OK, we’ve still got a way to go before our next Queers in Shorts but we couldn’t resist showing you this trailer for – how can we put this – a different take on the movie ‘Carol’. Produced by Krissy Mahan, who gave us the wonderful ‘Faggot Girl’, ‘Carol’ is joyful and satirical in equal parts. So get down to the Arts Picturehouse bar at 9 p.m. on Thursday, 21st March to enjoy this big-budget (well…), epic short film. And once again, it’s FREE!”
March 28, 2019
“My Aunt Mame” has been selected by qFlix Philly for their Philly Phamily Philms screening at 7:30pm at Connolly Auditorium.
Other films in the program are:
BATHROOM TROLL
Directed by Aaron Immediato, 2018, 17 Minutes, USA
After Cassie gets tormented for not “looking like a girl” in the school bathroom, a demonic vengeance troll awakens to avenge her – only making the nightmare worse.
QUEERBOY BEGINS
Directed by Dave Sarrafian, 2018, 22 Minutes, USA
Joss Grey must find out who’s killing people while finishing his midterm.
MY AUNT MAME
Directed by Krissy Mahan, 2017, 9 Minutes, USA
A working class, gender non-conforming woman in the 1960’s leaves a legacy for her butch dyke grand niece. This is a humanizing narrative by one queer older woman, which highlights intersecting identities that complicate discourses of sex, gender, and class.
HOW I CAME OUT
Directed by Mark Jones, 2018, 6 Minutes, USA
A man has a unique and funny coming out story, he just doesn’t know it yet.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD
Directed by Albert M. Chan and Anthony Grasso, 2017, 7 minutes, USA
This award-winning short takes a few daring steps forward in a “confessional” style, revealing one man’s message from a troubled vision to an awakening from isolation back to humanity.
THE GAYBORHOOD NHD
Directed by students from Penn Alexander School, 2018, 7 Minutes, USA
A group of 7th graders from Philadelphia present their award-winning documentary, which depicts Philadelphia’s contributions to LGBTQ+ rights, such as the Dewey’s Lunch Counter sit-in.
April 7, 2019 My Aunt Mame” has been selected by the Wicked Queer Film Festival in Boston, Mass, 6:30 at the Paramount Theater. “My Aunt Mame” was selected for the GTFO Shorts Program, “The last program of the festival. Our programmers picked a film or two each that we found outré, unique, outrageous, or that in some other way made us say “Get the fuck out!!”
The other films are:
The Story of Hawkeye Bray
A young cowboy, Hawkeye Bray, lives alone in a small white room. At night they have visions of a handsome honky tonk singer, a boy with a chain whip, and the rolling desert hills. Despite being unable to leave their room, Hawkeye learns how to manifest their dreams and desires into reality.
Directed by Zeke Aszman 12 m English US
Sammy the Salmon
Spencer, a closeted homosexual, is offered help from a talking salmon to get his love life back on track.
Directed by Jake Shannon 7 m English Australia
Are You A Gay Stereotype?
Youtube video on whether or not you’re a gay stereotype and if that is even a bad thing or not.
Directed by Michael Henry 2 m English United States
Is Your Teen a Homosexual?
‘Is Your Teen A Homosexual?’ is a short allegorical comedy that satirizes Trump’s America by using the style of “teen hygiene” educational films of the 1950s.
Directed by Tamara Scherbak 6 m English Canada
Have You Hooked Up With Too Many Men?
Well? Have you?
Directed by Michael Henry 3 m English United States
Starving Boys
A Daddy, a Twink, a Bear and a Hunk are cruising outdoor in a suburban neighborhood of Montreal.
Directed by Raphaël Massicotte 7 m French with English subtitles Canada
My Aunt Mame
A working class, gender non-conforming woman in the 1960s leaves a legacy for her butch dyke grand niece. This is a humanizing narrative made 100% by one queer older woman, which highlights intersectional identities that complicate discourses of sex, gender, and class.
Directed by Krissy Mahan 9 m English United States
Flamers: Bottoms in a Brushfire
Two selfish, narcissistic (but also beautiful and valid) bottoms are forced to pack up their apartment during a Los Angeles brushfire. Will they bring their crystal collection or their great grandma’s urn? An examination of priorities.
Directed by Capucine Berney 9 m English United States
Dear Babe
A home-alone-houseboy is hungry, and not just for breakfast. What will daddy think when he reads about the houseboy’s filthy antics?
Directed by Ethan Folk 3 m German with English subtitles Germany
Don’t Fuck With England
A love story of words, whips, fries, and chips.
Directed by Rocket Ear 2 m English United States
My Eggboy
The wicked funny side of the Stockholm syndrome.
Directed by Etienne Bellefeuille 8 m French with English subtitles Canada
Hiding in Daylight
After a gay purge, four best friends are surviving by living in fake marriages to each other.
Directed by Cheryl Allison 15 m English United States
Summer of Connor
A photographer begins seeing the face of a barista, Connor, in his work- as well as every other human being- and embraces his emerging attraction to men. He still hasn’t told his girlfriend.
Directed by Russell Goldman 9 m English United States
March 2019 All Month on PhillyCam Sunday nights at 10:30pm. Link posted when available!
Thirty minutes of programming will be broadcast to everyone with Comcast cable in the Philadelphia metro area. The 30 minute program has videos about the fight for justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, regional organizing for healthcare for all, accessibility justice and a conversation about how Mexican-American gay men had to fight the Texas health department to get Spanish-language AIDS prevention services in the 1980s — when gay sex was illegal there.
April 5, 2019
Stony Brook University Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
I will be presenting some of my films at this event at Stony Brook University. 2019 Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Conference “Asking for a Friend (of Dorothy): What to Expect When You’re Expecting The End of the World”
Keynote: Shanté Paradigm Smalls,
Assistant Professor, English,
St. John’s University
This year’s conference aims to address both how to cope, resist or even outright refuse the current state of affairs. I’m fairly sure my work was selected for the portion described as, “The role of humor, camp, irony, sarcasm and irreverence.”
Shanté Paradigm Smalls is a scholar, artist, and writer. Smalls teaches and researches Black popular culture in music, film, visual art, genre fiction, and other aesthetic forms. Dr. Smalls is currently finishing their first scholarly manuscript, Hip Hop Heresies: Queer Aesthetics in New York City, which won the 2016 CLAGS Fellowship Award for best manuscript in LGBTQ Studies. Smalls’ writing has appeared in or is forthcoming in The Black Scholar, GL/Q, Women & Performance, Criticism, Lateral, American Behavioral Scientist, Suspect Thoughts, The Black Scholar, Syndicate Literature, and the Oxford Handbook of Queerness and Music.
Hello!
Well, 2019 is starting off strong! Here’s where some things are happening:
February 14, 2019
I will be on a panel about media representation at: Let’s Talk About Disabled Sex! YES we have IT!
“Let’s Talk about Disabled Sex is full day workshop geared towards people with disabilities, but this is an inclusive day. The morning is focused on basics, or sex 101. Participants will work in groups to explore anatomy, LGBTQIA+ terminology, sexual health, HIV/AIDS, and STD/STI prevention. The afternoon are two panel discussions, types of consent and media (mis)representation of disability and sex. We will discuss self pleasure and why it is important to know how you like your body to feel. The last workshop is provided by sexploratorium/Passional Boutique. They will present participants with adult toys and gear that can be used to have more pleasurable sex, and open discussion of how to use them. Lunch is included. This is a safe place. No pictures allowed. #disabledsextalk1
Februrary 21, 2019 FOUR BILLION REASONS will make it’s US premiere at the Corvallis Queer Film Festival, held at the Darkside Cinema. This festival is a project based in the School of Language, Culture, and Society at Oregon State University. “The CQFF seeks humanizing narrative and nonfiction films directed and/or produced by trans- and queer-identified people that highlight intersectional identities and complicate discourses of sex, gender, and intimacy.”
February 23, 2019
The World Premiere of the 2019 QueerBee Film Festival Fantasy programme at Deptford Cinema in London February 23, 2019 at 3 PM – 5 PM includes my parody CAROL.
“Fantasies are the activity of imagining impossible or improbable things. With the short films from the Fantasy Programme we explore our LGBTQI identities and imagine a different world.”
March 2019 All Month on PhillyCam Sunday nights at 10:30pm. Link posted when available!
Thirty minutes of programming will be broadcast to everyone with Comcast cable in the Philadelphia metro area. The 30 minute program has videos about the fight for justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, regional organizing for healthcare for all, accessibility justice and a conversation about how Mexican-American gay men had to fight the Texas health department to get Spanish-language AIDS prevention services in the 1980s — when gay sex was illegal there.
April 5, 2019
Stony Brook University Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
I will be presenting some of my films at this event at Stony Brook University. 2019 Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Conference “Asking for a Friend (of Dorothy): What to Expect When You’re Expecting The End of the World”
Keynote: Shanté Paradigm Smalls,
Assistant Professor, English,
St. John’s University
This year’s conference aims to address both how to cope, resist or even outright refuse the current state of affairs. I’m fairly sure my work was selected for the portion described as, “The role of humor, camp, irony, sarcasm and irreverence.”
Shanté Paradigm Smalls is a scholar, artist, and writer. Smalls teaches and researches Black popular culture in music, film, visual art, genre fiction, and other aesthetic forms. Dr. Smalls is currently finishing their first scholarly manuscript, Hip Hop Heresies: Queer Aesthetics in New York City, which won the 2016 CLAGS Fellowship Award for best manuscript in LGBTQ Studies. Smalls’ writing has appeared in or is forthcoming in The Black Scholar, GL/Q, Women & Performance, Criticism, Lateral, American Behavioral Scientist, Suspect Thoughts, The Black Scholar, Syndicate Literature, and the Oxford Handbook of Queerness and Music.
January 24-27, 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey
Screening “Four Billion Reasons” as part of the accessibility strand An Unashamed Claim To Beauty organized and presented by Theresa Heath of Wotever DIY Film Fest.
Pink Life QueerFest organized by Pink Life Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) Solidarity Association in Ankara, is the first queer festival in Turkey. Film enthusiasts have an opportunity to watch LGBT-themed films from different countries from all around the world. First edition of the festival was held in 2011 in Ankara. Starting from the 4th edition the festival takes place both in Ankara and Istanbul and from the 5th edition, it travels to Denizli, Mersin, Çanakkale and İzmir. The 8th edition will be organized between 10-27 January in Ankara and Istanbul.
Türkiye’nin ilk trans hakları derneği olan Pembe Hayat LGBTT Dayanışma Derneği, 30 Haziran 2006 tarihinde Ankara’da kurulmuştur. Dernek adını Alain Berliner’in yönettiği ve erkek bedeninde doğmuş bir kız çocuğun hikayesinin anlatıldığı Pembe Hayat (Ma vie en rose, 1997) adlı filmden almıştır.
Wotever DIY Film Festivali’nin kurucusu Theresa Heath ise hazırladığı İşte Böyle Güzeliz! Engel(siz)lilik Kesişiminden Kısalar / (An Unashamed Claim to Beauty: Short Films at the Intersection of Queerness and Dis/ability) başlıklı seçkiyle kuirlik ve engel(siz)lilik kesişiminden kısaları KuirFest takipçilerine sunuyor. Seçkinin Tasarım Atölyesi Kadıköy’deki gösteriminin ardından Heath’in katılımıyla bir soru-cevap etkinliği yapılacak.
February 21, 2019 Four Billion Reasons will be shown in Corvallis, Oregon as part of the Corvallis Queer Film Festival held at the Darkside Cinema. Corvallis Queer Film Festival, Corvallis, Oregon
March 5-10, 2019 My parody of Carol opens the New York Feminist Film Week on March 5. The opening night film is Bixa Travesty. This festival is held at Anthology Film Archives. On March 6, my friend the filmmaker CampbellX will be recognized in an evening dedicated to his film work. DES!RE (in which I appear) will shown. On Friday March 8, Patricia Silva and my collaborative film, All In A Day’s Work, screens on March 8th. New York Feminist Film Week (NYC)
March 21-25, 2019 Four Billion Reasons proudly and triumphantly returns to one of the best, most progressive and trailblazingly accessible festivals – The Leeds Queer Film Festival, held at Live Art Bistro, Leeds. Leeds Queer Film Fest (Leeds, UK)
February 21, 2019 Four Billion Reasons will be shown in Corvallis, Oregon as part of the Corvallis Queer Film Festival held at the Darkside Cinema. Corvallis Queer Film Festival, Corvallis, Oregon
February 2019 My Aunt Mame screens in their monthly curated film program held at Pride Films & Plays | Pride Arts Center. Pride Films and Plays, Chicago
March 5-10, 2019 My parody of Carol opens the New York Feminist Film Week on March 5, followed by the opening night film Bixa Travesty. This festival is held at Anthology Film Archives. On March 6, my friend the filmmaker CampbellX will be recognized in an evening dedicated to his film work. DES!RE (in which I appear) will shown. On Friday March 8, Patricia Silva and my collaborative film, All In A Day’s Work, screens on March 8th. New York Feminist Film Week (NYC)
March 21-25, 2019 Four Billion Reasons proudly and triumphantly returns to one of the best, most progressive and trailblazingly accessible festivals – The Leeds Queer Film Festival, held at Live Art Bistro, Leeds. Leeds Queer Film Fest (Leeds, UK)
The 2019 edition of the NYC Feminist Film Week is presented in partnership withWOMEN MAKE MOVIES.
The 2019 NYC Feminist Film Week presents its third annual film program committed to increasing the visibility of women and of all trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming filmmakers. Our program aims to foster critical dialogue among filmmakers and the general public, using queer/trans/feminist approaches to interrogate cultural constructions of gender, sexuality, race, class, age, and dis/ability.
Organized around the ongoing theme of feminist film genealogies, the series asks the following questions: What might a genealogy of feminist film look like in its ethics and aesthetics? How do feminist film practices function as forms of political and critical intervention? What strategies do they employ to unsettle and dismantle racism, heterosexism, transphobia, classism, and stigmas around sexuality, illness, and dis/ability? And how do feminist film and media practitioners articulate queer, trans, POC, working class, immigrant, dis/abled, and other marginalized experiences and identities?
Inspired by international feminist film festivals like Cineffable and the London Feminist Film Week, the NYC Feminist Film Week focuses on the social and material aspects of filmmaking, placing feminist film production within specific historical and geographical contexts while also creating connections among films, filmmakers, communities, and audiences across space and time. This year’s program focuses on issues surrounding sexuality with a focus on pleasure as a feminist strategy for resistance and community building. The FFW’19 line-up thus celebrates the intertextuality of film while recognizing the unique contributions of feminist film pioneers alongside new and emerging filmmakers.
Here are the events which include my work (Carol and All In A Day’s Work) and face (DES!RE).
7:30 PM NYC FEMINIST FILM WEEK 2019: PROGRAM 1: OPENING NIGHT Film Notes
Krissy Mahan in person.
SHAKEDOWN is the story of the Los Angeles black lesbian strip club scene and its genesis. Owned and operated by women, underground and illegal in nature, the club Shakedown is the darker, faster, younger iteration of this dance culture. SHAKEDOWN chronicles the explicit performances and personal relationships of the party’s dancers and organizers including Ronnie-Ron, Shakedown Productions’ creator and emcee; Mahogany, the legendary “mother” of the community; Egypt, their star performer; and Jazmine, the “Queen” of Shakedown. The documentary is preceded by Krissy Mahan’s animated parody CAROL, which uses DIY techniques and Fisher Price toys to deconstruct class dynamics in Todd Haynes’s film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 classic of lesbian literature, THE PRICE OF SALT.
Thursday, March 7 7:30 PM NYC FEMINIST FILM WEEK 2019: PROGRAM 3: CAMPBELL X Campbell X has been a key reference in contemporary British queer cinema since their first feature film was released in 2012. A romantic comedy about LGBT life set on the multicultural streets of East London, STUD LIFE centers on the adventures of JJ, a Black lesbian stud, and her best friend Seb, a white gay man. Made in collaboration with various queer and POC London communities and including street slang and patois, Campbell X’s first feature proposes a daring Black queer aesthetic while evoking the early work of filmmakers like Cheryl Dunye and Spike Lee. The feature film will be shown along with the short DES!RE, a meditation on feelings of attraction for people assigned female at birth who now define as non-binary, gender non-conforming, trans, lesbian, bisexual, or queer.
STUD LIFE
(2012, 91 min, digital)Preceded by:
Campbell X DES!RE (2017, 9 min, digital
6:30 PM NYC FEMINIST FILM WEEK 2019: PROGRAM 4: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY Krissy Mahan and Patricia Silva in person.
This program explores the intricacies of community as a practice of individual and collective belonging, kinship, creativity, and desire. In TRANNY FAG, Claudia Priscilla and Kiko Goifman document the life and the work of Linn da Quebrada, a black transgender Brazilian singer whose political interventions span both music and activism. The documentary is preceded by the short film ALL IN A DAY’S WORK, where two working class queer bodies stand a little too close for (other people’s) comfort, thus exposing the institutionalized assumptions society projects on both bi+ and butch women.
Claudia Priscilla & Kiko Goifman
TRANNY FAG / BIXA TRAVESTY
(2018, 75 min, digital. In Portuguese with English subtitles.)
Preceded by:
Krissy Mahan & Patricia Silva ALL IN A DAY’S WORK (2018, 10 min, digital)
SQIFF 2018 was a fabulous success! I saw most of my queer film family, although didn’t have nearly enough time to just hang out with them and catch up. But the precious time we did have together will always be treasured. Some highlights were the World Premiere of Patricia Silva and my film collaboration All In A Day’s Work (2018), lots of discussions about accessibility at film festivals, and of course CampbellX (in photo) curating the Opening Night Shorts and seeing his new film VISIBLE.
I attended the shorts programs Queer Arab Lives, Unearthing Trans Legacies, Bodies and Borders (in which our film showed), Overcome, the Bishop Black Retrospective, and Gay As In Hysterically Funny. I attended the discussions Deaf & Disabled Aesthetics in Film, part of Creating Online Content with BBC: The Social, and Meet The SQIFF Programmers (so interesting!)
Old and new friends at the Filmmakers Social
Between programs, I enjoyed meeting with other filmmakers, particularly Sonya Mulligan and the brilliant duo from CinemQ in Shanghai, who are both in this photo: It had been a year since I was able to travel – and actually it was to SQIFF 2017! These annual gatherings of trans-affirming, feminist, committed-to-accessibility film people nourish me to keep producing my films all year. I know that this group of people is exactly the people with whom I want to move into the future of film.
We wanted to launch of All In A Day’s Work at SQIFF, and worked diligently to have it completed on time. I know the film will do good work in the world, with such a send-off among good people.
Thank you, Team SQIFF, Helen Wright, Marc David Jacobs, Alison Smith, Samar Ziadat, Kate Adair, Leanne Dawson and Laura Wylie and (special warm thanks to Guest Coordinator) Lucy Rosenstiel, – for creating a welcoming, rigorous, accessible film adventure for all of us.
Pool | dir. Leandro Goddinho | Brazil | 2016 | 20’00 A stunningly beautiful and emotional story about a woman going to give her grandmother’s last words to the woman she loved in her youth. https://vimeo.com/goddinho
Tales From Pussy Willow – Parents Chat | dir. Kate Jessop | UK | 2016 | 2’45 Coming out to the parents, with unexpected replies. Part of a satirical animated comedy web series set in Pussy Willow, which celebrates queer, feminist and absurdist themes.
Gloucester City, My Town | Krissy Mahan | USA | 2012 | 3’57 In typical Fisher Price style, Mahan depicts the continual encounters of what “being a daughter” means in her working class town, even for a butch lesbian.
I Think We’re Alone Now | Anna Dória and Isabela Costa | Brazil | 2017 | 15’22 Beatriz and Cecília are teenagers facing typical problems of finding space and time to be together freely as baby dykes in a conservative setting, so they wish to be in a place free from judgements and violence… and it comes true.
Nina | dir. Olivia Costa | Australia | 2017 | 11’44 The relaxed, drifting story of a young lesbian who is a sex worker with male clients, flirts with a girl she fancies, hangs out with her young neighbours, and is always just making ends meet.
REAL | dir.Cass Dennis | Australia | 2018 | 9’47 This is a film for anyone who ever became strangely obsessed with a TV character before coming out, with all the feels.
The World Can Wait | dir. Deborah Espect | UK | 2017 | 8’00 Vic is a popular lesbian character in a hit television series. But when the Executives in charge of the show gather to decide her fate, she finds herself having to fight for her survival.
Heal | dir. Eden Maslavi | Israel | 2018 | 3’33 A charmingly DIY snippet of lesbian relationship drama filled with chocolate, avocado decor, broken hearts and megaphones.
This is a repeat screening of Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest shorts programme.
Please note that this event is free, however they recommend booking your tickets in advance to avoid disappointment.
I am deeply honored and thrilled to be included in the prestigious and radical Toronto Queer Film Festival 2018, held at OCOD University in Toronto. My parody of the Todd Haynes film “Carol” was included in the program Otherland, held on November 3, 2018.
From the program notes:
Carol
dir. Krissy Mahan | United States | 2016 | 7 min
Krissy Mahan’s Carol is a stop-motion parody of Todd Haynes’ 2015 feature film Carol (2015). Referencing Haynes’ underground cult short film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988), this playful short, starring Fisher-Price toy figures, presents a hilarious and necessary counter perspective to Hayne’s adaption of the queer classic/classist narrative.
Queer and Trans sexualities and genders existed in the Americas long before Europeans arrived and fucked everything up. 2 Spirit/Indigiqueer people have been persecuted ever since, not only by colonizers, but also by their/our own colonized communities.
Upending mere reconciliation into decolonization in the Queer community means re-centering 2 Spirit/Indigiqueer people. TQFF’s theme this year is Decolonizing Sexualities. What does a decolonized sexuality look and feel like? What are alternative futures for Queer and Indigiqueer people freed from Christian-influenced censorship and shame? If a Queer festival doesn’t have power to give the land back, how can we give our spaces to Indigenous people?
Exploring these questions and more, the 2018 Toronto Queer FIlm Festival features twelve screenings plus workshops and panels from November 1-4 at OCAD University. In recognition of our festival theme Decolonizing Sexualities, over 45% of the films selected were made by Indigenous directors, with another 40% produced by directors of colour.
OTHERLAND PROGRAM
Undone
dir. Erin Buelow | Canada | 2018 | 16 min
Undone explores the troubled language of the tactile body.
Wheelchair Dancer – Kenta Kambara
dir. Kenta Kambara & Nobuyuki Arai | Japan | 2018 | 2 min
A portrait of Kenta Kambara from Japan, who made headlines in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Handover Ceremony for his acrobatic dancing with a wheelchair.
Amour is love
dirs. Hanna Che & Harry Forbez | Canada | 2018 | 10 min
Mariana, Jodie-Ann, and Diane are three queer as f*** women of color who discuss their past, present, and future without any filters or taboos.
Carol
dir. Krissy Mahan | United States | 2016 | 7 min
Krissy Mahan’s Carol is a stop-motion parody of Todd Haynes’ 2015 feature film Carol (2015). Referencing Haynes’ underground cult short film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988), this playful short, starring Fisher-Price toy figures, presents a hilarious and necessary counter perspective to Hayne’s adaption of the queer classic/classist narrative.
way home
dir. Lynx Sainte-Marie | Canada | 2017 | 6 min
way home is an atmospheric visual and auditory landscape through which the artist shares deeply resonant poetry woven from love, pain and longing at the intersection. As we travel with the artist, we are brought on a revealing journey with tender memories of play, grief, abandonment, resilience and various other dissonant emotions the concept of home can invoke for Black folks in the diaspora.
Detached
dir. Tiffany Rossi | Brazil | 2017 | 1 min
Filmmaker Tiffany Rossi asks: Have you ever felt detached?
Idea of Me
dir. Brianca Williams | United States | 2018 | 4 min
A young woman becomes emotionally detached in her relationship as she struggles with depression and fear of intimacy.
Happy Birthday Marsha!
dirs. Tourmaline & Sasha Wortzel | United States | 2017 | 15 min
This long-awaited short film imagines iconic transgender artist and activist, Marsha ‘Pay it No Mind’ Johnson, in the hours before the Stonewall Riots in New York City when drag queens and trans women fought back against enduring police brutality. Starring Independent Spirit Award Winner, Mya Taylor.
Otherland
dirs. Jan Pieter Tuinstra & Keren Levi | Netherlands | 2018 | 14 min
Dancer Elvin Elejandro Martinez performs at a Voodoo Carnival Ball, an important dance contest where he will have to prove himself to be accepted by the local ballroom community. He remembers growing up on Sint Maarten, a small island in the Caribbean, and all the changes he has been through since migrating to the Netherlands.
Hello!
