Panorama 2023 Archives

Patagonia

The debut feature by Simone Bozzelli is a spectacular cinematic piece about escaping a gilded cage and choosing a vagabond life of freedom with the ultimate goal of chasing love.
20-year-old Yuri lives a sheltered life with his elderly aunt in a small town in the Italian countryside. He has never left the town and is satisfied with his life besides his aunt who works at the local butcher. This is all he knows.
One day Yuri meets Agostino, a wandering clown, charismatic entertainer and a children’s parties magician. Yuri immediately takes a shine to the free spirited Agostino – he represents everything Yuri never knew he needed, like independence and freedom. The two decide to go on a joint journey, but what seems to Yuri at first as a dream of self discovery, turns into a nightmare…
Viewing is 18+ due to nudity, explicit sexual content and violence.

Blue Jean

England 1988 – Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government is about to pass a law that will not allow gay men and women to work in the education system. Out of fear for her job, PE teacher Jean is forced to live a double life. Her personal life becomes even more complicated when her activist partner starts pressuring her to come out of the closet. When a new student in Jean’s school shows up unexpectedly in the local lesbian bar where Jean and her friends hang out, the meeting pushes Jean further towards the edge and challenges her life choices.

“Blue Jean” is a portrait of a woman who only wants to keep her life and identity private, while the social and political reality, that is so much bigger than her, will force her to make a stand. Rosy McEwen takes the screen by storm as Jean. Georgia Oakley’s debut film was already screened in over 50 festivals worldwide and has rightly won many awards.

Salty Water

Based on the experiences of director/screenwriter Henrika Kull, one of the more interesting queer filmmakers in Germany today (her film “Bliss” was screened at the TLVfest 2021). This time her movie is set in Israel.
In “Salty Water” Kull describes the sexual tension between Anna, a young woman visiting Israel from Germany and Nuri, an Israeli man that she had just met through a mutual friend. For the last decade, until she met Nuri, Anna’s partner had been a woman. Feelings begin to emerge between the two as they decide to take refuge in Nuri’s parents’ deserted house in the mountains between Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, in the middle of a military operation, when missiles are being launched at Tel-Aviv by the Hamas. The young couple spends two intense days by the pool protected by the ‘Iron Dome’, two days where feelings and secrets will be revealed.

Birder

Despite its name that suggests a relaxed and quaint piece, “Birder” is the perfect late night erotic thriller.
Kristian Brooks invades a queer nudist camp on the shores of a remote New Hampshire lake. While not wearing much, he makes friends with the locals, and his flirting disturbs the commune’s dynamics. When he seduces the naked men around him, they’re about to experience a lot more than they imagined.
“Birder” explores the behavior of a serial killer and takes his audience on an unexpected journey. Director Nate Dushku provides a queer piece that celebrates diversity of nudity and tests the limits.
Viewing is 18+ due to explicit sexual content, nudity and violence.

After the screening, Q&A with the director Nate Dushku and the screenwriter Amnon Lourie.

Fancy Dance

Following the disappearance of her sister, Jax – a woman with Native-American roots, kidnaps her niece from her white grandfather’s house, and together they embark on a journey to reach a traditional Native American dance ceremony where Jax’s missing sister used to dance.

The leading role is portrayed by Lily Goldstone, who is starring with Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s new film “Killers of the Flower Moon”. In “Fancy Dance” she plays a queer woman investigating the disappearance of her older sister while trying to convince the authorities to let her raise her niece according to their Native American culture rather than hand over the child to her estranged white father.

Erica Tremblay’s moving film incorporates several complex issues and manages to bring them to the silver screen in a very respectful and inspiring manner. She weaves into the family drama topics like queer identity, ethnic identity, women’s friendship and the fight for Native Americans rights in the U.S.A. This film also raises awareness of a very disturbing phenomenon – the disappearance of Native American women in the reservations.

Blue Flower

A set of three fascinating short films from all over the world. Though they were made with low budget, they have a distinctive cinematic styles and showcase unique love stories from Nepal, India and Myanmar.
Duration: 90 minutes

An Afternoon with Patrick Sarfati

“An Afternoon with Patrick Sarfati” is exactly what it sounds like.
After a year of meetings and bonding, filmmaker Anthony Hickling and photographer Patrick Sarfati make the move. The moment of truth has arrived, getting a camera into the living room of the legendary stills photographer that began to document the LGBTQ community back in 1979 and focused mainly on LGBTQ artists and cultural icons. Sarfati’s living room is a stunning archive of photos from many decades, portraits of celebrities that hide fascinating stories and amusing anecdotes that he shares with glee. With some of his subject Patrick had a friendly relationships and sometimes even beyond – Keith Haring, Jeanne Moreau, Coccinelle, Bette Davis, Grace Jones, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Roland Barthes, James Baldwin, Tom of Finland, Jean-Claude Van Damme and many more.
This is an intimate meeting with a very colorful and fascinating character that you’d love to spend an afternoon with.

On the Go

The screening will be preceded by the short movie “In My Own Image”.

Imagine “Easy Rider” meets early Greg Araki films such as “Totally F***ed Up” and “The Living End” and pour over some hot and sassy Spanish passion and you’ll end up with the anarchistic creation by directors/screenwriters María Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro, starring Omar Ayuso (“Elite”) in a very daring role.
37-year-old Milagros is a young carefree woman in her last years of fertility, while 24-year-old Jonathan, her best friend, is obsessively looking for comfort on Grindr in order to overcome his separation anxiety. Milagros is looking for sperm, Jonathan just wants to run away after burning down a club. The two embark on a roadtrip where they will meet a mermaid, one night stands and criminals, all while listening to great music.
This is a film about contemporary young men and women who think they live in the age of free choice with unlimited options, but the truth is – the beginning of the 21 century freedom is nothing but an illusion.
The film was shot entirely on a 16mm camera.
Viewing is 18+ due to nudity and explicit sexual content.

In association with the Embassy of Spain

In My Own Image
Director, Script & Producer: Giuseppe Bucci
With: Mariano Gallo, Eva Grimaldi, Salvatore Langella
Italy, 2023, 12 min, Italian with English subtitles

Francesco fails to feel sorry for the death of his father, a homophobic and bigoted man mainly due to his religious upbringing. The son has never confessed his homosexuality to his father and, desperate, he makes a very strong gesture to shout his homosexuality to God, the Vatican and his father.

All the Fires

“Fire will attract more attention than any other cry for help.” Jean-Michel Basquiat

Bruno is on a collision course with his greatest passion – fire. He’s a high school student that likes to upload videos of burning things onto social media. He is aided by his best friend Ian in order to document his petty arson acts that become more and more dangerous. Bruno is not happy with his mother’s new relationship, he also cannot deal with his growing attraction to his male best friend who is also interested in him. He spontaneously decides to run away to a small town where a girl he’s been messaging with on Instagram lives, only she has her own secrets. Reality will force him to confront his father’s death and the doubts he has about his sexuality, but not before leaving a trail of chaos behind him.
“All the Fires” has mysterious overtones, it’s full of deep passion that is threatening to erupt and consume everything around it. Young and different Mexican cinematic piece on exploration of sexuality, sexual diversity and self acceptance

Rivière

17 years old Manon, an outstanding hockey player, leaves her home in Switzerland to go look for the father who abandoned her and her mother years ago. She arrives at a small French town on the Swiss border, where she makes new connections and falls in love for the first time. Manon is determined to make her dream come true – to become a professional hockey player, but before that she must accept her sexuality as well as the reality where her parents will never be there for her.
“Rivière” describes the journey of a young woman who has to fight the entire world for her place in it because nothing is a given. Lead actress Flavie Delangle (Manon) gives us a tough and captivating character from the beginning till the end. Get ready for a particularly moving drama.

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Panorama 2023

Patagonia

Blue Jean

Salty Water

Birder

Fancy Dance

Blue Flower

An Afternoon with Patrick Sarfati

On the Go

All the Fires

Rivière

Festival

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