Page 71 – TLVFest

El Houb – The Love

In “El Houb – The Love” we meet Karim, a Moroccan-Dutch successful businessman, who decides to come out to his conservative Muslim parents after an ultimatum from his partner. In order to make them listen to him, he barricades himself in the family home pantry, the closet with household appliances, canned food and the main electric board. While he’s hiding in the closet, Karim relives childhood memories, negotiates with his partner and participates in a long overdue battle with his parents and brother trying to change their conservative attitudes.
“El Houb – The Love” is loosely based on the real life experiences and theater work of Fahd Larhzaoui who portrays Karim.
Lovely guest appearances by Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”, “Tel Aviv on Fire”) as Karim’s tough and traditional mother who keeps trying to feed him Moroccan sweets even while threatening to disown him, and by Slimane Dazi, the French-Moroccan actor as Karim’s sensitive father.
“El Houb – The Love” is a film that is all heart.

8 Years

Please be aware – the screening is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.

Spanish dramatic comedy “8 Years” takes us to the breathtaking views of the Canary Islands and raises the question “How do you get over your true love? “.
Jose considers David to be the love of his life, but when David breaks up with him after eight years together, Jose is haunted by memories of their relationship. Those memories take him back to the place where the two met, and back to the past that wasn’t as ideal as he remembered.

Miguel Diosdado and Carlos Mestanza are wonderful as Jose and David, as well as guest appearances by the legendary Isabelle Torres (from the mini-series “Veneno”), in her last role before her death, and by the Netflix star Sergio Momo (“Elite”, “Welcome to Eden”, “The Neighbour”), who steals the show as a sexy mobster.

Viewing is 18+.

In association with

Soy Nino

Bastian is a young trans boy from Chile who is facing a very difficult time – adolescence. It all becomes much harder when he has to devote most of his efforts into expressing his own individualism. His cousin, film director Lorena Zilleruelo, followed and filmed Bastian from the age of 12 until he was 18 years old, and witnessed his most intimate, moving and hard moments. This is also the journey of Bastian’s parents, who decide to support their son despite their own difficulties and eventually become activists for trans rights.
Despite the support he receives at home, Bastian has to face social and economical difficulties that might jeopardise his ambitions.
Bastian’s journey introduces us to a more trans tolerant Chile, thanks to a new and liberal generation.

The Oleanders

Paola, Betty and Eva are three trans women in the 60’s who’ve known each other for over 40 years. The three started as sex workers in Athens in their youth. In the film “The Oleanders” they revisit their old turf – the streets where they used to work, hang out, get harassed or arrested by the police, fight for their rights, enjoy life and find love. The three are having an unapologetic, humoristic and empowering discussion on the queer history of Athens and beyond.
“The Oleanders” was directed by social activist and filmmaker Paola Revenioti, who is also one of the three protagonists. Get ready for a hysterical and historical 65 minutes that manages to entertain, move and empower.

Screening in cooperation with The Gila Project for Trans Empowerment

Into My Name

Four friends – Leonardo, Raffaele, Andrea and Nicolo take a look back on their childhood and youth. They share their experiences and memories, even when they failed to live up to society’s norms. Each of their gender biographies is different and yet there are similarities. This helps them understand one another better and feel less alone.
In front of the camera they talk about love, partnership, choosing their name, hormone treatment, surgery decisions and dealing with the bureaucracy of those long and complex processes. In a very binary world, and especially in a conservative country such as Italy, the decision to determine your own gender is a subversive act.
“Into My Name” provides its protagonists with a safe space to describe their personal journey to their chosen selves. This film is a sensitive description of the hardships they’ve had to overcome in their way to fulfill the social, physical and legal change they yearn for.

Q&A with the director and producer after the screenings.

In association with the Italian Cultural Institute

Easy Tiger

“Easy Tiger” is an intimate portrait of vulnerable masculinity, during an unstoppable romance.
An unexpected moment during a session with a new client confronts a psychologist with his inner world. For a long time he’s been feeling alienated and lonely in his relationship and perfect city life. For the first time his basic human nature bubbles up and he can’t control his desires, and that forces him to see what he doesn’t want to become in order to find out who he really is.
In his debut feature film, director Karel Tuytschaever deconstructs cinematic language and the media of picture and sound in order to create a unique and first of it kind cinematic experience.

Viewing is 18+ due to explicit nudity.

Jezabel

Venzuelian director Hernan Jabes’ third film is a bold and surprising erotic psychological thriller.
In a country where political chaos reigns, a group of upper class privileged youth – Lolo, Caca, Eli and Alan, live carelessly amongst drugs, sex and petty crimes, until one day Eli is brutally murdered. 16 years later Alan is experiencing a beautiful romance with an author who specialises in unsolved murders. The memories start to resurface and the haze of drugs alcohol dissipates and reveals an unexpected truth.
“Jezabel” is a film that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, with many surprising turns and twists and gives us a dazzling performance by Gabriel Agüero as Alan.

Viewing is 18+ due to explicit sex scenes.

Camila Comes Out Tonight

Camila’s entire world is thrown into a spin when her mother moves the family to Buenos Aires. She starts attending a new school, million miles away from her liberal world view. Politically opinionated Camila is like a breath of fresh air to the other students and she quickly draws the attention of fun loving Bruno and Clara. Even though Bruno is nothing like the boys Camila dated in the past, it’s the flaming haired Clara that invokes something stronger in Camila’s heart. But Camila is unaware that Clara has a secret that can ruin their budding relationship before it even begins.
Director Inés Barrionuevo brilliantly captured the teen spirit in all its chaotic glory, and actress Nina Dziembrowski is absolutely mesmerizing as Camila.

We Will Never Belong

Adolescence can be tough, especially for young queer girls who haven’t yet fully formed and accepted their identity. Emi recently discovered that her mother is in a loving relationship with another woman and she’s not handling it well. She leaves her mother and returns to her birthplace to live with her father and his new family and spends more time with her maternal grandmother. Everything there is a lot less confusing until her intriguing step-sister shows up. Soon Emi realizes why she’s been having such a hard time dealing with her mother choosing to live her life freely.
“We Will Never Belong” delicately traces the journey of one girl to find her truth. Director Amelia Eloisa’s debut film does that with plenty of style and grace.

Director in attendance

God Save the Queens

It’s hard being a drag queen in LA, that’s why retreats are so important. In one of those care-vacations we meet Rock Rita (Laganja Estranja) and Stevie (Alaska Thunderfuck) – a former successful duo that fell apart over a mutual ex. They are joined by Marmalade (Kelly Mantle) an aging veteran queen who is struggling to stay relevant in a culture that idolizes youth and beauty and Gigi (Jordan Michael Green) a young queen desperate to get her big break with a show no-one wants to see.
Actress Jordan Danger (TV series “Eureka”) in her debut film as a director brings a fun dramatic comedy that offers a funny and loving look on the artists beneath the make-up and the eleganza.
Other notable performances in the film by Luenell (“Hacks”), Peter Facinelli (“Twilight”) and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars Michelle Visage, Manila Luzon and Honey Devenport.

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El Houb – The Love

8 Years

Please be aware – the screening is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.

Soy Nino

The Oleanders

Into My Name

Easy Tiger

Jezabel

Camila Comes Out Tonight

We Will Never Belong

God Save the Queens

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