Duration: 85 minutes
Where Are You From ? – Israeli Shorts E
Continental Drift (South)
28.10 screening – Opening of the Master program
Natalie Adler is the EU representative to Sicily. She is responsible for organising a joint visit by French president Macron and German Kanzler Merkel in a local refugee camp. Their presence has a lot of symbolic value to show that everything is under control, but it seems nothing is. The German coordinator Ute, is also Natalie’s lover, there is of course the Italian bureaucracy, and let’s not forget Albert – Natalie’s son, who still hasn’t forgiven her for coming out and leaving his father, and who shows up unannounced in the refugee camp as a volunteer. He also has his own agenda, that isn’t going to help his mother, who’s barely holding on to her sanity as it is.
Swiss director Lionel Baier brings to the screen a satiric, biting and incredibly funny comedy about the not-so-united Europe, especially around the refugee crisis.
Natalie is portrayed by the wonderful French actress Isabelle Carré (“Delicious”, “Les Émotifs anonymes”), her son Albert is Théodore Pellerin (“Boy Erased”) and her German lover is Ursina Lardi (“The White Ribbon”).
8 Years
Please be aware – the screening is NOT in Tel-Aviv Cinematheque.
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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
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.
Chrissy Judy
Everyone has this friend that can’t seem to get their life in order, but you can’t help loving them despite the trail of mess they leave in their wake. For 30-something drag queen Chrissy it’s her BFF Judy, a perpetually messy drag queen who always drinks more cocktails than she should. After spending years in the bar scene of New York, Judy is convinced that this summer their drag show will get the break they’ve been waiting for, but Chrissy has different priorities, which force a very disappointed Judy to take a hard look on her own life as a drag artist and rediscover her true self.
This dark comedy gives us a glimpse into the underbelly of queer culture and struggles gay men face in the pursuit of love, acceptance, romance and identity. While exploring the universal pain of drifting apart from your best friend, the question of “What do you do when the family you’ve chosen doesn’t choose you back anymore?” arises.
Unidentified Objects
An unusual road-trip comedy with a unique charm. Peter, a “college graduate gay midget” by his own words, is a recluse in his book-laden apartment, mourning the loss of his best and only friend. His crushing loneliness ends when his weird neighbour Winona knocks on his door with an unusual request – she wants to borrow Peter’s car to go to Canada, where she believes that in a faraway field aliens will beam her up to their spaceship.
The resulting film is directed with exceptional visual talent by Juan Felipe Zuleta and provides its viewers with a unique queer film. “Unidentified objects” benefits from wonderful performances by Sarah Hay and Matthew August Jeffers (“New Amsterdam” TV series) in the leading roles, which earned the latter the acting award in the Los Angeles queer film festival.
Sissy
Cecilia (Aisha Dee from the series “The Bold Type”) is a successful social media influencer, living the dream of a modern, independent young woman from the TikTok generation. One day she accidentally runs into Emma (Hannah Barlow, the film’s writer and director), who used to be her best friend in their early teens. They used to believe their friendship would last forever and didn’t let anything stand in their way, until bully Alex invaded their lives. Emma is so pleased to meet her old childhood friend that she decides to invite Cecilia to her bachelorette party. Cecilia is convinced there’s nothing better than a weekend of music and drinks in a faraway cabin in the mountains to renew her connection to Emma, but there is one small detail Emma had forgotten to mention to Cecilia – Alex, the bane of their existence, is the owner of the cabin.
Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of laughter and horror in this surprising Australian gem.
In association with the Embassy of Australia
Blessed Boys
In the sunny Sanita quarter of Naples, Italy, a working-class neighbourhood, where everyone knows each other, two inseparable friends live in a protected bubble until their friendship is put to the test.
Mario (Vincenzo Antonucci) and Lino (Francesco Pellegrino) are two young men, born and raised in Sanita. They still never left the city to explore the world. When Lino’s younger sister convinces the locals she’s a saint, who can perform miracles, and gains their admiration, Lino’s destiny changes abruptly. Free from the financial responsibility for his mother and sister, he is able to imagine a life outside the slums for the first time. Meanwhile, Mario is experiencing an increasing attraction towards his best friend which he didn’t notice before now.
Director Silvia Brunelli’s debut film is Italian cinema as we love it: funny, bold and housing a plethora of colourful and humane characters. This is a film that confronts us with the differences between sacred and secular, old world and new world.
Dodo
“Dodo” is the new film by Greek master Panos H. Koutras, who brought us queer groundbreaking Greek films such as “Strella” (2009 TLVFest opening film) and “Xenia” (that screened during the 2015 TLVFest).
This time Koutras delivers a surprising melodrama, full of twists and highly entertaining. Dodo is the name of a bird that had been extinct for over 300 years. One night the bird mysteriously appears in a fancy villa of a down on its luck Athenian family. In two days they will celebrate the wedding of their daughter – a wedding that is critical to saving the family’s bleak financial situation. The presence of the long extinct bird rattles the family, the villa’s staff and others who cross its path.
Imagine the early 80’s great soap operas “Dallas” and “Dynasty” meet an extinct Dodo, throw into the mix queer characters and lots of plot twists and you get the very entertaining melodrama “Dodo”.
Additional screenings:
28.10, 19:45 Haifa Cinematheque
4.11, 21:00 Cinematheque Herzliya
The Revenge of the Shiny Shrimps
A sequel to the successful 2019 dramatic comedy “The Shiny Shrimps”.
This time the queer water-polo team are on their way to Japan, to take part in the LGBT games in Tokyo, when their plane is detained in the heart of Russia, in a particularly homophobic area. The fun trip to Japan turns into a life changing experience that will give the protagonists a new perspective on their reality.
This is an unusual sequel that chooses to confront the merry French bunch that is living a fairly safe and free life in Paris with the hard reality that is the lives of LGBT people living in East Europe. The team is facing many troubles they have never faced before, such as the dangers of using Grindr in Russia, an incarceration in a conversion camp, and raging and violent homophobia.
The scenes set in Russia were actually shot in the Ukraine, and some of the Ukrainian actors who played Russian characters had found themselves later fighting against the Russian invasion.
In association with the French Institute
