candan

Madeleine Bernstorff & Elke aus dem Moore

2005, Germany, video, color, silent, 3 min.

“Homosexuality as grounds for asylum,” says a banner hanging over Oranienstrasse in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin—a demand of the LGBT Communities. The Super8 camera pans over more banners welcoming all visitors to the Christopher Street Days 1998 in Turkish and Arabic...With the casualness of the shots, the banners, street scenes and singers, a partial alternative historical document comes into being. – Susanne Leeb, short guide “Projekt Migration,” Kolnischer Kunstverein 2005/2006

changing house

Zavé Martohardjono

2009, USA, video, color, sound, 18 min.

Fifteen years ago, a transgender lesbian couple opened their home to the trans community. Changing House follows the history of a home that became a makeshift shelter, a community space and political organizing space for a self-made family. Founding couple Rusty and Chelsea and former residents discuss the challenges of community living, trans rights activism and homelessness in the trans community through personal and house histories.

arT parade

M. M. Serra

2008, USA, video, color, sound, 6 min.

In Art Parade the Karen Black girls show beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The female form, big hair, suggestive movements attract and fascinate us and the question of gender can be an illusion or for some still very tantalizing. I liked the use of strong color. It reminded me in nature insects use color to attract. In this film the color intensifies the female girls and makes them more alluring. –Diane Leon

Queer saraJeVo fesTiVal 2008

Cazim Dervisevic & Masa Hilcisin

2009, Bosnia/ & Herzegovina, video, color, sound, Bosnian & English w/English subtitles, 32 min.

The first Queer Sarajevo Festival (QSF) was scheduled to take place from September 24-28 2008, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Threats had been made during the run-up to the event, and at the event’s opening, there were indeed attacks on both the festival’s organizers and those taking part. During the opening, violence erupted, leaving a dozen people injured. Although the festival shut down to ensure the safety of all those involved, the organizers have continued to fight for their rights.

“This document was primarily meant to draw attention to the violence that occurred after the first night of the festival in September 2008. But the film was also about the four people who are the sole members of Organization Q and probably the only four formally “out” individuals in Bosnia. Together, the four of them planned and promoted this festival, and together they witnessed it fall apart because of intolerance, violence and hatred...

“The first night of the festival was a triumph and a tragedy. Over 400 people gathered together in Sarajevo to enjoy queer art exhibits and films, and yet, on that same night roughly ten people were violently assaulted on the streets and countless others were verbally threatened or harassed. With even the police force frequently turning a blind eye to the violence, the members of Organization Q knew that the festival could not go on. But to prevent their efforts from going to waste, they produced [this film].

“To watch the documentary is to meet these four members of Organization Q. You laugh at their spunk, cry at their hardships, and fear for their safety. You don’t want them to become tired of their struggle and abandon their valiant cause, but at the same time you want them to be happy and safe. And as you see them sitting on a couch together, you can see past the brave exteriors and into the eyes of four people that feel so alone and so weary from the struggle. It would be a shame, and a stain on our collective conscious, if the story of the Queer Sarajevo Festival became a feature film, a la Milk, in thirty years starring some new Hollywood talent. Organization Q’s story is happening now and we should be aware of it now.” —Mitra Anoushiravani, Communications Intern at the Global Fund for Women.