Top Picks of MUST SEE MOVIES at the 19th Edition of Berlin’s XPOSED Queer Film Festival

We always love the month of June as this is the time of year we are spoilt with so many of Queerguru’s fav queer Film Fests popping up around the Globe.  Starting off just before the month begins with XPOSED in Berlin (one of our all-time favorite European capitals). on May 29th and which is about to celebrate its 19th Edition.

XPOSED was started as a passion project, and to this day, remains a passion project as it is made by people who really enjoy queer films, filmmakers and queer Berlin, and this is reflected within the programming of the festival. It’s one of those Festivals that mixes its programs with new and old films, which enables it to give us perspectives that challenge normative views, propose an alternate way of thinking, and approach life and storytelling differently.

This 4 day event starts on May 29th with  HOW TO LIVE a rare queer film from Kenya, Africa about coming together, a film about organizing and a film about inhabiting spaces as queer people and filling them with joy, expression and the self.

The Fest wlll end on Sunday with IF I DIE, IT’LL BE OF JOY a remarkable French film that deals with one of those tough subjects queer people love to shat away from : ageism. From filmmaker Alexis Taillant this moving film is the story of three elderly activists, :  Micheline 81 years old, dreams of orgasms and tells anyone who will listen that she is burning with desire. Francis, 70 a seasoned activist, relentlessly challenges taboos surrounding old age. Yves 68 years old, feeling like a shell on a stormy sea desperately seeks love. In a world that underestimates the power of the elderly, they are part of a group of activists who defy prejudices, dare to reinvent sexuality love, and rethink old age.

 

Queerguru’s top picks for must see films at the fest include  Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, a queer indie road movie by Filipino director Petersen Vargas,  He has taken themes of queer chosen family, the Duterte crimes, police/authority oppression, the ending of life, rich versus poor and marginalised living and fashioned an intense, fast-paced film that gives an interesting insight into Filipino life. Shot entirely at night, the cast (chosen from hundreds of applicants) have a strong bond and chemistry. There’s a rawness to the film, with many shots filmed on handheld cameras and involving the public, that gives it an authenticity. The scenes of intimacy also feel real, ranging from the emotionless, transactional ‘no kissing’ escort hook ups, to the tenderness of real love. The strong soundtrack adds to the mix. It’s a film of two halves, a strong opening half set in Manila, with the second half on the road meandering slightly with a couple of incomplete sub-plots, before finding its way again in great style at the end. I guess that’s life though. It’s great to see queer Manila on the screen – the Philippines being one of the most LGBTQ friendly destinations in South East Asia.

 

Peafowl (South Korea 2022).   is the story of a fierce transgender dancer on the Seoul nightclub scene, who is forced to return to her rural hometown following the death of her father. There, she reconnects with her Buddhist heritage and has to perform a traditional drum dance in order to qualify for his inheritance. 

 

Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities:  Raed Rafei a queer filmmaker  who have been living in the US returns to his birthtown Tripoli, Lebanon to confront a hometown that once rejected him as a queer child. With a microphone in hand, he walks around coffee shops, public squares and a park to ask the city’s inhabitants about their cultural and social beliefs and their embrace of new ideas.  Gradually, he meets a group of marginalized individuals whose eccentric life choices contradict the general lifestyle in this religiously and socially conservative city. Through intimate conversations with them, he explores the complicated relations one forms with a hometown in crisis. This contemplative urban symphony paints a picture of a city trapped in a self -spun web, paralyzed by a deep economic crisis, a faltering revolution, and a looming doomsday.  Makes for compelling viewing 

 

 

19. XPOSED Queer Film Festival Berlin.

It is going to happen May 29 – June 1

http://www.xposedflmfestival

 

 

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