Short Films
Shorts I: Activism
Sat 09.09 19:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Documentaries paying tribute to those who pave the way forward.
Because I Know How Beautiful My Being Is
Ana María Jessie Serna 18' 2023 UK
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
A documentary essay film that uses the tools of visual ethnography to explore and focus on the diverse corporealities of black and queer communities in Manchester, Liverpool, and London, England.
Poisoned Well
Radek Ševčík 14' 2023 Slovakia
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
October 12, 2022 – terrorist attack in Bratislava – death of innocent LGBTI+ people – no political response. Film-requiem discusses the deteriorating state of society after the attack, as well as the intimate feelings of LGBTI+ people, including the author himself.
RAIZES
Celine RUFFIN-BAYARDIN 35' 2023 France
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
The lesbo-trans-activist batucada Raízes Arrechas is preparing for one of the most important moments of their year: the feminist and radical night march.
Shorts II: Families
POSTPONED
A programme exploring different notions of ‘home’.
A Present Light
Diogo Costa Amarante 19' 2021 Portugal
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
On a rainy night, a sad man leaves his home to deliver a letter to someone who recently left him. At a corner, he meets a woman who warns him about the slippery road.
Bellydance Vogue
Hadi Moussally 5' 2020 Lebanon
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
"My birthday was on the 3rd of April 2020 during lockdown, and for the first time, I celebrated it all by myself. But even if I was alone, I decided to celebrate it as if it’s the last one"
Eggshells
Slava Doycheva 15' 2020 Bulgaria
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
On Easter day, when her girlfriend picks family over her, Nevena dyes two red eggs and sets on a journey to meet her own estranged father.
Hands and Wings
Sungbin BYUN 18' 2019 South Korea
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Mi-Sook helps her son, Woo-Sung with masturbation because he has disability that makes him unable to masturbate by himself. One day, Woo-Sung rejects his mom's offer to help.
Shower Boys
Christian Zetterberg 9' 2021 Sweden
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
After a heated training match with the team, twelve-year-old Viggo and Noel go home to challenge each other's limits and masculinity. A sudden stop to an innocent game questions what a male friendship is allowed to be.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Arthur Cahn 20' 2021 France
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
The factory where Romain and Adémar work has caught fire, so they decide to enjoy three days of idleness together in the mild summer.
We'll No Longer Be Alone
Manon Perreaut 15' 2022 France
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Jess' nights are haunted by memories of her childhood. She wears a mask which is keeping her from being herself.
Shorts III: Defiance
Mon 11.09 19:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
These queers are here to subvert expectations, embrace their desires and celebrate their true selves!
Alex's Machine
Mael Le Mée 25' 2022 France
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Alex is the only girl in her "automotive biomechanics" class. For her degree, she has chosen to build an engine made of artificial flesh. One night, Chloé, who shares her boarding school room, discovers that Alex takes a singular pleasure in working on her living machine…
Catboy
Cristian Sitjas 13' 2023 Spain
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Marc, after receiving several racist and feather-phobic comments from a gay dating app, receives a message from his transgender friend Cacao inviting him to a Ballroom.
G Flat
Peter Darney 17' 2022 UK
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
84 year old cellist Ceri has lost his husband to cancer and his ability to play to a debilitating stroke. His dull life is spent in solitude, save for the interruptions of agency carers and the solace of his I-pad.
God's Daughter Dances
Sungbin BYUN 25' 2020 South Korea
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
A transgender female dancer, Shin-mi, gets a call from the Military Manpower Administration, to attend for the Military Service Examination.
The Cutest and Funniest Animals in the World
Renato Sircilli 24' 2022 Brazil
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Jorge is 70 years old and is one of the most capricious and dedicated janitors at the Paradise Motel, except for a single detail: He secretly records the audios of the room’s guests.
The Tree
Ida Hansen Eldøen 14' 2023 Norway
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Low and hungover, Rebecca finds herself fighting off her ex-girlfriend Vivian, who has turned up to claim the apple tree they had planted in Rebecca’s backyard.
Shorts IV: Stephen Cummins Retrospective
Tue 12.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
The complete works of Australian filmmaker Stephen Cummins: digitised, restored and re-celebrated.
Stephen Cummins Retrospective
Stephen Cummins
Tue 12.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Shorts V: Love, Sex, Loss
Wed 13.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
A selection of films exploring the links between love, sex and loss, and how we come to know one another, or someone who is not there anymore.
A mountain and a room
Alexandros Pissourios 2'55'' 2023
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Blind Date 2.0
Jan Soldat 7'33'' 2022
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
He loves a bodiless dream
Alexandros Pissourios 2'34'' 2022
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
LOVERFILM – An Uncontrolled Dispersion of Information
Michael Brynntrup 21'30'' 1996
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Patrick
Luke Fowler 21' 2020
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
The Pool
Alexandros Pissourios 3'10'' 2023
@ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Screening with Features
@
Clause
Scott Hurran 7' 2022 UK
Sat 09.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
CLAUSE is set in a school that is being attacked for its equality policies, there is going to be a board meeting to decide what happens, but what do you do when the headteacher of the school is a gay man.
The Hat
Hadi Moussally 4' 2022 France
Sun 10.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Hadi stares at the camera and begins to get dressed. As he prepares himself, he expresses his thoughts on the current situation, how much discrimination and amalgams weigh on him, he who wears the double stigmatizing hat of gay & Arab.
Your Name Is
Paulo Patrício 24' 2021 Portugal
Mon 11.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
The look at the murder case of Gisberta Salce Jr, a transsexual, HIV-positive, homeless and drug addict who was brutally tortured and raped for several days straight by a group of 14 teenagers in Porto, Portugal, in 2006. Centered around topics like memory, social status, violence, discrimination and gender identity, “O Teu Nome É” explores the worrying account of two of the convicted teenagers, now young men, and the memories of Gisberta’s transexual friends, confronting different perspectives and dimensions of the human condition.
Tommies
Brian Fairbairn Karl Eccleston 15' 2022 UK
Fri 15.09 19:00 @ Shakespeare House
In Regency-era London five women waiting for a carriage descend into a frenzy of vicious gossip about a notorious scandal – with devastating results.
Pipes
Jessica Meier Kilian Feus Sujanth Ravichandran 4' 2022 Switzerland
Sat 16.09 19:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Theatro)
Bob the plumber is hired to fix a broken pipe in a sex club. As he sees the crowd, he realizes that he has not ended up in just any sex club, but a gay fetish club.
The Proof is in the Pudding
Suçon 16' 2022 France
Sat 16.09 21:00 @ Sessions x SPEL (Cloud)
Milly comes to visit her former classmate, Lise. They are invited to a vegan birthday party and discover an original recipe that will lead them to unknown paths of pleasure.