SAQMI presents Practicing Hope
Wednesday October 2, 17.15, Konträr
In our ongoing cooperation with The Swedish Archive For Queer Moving we present a short film program in cooperation with them Flat Earth Cinema, Open Out and Išgirsti. A program centered around Queer Moving Image in the Nordics and beyond. These organizations are all exciting pioneers in their own right when it comes to their norm breaking work with moving images, cinema going and queer culture – this is a night you do not want to miss!
Be Vardų, Be Kojų
Brigita Gedgaudas / Canada, Lithuania / 2023, 2.55 min
“Be Vardu, Be Koju”, meaning ‘without names, without legs’, is an experimental, animated, dance film investigating queer movement in Lithuanian folk dance. Using photograms made from scanning dancers performing specific male and female folk dance steps, these new digital dancers explore their bodies in the indeterminacy of digital space. Living in a digital world, these photograms have limitless potential for creating new dances and relationships within Lithuanian folk dance outside of traditional, binary, male/female relationships.
A Bath in My Mothers Womb
Mona Namér / 2022 / 10 min
“In a dream landscape outside the physical world, the mind and body floats between different mental states in the search for total liberation.”
A Bath In My Mother’s Womb is an experimental short that through dance, explores the stages of birth, chaos and stillness. Drawing inspiration from the process of metamorphosis and the caterpillars transformation in the cocoon to becoming a butterfly, the film acts as a metaphor for how essential introspection is for both nature and mankind to have the opportunity to heal and be reborn.
you who were loved, like no others
Finnur Kaldi / Island / 2024 / 9 min
you who were loved like no others is an experimental short film that traverses through various moments and memories in transition. The film is made from both shoot footage and personal archives which the filmmaker has gathered through their life. It is a journey that delves into unrequited grief.
OM DET VAR 2007
Jon Ely Xiuming Aagaard Gao / Sweden / 2019 / 6 min
A music video for the poem and later song ”Om det var 2007” / ”If it was 2007” from the EP ”Ohavsdjur” / ”Monster sea creatures”
Text and film by Jon Ely Xiuming
Music by Erik Annerborn
Simeiz
Anton Shebetko / Ukraine, Netherlands / 2022 / 18 min
Simeiz is a small village on the southern coast of Crimea which is temporarily occupied by Russia. In the Soviet era, an underground gay resort arose in the village. It started with a small nudist beach; a popular bar and night club, Hedgehogs, appeared later in independent Ukraine. From the 1990s on, Simeiz became a significant meeting point for members of the LGBTQ+ community from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Every year, about 4,000 people visited the place before the temporary occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. At the moment, Simeiz, as a gay resort, is threatened with disappearance due to the homophobic laws of the Russian Federation. If this happens, old photos and videos will be the only evidence of its existence and extinction.
Queers Without Borders – teaser
ESE / Ongoing / 3 min
This documentary project (still ongoing), aims to highlight some of the struggles queer people face in Nigeria. But also, to shine a light on the beautiful queer joy that continues to grow in a country that ignores our existence and is comfortable discriminating and killing us simply because of who we are and love.
Lost Arab
Careen Koleilat / Libanon / Palestine / 2022 / 4 min
Lost Arab is a visual poetry collage reflecting my journey as a queer Arab immigrant, exploring identity, belonging, and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion. Inspired by Omar J Saker’s poetry book ”The Lost Arabs,” it conveys the emotional struggles of a queer Arab artist.
Voices From & To a Diaspora: Aleya
Omar Abogabel and Aleya / Egypt / Germany / 2024 / 8 min
An intimate close-up on Aleya, a trans woman who has recently moved from Cairo to Berlin right after her transition. This portrait marks her first year as a woman, having to cope with the loss of loved ones, family disownment, hormonal and psychological turmoil. She shares intimate stories, anecdotes and poems that document her transition.
