The 35th Vancouver Queer Film Festival will take place August 10-20, 2023.
Included are three German films; one in feature film length and two short films, which will be shown together with other short films on two short film evenings.
Polina Teif | 2023 | 72 min | German with English subtitles
The all-white board of the House of Womxn has been told to diversify, or they can’t attend a prestigious conference. Reluctantly, they task a junior member, who believes that being from East Germany makes her a minority, with collecting suitable candidates because she has “connections to those communities”—indeed, she is sleeping with two of the invitees. Those who trek out to the Nazi hotbed of Brandenburg include a powerhouse lawyer adopted from Vietnam, her estranged “white saviour” mother, a Black high fashion matriarch, a disabled immigrant, and a nonbinary filmmaker. The guests clash, revealing painful differences but ultimately addressing their similarities.
Punchy, darkly funny, and caustically subversive, this film takes a candid look at issues including tokenism and colourism. German filmmaker Merle Grimme made this film as part of her graduation thesis and ensured her crew was as diverse as the cast.
Date: Aug 11, 2023 Time: 9:00 PM Location: VIFF Vancity Theatre | 1181 Seymour Street | Vancouver More information & tickets
Shorts: Something About Him
Date: Aug 17, 2023 Time: 9:00 PM Total runtime: 89 min (six short films, one of them “Dogfriend”) Location: International Village - Theatre 9 | 88 W Pender Street | 3rd Floor | Vancouver, BC Available Online: Aug 18 - 21 | 9 PM - 9 PM More information & tickets
Maissa Lihedheb | Germany | 2022 | 18 min | German with English subtitles
A date between two men (one black, one white) takes an unexpected turn in this boldly unpredictable exploration of racial politics, microaggressions, and mental health.
Content warning: Sexually explicit content.
Shorts: It’s Complicated
Date: Aug 18, 2023 Time: 9:15 PM Total runtime: 75 min (five short films, one of them “A BED FOR THREE OR THE EXTRAORDINARY AND SURPRISING COMPLEXITY OF BEDROOM FURNITURE”) Location: International Village - Theatre 9 | 88 W Pender Street | 3rd Floor | Vancouver, BC Available Online: Aug 19 - 22 | 9:15 PM - 9:15 PM More information & tickets
A BED FOR THREE OR THE EXTRAORDINARY AND SURPRISING COMPLEXITY OF BEDROOM FURNITURE (EIN BETT FÜR DREI oder DIE AUSSERGEWÖHNLICHE UND ÜBERRASCHENDE KOMPLEXITÄT VON SCHLAFZIMMERMÖBELN)
Jan-Peter Horstmann | Germany | 2023 | 17 min | German with English subtitles
It’s after hours in a furniture store, and three young protagonists call for the help of a vaping fairy godmother. But will a supersized bed save the throuple or break them apart?
