Shorts 7 – First Voyages
What does queer coming-of-age feel like? Like a trip to the moon? Like flowers burning in the snow? Or like embracing glitches? We take you on six journeys of young narratives, all exploring themes of discovering something (or someone) for the first time. Blush – An Extraordinary Voyage is a trip of a young person defying societal biases around gender expression, with the support of their sidekick/best friend. In Unmasking, neuroqueer time opens up new possibilities of understanding oneself in a disabling society and offers insights into creating one’s own language.
First love, tender touches: Flowerboys dives deep into defining one’s own existence through loving another person for the first time. This story of first love continues in Eating Papaw on the Seashore, adding the layer of love flourishing in an environment that deems it wrong. Soma and Rasmus turns around the canon event of falling for a best friend, in a way that makes it no less relatable. To close this programme of young struggles, Skate imagines a dreamy, neon-coloured meet cute of two people roller skating into a queer future.
TW (for Unmasking): mention of self-harming behaviour; flashing lights; fresh mastectomy scars and old scars; mention of racist, sexist and other discriminatory experiences.
Content notes: use of homophobic language (Soma and Rasmus)
Length: 91 min
BLUSH – An Extraordinary Voyage
For 18-year-old Finnish–Kosovan Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public. Luckily his best friend Rai, a young woman on the spectrum of autism, is there to ferociously support him through the voyage.
by Iiti Yli-Harja
Finland, 2022
Finnish
(English subtitles)
15 min.
Narrative
Moviemento
02.06.2024 – 14:00
Unmasking
What is left of my bodymind when the neuronormative masks start to break? How could a neuroqueer world feel like? How can a collective glitch transform the status quo? “Unmasking” is a neuroqueer video essay inspired by the manifesto “Glitch Feminism” by Legacy Russell and shows the intersection of queer feminism and Disability Justice as the “glitch” awakens in neuroqueer unmasking and nourishes in Collective Care, Trans Liberation, Prison and Psychiatry Abolition and Neuroqueerness.
by Florin Garzotto
Switzerland, 2023
English
(English subtitles)
21 min.
Experimental
Moviemento
02.06.2024 – 14:00
by Nikol Urbanova & Luca Peres-Bota
Czech Republic, 2023
No Dialogue
(English subtitles)
8 min.
Narrative
Moviemento
02.06.2024 – 14:00
Eating Papaw on the Seashore
Hasani and Asim navigate a hidden connection at the Guyanese Seashore. As they grapple with societal expectations and Asim’s impending departure for Trinidad, their relationship unfolds amidst playful moments in the ocean and intimate encounters in the kitchen. Set against cultural traditions and familial obligations, the story explores themes of sexuality, desire, and acceptance. Through tender moments and silent longing, it portrays the complexity of adolescent love and the challenges of self-discovery in a conservative environment.
by Rae Wiltshire and Nickose Layne
Guyana, 2022
English
(English subtitles)
18 min.
Narrative
Moviemento
02.06.2024 – 14:00
by Tim Lanzinger
Germany, 2024
German
(English subtitles)
15 min
Narrative
Moviemento
02.06.2024 – 14:00
Skate
After receiving news about his father’s ailment, Theo returns home to care for him, despite their strained relationship. Upon his return, Theo finds him falling back into their old tradition of visiting a skating rink. There, he meets a skating group and soon finds himself falling for the leader. Over the course of the film, Theo attempts to renew his relationship with his father all while finding solace in his new friendships.