Norwich Queer International Festival of Film

03/03/2024

Hoo! We did it - though our instagram updates apparently didn’t filter through to Facebook land! It was a brilliant event. Massive thanks and love to the wonderful Hayley, our events personal The Forum, Norwich, to our brilliant volunteers, the fabulous people who came along to see the films and of course the most amazing and important people of all - the film makers whose work made us cry/laugh/rage/celebrate across the weekend. We will be back with details of more events very soon and the planning for next year will begin once we have had a cup of tea and caught up with Gladiators…

01/03/2024

NQIFF lands tonight!
Kicking off with this three gems! Join us at Forum, Norwich from 7pm.
A few weekend passes and day passes are still available so grab them while you can! www.nqiff.com

29/02/2024

The final screening on Saturday evening brings you an array of delights from across the globe! Be sure to come along - book your tickets at www.nqiff.com

Belonging and the Scene by Monica Dhaka
Breaking boundaries, demystifying stereotypes and highlighting the lesser-known facts around the community through the intimate story told by Dutch Pup Momo.

Summer Night's Fantasy by Guby Moon
It's a summer night and it's very hot.

B**b by Lokchi Lam is a romantic comedy following the trials of Butch, a large left b**b struggling with insecurity about his masculinity, as he works to impress his new crush in unfortunately toxic ways.

MARICOMIO by Enzo Monzón (Argentina - España)
Exuberant with colors and delirium, MARICOMIO is a lysergic journey where eroticism, drama, revelry, lucid criticism and absurdity come together. Enzo describes, with expressive power, that freak adventure that runs through his work; with mastery and determination, revealing a world that is invisible to some, but more forceful than what they call normal.

It Will Hurt, Dir. Dasha Altukhova (Germany)
This poetic documentary follows a Japanese art of rope, Sh***ri. I reflect on the physical and emotional forms of pain. The film provides an intimate glimpse into the journey from the confrontation with pain to deal with it and finding its new meanings. Ultimately, it offers a window into the transformative power of physical practices and their potential for self-discovery and personal growth.

PIXIE, Beth Johnston
PIXIE is a short experimental documentary following the local Glaswegian party girl as she shares her experience of coming out, transitioning and go-go dancing.

Losing The Spark,
Dir. Amanda Callas (USA)
A le***an breaks up with her robot girlfriend, revisiting their emotional moments in order to permanently wipe her memories.

A F*ckb*i Story, Carlos Jiménez (Spain)
Walking home one night in Madrid, Ulises runs into David, an old hookup he can’t seem to forget. When they inevitably shift into old dynamics, he wonders if their relationship could still have a future.

Scaffold, Billy Klotsa (Greece)
Fragments of bereavement and collapsing love appear in an isolated house between the land and the sea. Death arrives. The landscape shivers. What holds us close in moments of rupture?

Gi******as, Dir. Joan Bentallé and Pol Diggler (Spain)
Lolo and Dick meet again after a long time in a friendly bar and they catch up. To the surprise of both, feelings that they thought were forgotten arise again.

Under the Cherries, Frida Retz (Denmark)
In an absurd landscape where the grass is alive, and flowers grow out of asses, a goat and a goddess explore gender, s*x, and power.

SIREN, Dir. Scott Fowler (The Netherlands)
SIREN is a short story of a curse. In every gaze met, the cursed sees the onlookers most private secrets. The pupil transforms into a darkened well, burgeoning from the subconscious. What happens when instead of following our instinctual reaction to fear, we yield to it? What happens when we know things we shouldn’t?

29/02/2024

The late afternoon/early evening session on Saturday brings animation, experimentation, drama and documentary! All wrapped up in one beautifully packaged selection of films curated for your enjoyment!

Once I passed, directed by Martin Gerigk (Germany) is a profound and unvarnished portrayal of human love - intense, universal and true.

Ihavenovoiceandimustscream by British animator Ray Abu-Jaber, is inspired by sci-fi novel I have no mouth and i must scream, ihavenovoiceandimustscream dives into
the mind of someone with social anxiety. Fusing an original soundscape, and archive material from popular films that showcase idealised relationships, the visual poem encapsulates the feeling of losing your voice and the difficulty of connecting.

TWISTED DISTINCTION is a German film by Nicky Miller, set in the bustling city of Berlin, where we encounter a diverse cast of characters. From a desperate longing for
love in a nightclub toilet to a powerful and determined dancer, from a wanderer navigating the streets to a femme person seeking solace in wine, and from a person with a monster's face grappling with their inner demons – each of them is isolated in their losses, despairs, poverty, and longing for love.

Catboy, directed by Cristian Sitjas is a Spanish film.
Marc, a racialized gay boy, receives several hate messages from a gay dating app. After that he goes to a Ballroom for the first time, invited by his transs*xual friend Cacao.

Salz Got Herpeez is a British comedy directed by Ravin Vythelingum.
Sal a young hip lady from a big city wakes up to find graffiti sprayed over the front of her house. Full of rage she goes looking for the person that did this.

We‘re here. We‘re q***r. Get used to it! Dir. Kia Sciarrone (Iran / Austria) is a fresh and revealing survey of q***r related topics restricted on the internet in countries around the world.

Maskuline, Dir. Rev Sullivan (UK)
A psychoanalytical pry through the structures that form the creation of a gendered identity.

Identity Card, Dir. Luan Lamberty (Luxembourg)
About everyday struggles of a trans woman, the film gives a glimpse of how important it can be to make legal name changes easier accessible.

29/02/2024

Le Bal des Folles (2022) is a visual spectacle and pure delight. Directed by Quentin Goujout (France), the film is set in the Bal des Folles, where we meet a wonderful array of characters including Lagoon (assistant manager in a hair salon on the verge of closing, obsessed with seduction), Juliana Blue (switchboard operator, obsessed with her body, her weight, her age), Bloody Mary (old and obsessed with her future in love, believing in conspiracy theories) , Ever Green, the lucid stripper, Moonlight, a romantic and unbearable unemployed young man who never speaks, and Lazy Daze, a waitress in another bar in the neighborhood. Over the course of the film they come to understand what brought them here and conclude that there is no other way out except s*x and death.

28/02/2024

Join us for these gems on Saturday afternoon at The Forum!
See the full programme & get tickets at www.nqiff.com

Stone, Dir. Jake and Hannah Graf (UK)
When Tess learns of her estranged father’s death, she travels to the funeral hoping for nothing more than some closure and the chance to meet the woman who stole him from her. Immediately blindsided by the revelation that her father was a transgender woman, Tess starts to wonder what else has been kept from her, turning to her mother for answers. Realising that nothing is as it seems, Tess must challenge not only everything she has been told about her childhood but, most importantly, her
understanding of what it meant to be a father.

THE CO**SE OF MY FATHER LAYS BESIDE ME
Dir. Titas Miciulis (UK)
An exceptionally powerful and personal animation, drawn entirely in virtual reality. It is a visual expression of spite and trauma inflicted by an abusive family member that transforms into a feeling of salvation from the inevitable mortality of the abuser.

I know two boys
Dir. Samanya (India)
I Know Two Boys is a music video supporting LGBT movement in India.Samanya and Alexandria Godala penned the lyrics and Samanya developed the concept and screenplay for the video and also directed it.

28/02/2024

Saturday 2nd March is a full day of q***r and fabulous films at Norwich's first ever q***r film festival.
We kick off the day with a wonderful short film by a local filmmaker, Sam Rooke who is currently completing the MA in Film, Television and Creative Practice at the University of East Anglia.
The film is the story of Penny, who realises that she is in love with her housemate, but soon her jealousy starts manifesting in disturbing and unexpected ways.

Come along and check out some of the best local q***r talent with us at NQIFF.

28/02/2024

28/02/2024

HAPPY EVER AFTER, Dir. Merle Zurawski (Germany) is so much fun!
Happy Ever After picks up after the fairytale wedding: no more butterflies in the stomach, not longer living on cloud 5. An unexpected encounter with three q***r non-binary fairies changes "Cindy's" life in ways, that Disney didn't have up their sleeve.

Book your tickets and check out the full programme at www.nqiff.com

27/02/2024

These two films offer mediations on the idea of masks and they are part of the Saturday afternoon screening at NQIFF.

What I'm Hiding From You…
Dir. Conor Devlin-Powell
A dark short examining the struggles of masking as a neurodivergent person. We follow Zayn (Isidro Ridout) and navigate a busy overstimulating world only to be taken into a lair to become something they are not. The film uses rotoscope animation and was funded by Autograph Gallery & Shape Arts.

El Vals de los Demonios (The Demon's Waltz)
Dir. Trinidad Plass-Caussade
Gaël lives alone in the woods and spends his days sculpting wooden masks. The memory of a past love haunts him and pushes him to confront his true self.

www.nqiff.com

27/02/2024

We are super excited to bring this film to Norwich for its premiere!
Directed by Christopher McGill, this film follows Dan Glass, the activist and artist behind Baby Trump and a host of other audacious creative activism.
Join us to catch this film on Friday evening at NQIFF!
www.nqiff.com

27/02/2024

The emphasis on music shapes the third session on Saturday's NQIFF screenings.

SEEK/AFTER by Emmy Award-winning transgender choreographer Sean Dorsey.
Set in a dream-like rocky landscape, SEEK / AFTER asks: what forces erupt when
trans and q***r bodies are allowed to dream about the future? Powerful high-energy dance collides with driving music by DJ La Frida.

LUZ
Dir. Lilas Descottes (France)
Nice desert.. Prince Leï marries himself in a ceremony aimed at making him the new sun of humanity. A visual and sonic feast!

26/02/2024

Over the course of NQIFF we will be bringing you a sweet selection of micro-shorts - all under 3 minutes.

Amongst these are:
New Test 123, Dir. Anne Gart (UK)
New Test 123 is a part of Flammable Formula series. We assembled this arthouse film from strands of thoughts on intersectional feminism floating through culture. New Test 123 is postmodern in character. We invite our viewer to participate in creative freedom by constructing their own narrative for the piece.

Moments I Saw in Red, Dir. The Yoko Situation (UK)
Moments I Saw In Red is an experimental short film exploring the relationship between trauma, synaesthesia, and art. Shot on 8mm film, the film follows the story of a person with ptsd and synaesthesia who is recounting their memories associated with the colour red.

I would like to Live on the Moon, Dir. Emily Burke (UK) will also be screened on Saturday. This gorgeous animation is the story of a young non binary person who wants to escape - literally, to the moon.

26/02/2024

The third session on Saturday's screening begins with an emotionally charged film starring Richard Wilson.
G♭ is directed by Peter Darney and is one of our Welsh submissions.
Ceri. 84. has lost his husband to cancer and his ability to play to a debilitating stroke. He uses Grindr to invite 20 year old rent-boy Iestyn to visit: but when it’s time to get to business, Ceri is looking for a very different experience to the one Iestyn expected.

www.nqiff.com

26/02/2024

El Reflejo de las Grullas (The Reflection of Cranes) is a Venezuealan film directed by Juan Ballesteros.

Lucia, a 45-year-old woman, leads a routine life in her roadside inn, when one day Amelia, a young traveler trying to find part of her past in some local waterfalls, shows up at her reception. When an immediate attraction arises between them, the insecurities of one and the fears of the other will hinder the contact between them. It is only through a game of reflexes that one will be able to approach the vulnerabilities of the other.

This uplifting romantic film is part of our opening evening on March 1st at The Forum. Come along and join us for an enttire weekend of q***r films!

www.nqiff.com for the full programme and to book tickets!

25/02/2024

Saturday 2nd March
Session Four

Thodi Si Khushi - A Bit of Happiness (2022)
Dir. Ashish Madurwar (India)
A disabled househusband and his transgender partner discover happiness at the end of their miserable day with the assistance of care and affection for each other.
A beautiful and uplifting short film.

25/02/2024

Opening NQIFF on Sunday morning is the brilliant Fox Fisher documentary
Brighton's Beacon: A Decade of Trans Pride.

My Genderation (Fox Fisher and friends) has documented every year of Trans Pride in Brighton, since its inception in 2013. This year, even the weather seems transphobic, with the route and location of Trans Pride under threat - Will the biggest and longest running Trans Pride be able to happen? A reflection on 10 years of Trans Pride and Joy.

Join us for the very best selection of q***r films that Norwich has ever seen in one weekend! www.nqiff.com

25/02/2024

The Prince's Dilemma is an absolutely gorgeous animation directed by Devin Rowe and we are so pleased to be bringing this to you.

Prince Philip, who longing to be with a prince of his own, must decide to follow the traditional tale or forge his own happily ever after.