Teddy Award Berlin - Der queere Filmpreis

In early 1930s Berlin, aspiring writer Brian Roberts falls in love with honky-tonk singer Sally Bowles. The ex-pat American with her zest for life takes the uptight British academic on a merry tour of the nightlife of a capital city already abounding with the aggressive presence of the Nazis. The relationship is tested when they meet rich aristocrat Max and Sally begins an affair with him. But she’s not the only one ...This film version of the Broadway musical won eight Oscars. Based on [...] more

Whenever Lucas can’t sleep he hops into Danilo’s bed. The boy has been living with his brother since the death of his parents. But, in fact, Danilo already shares his bed with somebody else. more

The anti-homosexuality bill that religious groups in Uganda are trying to have passed, calls for imprisonment of homosexuals and, in ‘severe cases’ even the death penalty. In a country where ninety-five percent of the population condone the criminalisation of homosexuality, a group of queer activists are fighting to prevent this legislative proposal from going ahead. This film describes the life of David Katos, Uganda’s first openly gay activist, and his comrades-in-arms. His [...] more

November 1959. As a result of the success of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” Truman Capote is now a celebrated writer and – thanks to his ability to spin a good yarn – also a much sought-after party guest among New York’s intellectual circles. One day while reading the “New York Times”, he comes across a report of a brutal criminal case involving the slaughter – in cold blood – of a family of four in Holcomb, Kansas. Try as he might, Capote [...] more

"Hello people - I don't need no American Express Card! I am Carmelita Tropicana, Ms. Lower East Side Beauty Queen, famous nightclub entertainer an star of stage and screen. I love the Lower East Side. The men especially very friendly. All the time when I walk down the street they say: 'Oye, mami, mami ...'."

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It won't be long before interactive videos will be all the rage. Video players will exist which are addicted to gay sex fantasies in "virtual reality" and are at the mercy of the software producers. more

Chanel, Dior, Armani, Kenzo, Balenciaga ... in spite of globalisation, Paris remains the most important fashion centre of all and the city is still a magnet for designers from all over the world. One of fashion's most long-standing and revered proponents is Yves Saint Laurent. In 2002, he decided to retire from the fashion business. At his farewell show, which was attended by tout Paris, his muse and one of his most loyal customers, Catherine Deneuve, sang a heart-rending song to wish him [...] more

A six-year-old boy enters the limelight, timidly crosses the stage to greet the waiting crowd. Tension fills the air. All the boy’s friends and relatives are there.The boy climbs up onto a stool next to the microphone. He has invited everyone here today to celebrate his coming out – and everybody is expecting a speech.

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“I wish I could find real love … I wish I had a husband, a child and a family of my own … But this cruel world will never let that happen.” These are the words that one commonly hears if one gets to know the “Khusras,” a closely-knit sub-culture of transsexuals in Pakistan. This is a country defined by a mixture of religious fanaticism, the military and an underdeveloped democratic elite. The sizeable transgender “Khusra” community is well-versed [...] more

Three women talk about love. Jung is preparing an art exhibition. After teaching an art class her attention is drawn to some nude drawings by one of her female students, the somewhat recalcitrant Hee-jin. Yoon, the young woman depicted in the drawing, is not only extremely beautiful, there is also something mysterious about her, and one senses, in her presence, that she harbours a story. Jung asks Yoon to pose in the nude for her exhibition project; she agrees and shortly afterwards Jung, Yoon [...] more

Dimitrij loves going off on solo climbing expeditions. He'll do anything to escape the gruellingly surreal conformity of the small Georgian town he lives in and the monotony of the courthouse where he works. His father, the judge, presides over the courthouse with the same despotic manner he rules the dinner table at home. A man hands out faded flags in the neighbourhood; an aunt suffering from Alzheimer'sis convinced her brother-in-law has robbed her; and people come together on dreary [...] more

"If there's any message in my songs, it is to believe in your dreams." Oh Dong-gu has completely internalised pop singer Madonna's message. Possessed of a body like Hercules and a mind that is pure Madonna, sixthform student Oh Dong-gu doesn't just want to have a sex change - he wants to look like Madonna. Oh Dong-gu longs to be able to appear before his Japanese teacher - the love of his life - as a real woman. But the surgery for a sex change costs five million won - a [...] more

Eighteen-year-old Angelina works at a launderette and is determined to make something of her life. After earning a bit of cash posing for nude photos she uses the money to escape her white trash background and dysfunctional family and run off to San Francisco with her best pal. After several jobs she gradually drifts into San Francisco’s porn industry where, using the moniker Cherry, her naïve yet sexy aura soon brings her success and the opportunity to explore her own sexuality. This [...] more

Chrissy was the filmmaker’s best friend and the oldest of four daughters in a family from Perth. Chrissy was raped at the age of seventeen and, as a result of later complications arising from the rape, she was obliged to undergo a hysterectomy.Her utter despair left behind deep emotional and psychological wounds, of which a shaved head and a virulent hatred of men were merely the external characteristics. Chrissy was caught up in a maelstrom of self-destruction. She was HIV positive at eighteen, [...] more

On the wall of Takeko's studio is a picture of a mysterious tattoo of a golden spider lily (lycoris aurea) - the flower of death that lines the path leading to the realm of the dead. Jade is fascinated by this masterpiece, and decides that she too must have it. Friendly Takeko is reluctant. Unknown to Jade, the image portrays Takeko's late father's tattoo; Jade also has no idea that the two women met once before, many years ago. Ten years previously, Takeko survived an earthquake that [...] more

CITY OF BORDERS – that´s Jerusalem. In the heart of Jerusalem – defying generations of segregation, violence, and prejudice – stands an unlikely symbol of tolerance, a gay bar called “Shushan“. Inside this underground sanctuary, people of all nationalities, religious affiliations, and sexual orientations gather under one roof to find acceptance and community among those typically viewed as each other´s “enemy“. This film follows the daily [...] more

"COMBAT" is the third and last part of the filmed diary started by Patrick Carpentier in 2003 and entitled "The Irregularity of the Tearing". Two young men fight with each other. They hit each other very hard. But their fighting remains an act of love. There is no prize. There is no winner. There is no pride. A voice-over narrator tells a strange story in which he rediscovers the extent of his desire. Questions arise: does one inflict pain on the other or on oneself? How [...] more

The young teacher Philipp Klahrmann takes his first class of sixth formers. Inspired by his new position he makes a date with his colleague, Tanja. The pair gets quite carried away during the evening and they sleep together. This comes as a surprise for both of them for different reasons. Tanja is a shy and introverted girl and would never have thought that a man like Philipp would be interested in her. Whilst still a schoolboy, Philipp had always felt a strong attraction to his schoolmate, Jakob, [...] more

COMING OUT UNDER FIRE features nine gay and lesbian veterans who recount how they joined the patriotic war against fascism in the 1940s only to find themselves fighting two battles: one for their country and another for their right to serve. They first remember warm and entertaining stories of finding each other in a compulsory heterosexual environment and reminisce over tales of first love and deep friendships. Their good times were short-lived, however, as they became targets of newly created [...] more

"The first time my mother asked me, 'How exactly is it that we're related?' I was shocked," says filmmaker Deborah Hoffmann. In COMPLAINTS OF A DUTIFUL DAUGHTER, a tender exploration of the tenacity of love and the meaning of memory, Hoffmann chronicles her growing understanding of her elderly mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Shaped by Hoffmann's honest, witty confessional-style narration, the film examines a timely subject: as Americans live longer, [...] more

Day break in the red-light district of a Spanish town. Someone who earns their living in these parts makes their way home, sits down in front of the mirror and begins to remove their make-up. As they do so, they reflect on the events of the night to the strains of a song from the Middle Ages entitled “¿Con qué la lavaré?”, a lament about single women which was once sung in four-part harmony. A celluloid tribute to homosexual artistes of the late 1970s, just after Franco’s [...] more

42-year-old Abby is married, well-heeled and a lesbian. She and her wife have two children – they are the perfect family. Then one day she sustains a head injury from a baseball whilst playing with her children and, all at once, her neatly arranged balance of gym, school, family and housework goes awry: ”I don't want this!” is her desperate mantra as she is taken to hospital. She embarks upon a renovation project in the near by city and, before long, puts both her tidy suburban [...] more

“A woman in a man’s body. A man in a woman’s body. Jesus in Mary’s stomach. The water breaks. It floods into me. I can’t close the lid. My heart is full.” So runs Lukas Moodysson’s description of his film that features a female voice - the soft-spoken Suada. This film is about Brad Pitt and Paris Hilton, David Beckham and Saddam Hussein; it also about sex and the war in Iraq, about homosexuality and homophobia. Descriptions of a full life led more in the [...] more

CONTRE-JOUR: “The look with which we view and comprehend the world and how it is cast back at us in response, breaks up into ‘contre-jour’ (back light), into disquieting fragments. Blurs, flashes, and stroboscope montages disintegrate reality into shadowy images that inflict pain upon the retina. A spotlight precisely cuts the individual out of darkness. ”I wish you could see what I see“ remains a futile hope. Blind spots form a vast gap between self-perception and [...] more

Zina is a young Italian woman of Moroccan descent. She is to marry a wealthy Arab in Turin. Shakira, a Moroccan transvestite and the best dressmaker in town, is making her wedding gown. While Shakira is taking her measurements, Zina suddenly bursts into tears. She admits to being terrified of the marriage – because she is no longer a virgin. Shakira decides to help her. Together they set off for Morocco, because, they say, this is where they will find the most beautiful wedding gowns, [...] more

A director has organized for a young man named Conor to visit him at a meditation retreat to perform scenes from a story of his life. The young man has been given a tape with instructions: he must visit different rooms over the weekend, encountering five actresses who portray the key women in the director’s life. Over the following days, the young man becomes familiar with the women and becomes familiar with the history of the director. This allows Conor to have the compassion to “play” [...] more

2008, the opening of the first QUEER SARAJEVO FESTIVAL was closed down by a violent mob, that accused the organizers of blasphemy. Eight people were hospitalized, and the festival was cancelled. COVERED profiles the courage of the four women who organized the festival, and explores the complex politics that inform contemporary Bosnian society, still struggling with the demons of the war.

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It’s summer and, for the first time, Marc and his wife Beatrix are spending the holidays with their children in the same house on the Mediterranean where Marc used to spend his own summer break as a teenager. Although the mistral is up and the sea is still rather cool, the summer’s heat slowly begins to kindle the senses – as well as all kinds of desires. The couple’s daughter Laura can’t wait for her boyfriend to arrive and whisk her away on his motorbike from the [...] more

»Rodolfo was the only one of my many uncles who wasn’t a blacksmith like my grandfather. Rodolfo wanted to be a dancer.« This film takes up the hunt for clues about the life of Rodolfo, the Paraguayandirector’s uncle. Along the way, she finds out that Rodolfo’s name is on a list of 108 homosexuals that were imprisoned and tortured by General Stroessner’s dictatorial government in the 1980’s. »Rodolfo’s story unveils a piece of the deathly silent [...] more

Los Angeles in the year 2005: 19-year-old lads move through an apartment that has been equipped with webcams and looks like some sort of futuristic internet doll’s house. Not-quite-so-young men fulfil their sexual dreams as protagonists in bareback productions. And, at private sex parties, almost every second guy has either taken part in a porn film or wants to. In 1997, I followed on camera the fortunes of a group of men who had chosen to work – either artistically or commercially [...] more