Teddy Award Berlin - Der queere Filmpreis

A love story set in Portugal, where a German singer makes eyes at a celebrated
matador. A film made in Ribatejo by German exiles, with documentary footage of
landscapes and bullfights, and the great character comic Siegfried Arno as the
undisputed star. more

Life’s all about two things: firstly, being loved, and secondly not being
alone. But what happens when people aren’t enough, or when they’re too much? GELIEBT (BE LOVED) is not a film about the pros and cons of emotional and sexual relationships with animals but a film about the relationship between humans and animals, poised somewhere between love and dependence. more

Berlin has always exercised a certain magnetism, not only for people with unusual biographies, but also for those who refuse to adhere to society’s ‘norms’. Julia Ostertag spent half a year traversing Berlin’s clubs, recording her encounters with queers, drag queens and transgender personalities. Her film is a collection of portraits of a whole array of characters, none of whom appear to be either man nor woman; people who, either permanently or temporarily, have felt [...] more

GENERATIONS is a 30-minute16mm film about mentoring and passing on the tradition of personal experimental filmmaking.  Barbara Hammer, 70 years old, hands the camera to Gina Carducci, a young queer filmmaker. Shooting during the last days of Astroland at Coney Island, New York, the filmmakers find that the inevitable fact of ageing echoes in the architecture of the amusement park and in the emulsion of the film medium itself. Editing completely separately both picture and sound, the filmmakers [...] more

Perhaps the fact that Benjamin lives in a geodatic dome accounts for his ability to write such marvellous science fiction stories at the age of 17. His mother, an ambitious nightdress designer who is currently working on a new collection gloriously entitled ‘Decent Beginnings’, has precious little time for him. Benjamin, who is home-schooled, has very little contact with the outside world – and this serves to fire his imagination still more. There’s no room for small town [...] more

Much has been written and even more has been said about George Michael. Not much is known, however, about how he himself sees the story of the young man from suburban Edgware in Middlesex in England who one day became one of the greatest idols of his generation. What makes this documentary special is that George Michael himself acts as tour guide on an excursion to the major venues of his childhood. In the film, he talks for the first time about his mother, who supported him for many years and [...] more

GEVALD, like the documentary CITY OF BORDERS, tells the story of the ”Shushan“ bar, the only Jerusalem bar that caters to the queer community in the Holy city. The film unravels all within one single night, in November 2006. Tomorrow, an unofficial Pride parade is planned, instead of the larger public event that was cancelled due to violence by religious organizations against the queer community. Tonight a young women attempts to convince her partner not to attend the parade. On stage [...] more

GHOSTED is the haunting story of an unusual love affair bridging two cultures and two cities: The sudden death in unexplained circumstances of her young Taiwanese lover, Ai-ling, throws Hamburg artist Sophie Schmitt completely off kilter. She travels to Taipei to exhibit a video installation dedicated to Ai-ling. On the opening night, Sophie is approached by a pushy journalist, Mei-li, who takes her on a trip to the famous Taipei night markets and attempts to seduce the grieving artist. But Sophie [...] more

Through personal ties with William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge came into the possession of a number of film cans. These cans, salvaged in 1980 by P-Orridge from the office of the then recently deceased filmmaker Anthony Balch, contained not only prints of the previously released Beatfilms (TOWERS OPEN FIRE, THE CUT UPS and BILL UND TONY), but also footage shot in and around the Beat Hotel at 9 Rue Git le Coeur in Paris by Balch, Burroughs, Gysin und Ian Sommerville. [...] more

He is young, good-looking and of Arab descent – and gets lost amongst the glamour of Paris’ international jet set.

>>> Watch trailer on the homepage of the director (french) more

Petite but agile eighty-two-year-old Maria Schmidleitner is going to spend some time on a houseboat in rural Brandenburg with her obese son Peter (63). As they are in the car on the motorway on their way to the boat Peter insists on picking up a young hitchhiker against his mother’s wishes, but when the young man only exacerbates the perennial mother-and-son conflict he is quickly dropped off again. No sooner are they on board the houseboat than Mum turns her son’s afflictions into [...] more

When Amanda is offered a ride in a car she has no idea that this will be the trip of her life. Her existence as a suburban housewife will never be the same again. more

Max is looking for love. Her flat-mate, Kia, has already found her true love in Evy, who is still living with her mother and working on trying to get rid of her ex-husband. Then there's Ely, Kia's former student, who is ready for anything, it seems. Ely lives with Daria. Daria, however, is the lesbian in town - there's not a bed she doesn't know and not one heart has she left unbroken. Kia thinks Max would like Ely; Daria also feels Ely and Max are well-suited and before long, [...] more

Germany in the seventies.
Léopold, a fifty-year-old businessman, meets Franz, who is nineteen. He invites him back to his place. A love affair begins. One day, something of little importance leads to a difference of opinion. And from this moment on, there’s no such thing as “we“ any more.  more

A mashup of Otto Preminger’s film EXODUS about the founding of the state of Israel, with the voices of Canadian activists who take part in the Gaza flotilla raid in their boat. In typical comic book hero style, the Green Lasers fight against oppression and injustice in the Gaza strip. more

GREEN PORNO is a series of very short films conceived by, written by, directed by and featuring Isabella Rossellini about the sex lives of bugs, insects and various other creatures. The films are a comical but insightful study of the curious ways in which certain animals “make love.“
The titles of the respective films are: SPIDER, DRAGONFLY, FIREFLY, FLY, SNAIL, BEE, MANTIS, EARTHWORM. more

The film is based on the condescending depiction of “romantic savages” to be found in the diaries of “American Indian” painters George Catlin (1796–1872) and Paul Kane (1810–1871). These artists are foiled with great relish by Miss Chief Testickle (Kent Monkman’s alter ego), who abuses naked white men as dressing up dolls. Having first made them drunk, she seduces them and then dresses them up as “authentic” examples of the European male. [...] more

In 1989, together with a group of female friends, Su Friedrich rented and renovated an old loft in Williamsburg, an unassuming working-class district of Brooklyn. In 2005 this former industrial zone was designated a residential area and the factories,manufacturers and artists' lofts were priced out by property speculators lured by tax breaks. Friedrich spent five years documenting with her camera the changes in the area between East River and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. She shows the demolition [...] more