Teddy Award Berlin - Der queere Filmpreis

Mon is a fantastic volley ball player but, because he is homosexual, he can’t seem to find a team willing to take him on. His best friend, Jung, has gone through the same sort of experiences, but remains optimistic.They sense a new opportunity when the local government appoints Bee as the new chief coach, giving him instructions to put a new, winning team together. Bee organises test games but. as soon as he selects Mon and Jung, many of the other players drop out again in protest. Bee refuses [...] more

Dominik is the product of a marriage driven by success and ambition between Andrzei, a businessman, and his wife Beata. There are only one hundred days to go before Dominik will leave the country’s finest school with what his parents hope will be excellent grades. From this point on, the world of academia will be his oyster and all he – or rather his parents – will have to do is choose between top courses. His parents are convinced: only the best ever get on in life; only those [...] more

This documentary describes the gradual emergence of gay cinema - its filmmakers and its audiences - as a self-confident genre in its own right. The Teddy Award, which celebrated its 20th birthday during the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, has undoubtedly contributed to this new-found confidence. Originating from works such as PARTING GLANCES (Bill Sherwood, 1986), HAIRSPRAY (John Waters, 1988) or THE ADVENTURES OF PRIS CILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (Stephan Elliott, 1994), the excerpts portray [...] more

Director Rosa von Praunheim explores the reactions of New York City's artistic community to the ravages of the AIDS epidemic and other issues of homosexuality in this haunting documentary. In SILENCE=DEATH, viewers witness a wide range of emotions, including anger, fear, and longing. An important historical document, this film captures these emotions and more in poignant fashion. Artist David Wajnarowicz appears in an unforgettable segment, shaking with anger as he confronts the diseased society [...] more

"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" was the swinging London song that scored an international hit in the mid-sixties for The Walker Brothers, the group formed by American bassist and lead singer Scott Walker. And yet, in 1967, at the height of their fame, the group disbanded. Scott Walker, whose career began as an jobbing bassist on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip, had other interests apart from competing with the likes of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones for an audience of screaming [...] more

Ksawery and Karolina are visiting Jan in the country. Ksawery is a dancer who performs as a drag queen and Karolina is his agent. Jan is Ksawery’s grandfather. Ksawery is gay, Karolina Jewish. Jan is guarding a dark secret from the time of the Holocaust. At first glance, an almost quintessential grouping for a story about history, a story about perpetrators and victims. But it’s not that simple. Identity here is composed of different layers that do not always harmonise according to [...] more

This documentary lovingly explores the variations on gay male sexuality in San Francisco from the 1960's to the 1990's, from the beginnings of gay liberation there, to the promiscuous seventies, on to the more careful behavior of current gays. A great deal of erotic imagery from the period is screened. The narrator and director Marc Huestis, himself HIV positive, also discusses ageism and racism within the community, and interviewees share recollections and discussions reach back into [...] more

Maria Del Pilar lives in Mexico. A lesbian, she used to be a nun and once lived in convent. Nowadays she is involved in a number of political activities and is a human rights activist. However, these aspects of Maria’s life are not the focus of this film so much as her feelings and private opinions. A film about the conflict between sexuality and religion, body and soul. more

This episodic film about three young muslims in Germany was shot in Berlin. Ismail, a Turkish police officer, can’t cope with a dramatic accident involving his firearm. He leaves his wife and daughter to atone for his supposed guilt. Samir is a young man from Nigeria. It’s becoming ever more difficult to deal with his nascent homosexuality in the light of his muslim beliefs. Maryam is the daughter of a Turkish cleric but orients herself towards western culture. Their world views are [...] more

A filmmaker and his actor. The frustrated director asks another equally attrac tive man to join the protagonist. Jealousy between the two actors forces the director to intervene.

A comic take on the ‘white man’s’ view of ‘Indians’ that is also reflected in the film’s formal aspects such as the use of split screen and a variety of generic quotes. more

Andrzej and Michal spend their vacation together every year in Siemiany. They pass time by catching tadpoles, swimming and exploring their sexuality. Their friendship is challenged by 14 year old Agnieska. Michal is very attracted to her. Andrzej is either not old enough or just is not interested in Agnieska. Michal’s older brother and his bleach blond gang invade the boys’ holiday paradise. Andrzej senses that he is not missing anything by going his own way. Born in Warsaw in [...] more

After he was diagnosed with AIDS, film director and one-time UCLA film professor Tom Joslin decided to closely document his and his lover Mark Massi's experiences. The film follows his day to day life as he struggles to cope with the disease and its ravages. One particularly difficult section covers the lovers' journey to New Hampshire for what turns out to have been a final Christmas celebration with Joslin's family, which has kept Massi at arms-length for the twenty two years he [...] more

In May, 2011 a concert was held in New York’s Town Hall to commemorate the influential Canadian singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle who had died of cancer a year previously at the age of 63. This film shows the intimate group of people on stage including her children Rufus and Martha Wainwright, her sister Anna McGarrigle and friends from the music business such as Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Antony Hegarty and Teddy Thompson, all of whom weave magic with Kate’s musical legacy. Their [...] more

A six-minute study of everything that can go wrong when Louis Negin and his Chippewa Sissy Boys try to graft the Three Stooges onto Kenneth Anger’s lilac bush. Originally conceived as a four-minute short accompanied by the world’s saddest music, this longer version takes a timeless look at some very human problems.

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In her animation film, the director combines the story of Sita, an Indian goddess from the national epic “Ramayana” with the story of a modern-day woman whose husband informs her via email that he is leaving her. In the Indian legend, Sita is given to Prince Rama in marriage after Rama conquers the other princely suitors for her hand. No sooner is Rama appointed crown prince than he falls victim of a plot that sends him into banishment for fourteen years. Sita accompanies her husband, [...] more

Carlos is spending the summer in the country with his family in order to help out with things. Perhaps he won’t even be returning to the capital, as economic prospects are hardly rosy there either. Extremadura on the other hand, sparsely populated and for a long time one of the most neglected regions in Europe, is experiencing a tentative upturn. Tourism and modernisation rub shoulders with almost archaic customs and a conservative, mostly elderly population here. SLEEPLESS KNIGHTS depicts [...] more

In 1929 Chicago, two unemployed musicians flee angry mobsters by dressing up as women and joining a female band on tour. Billy Wilder’s riotous comedy, with its legendary performance by Marilyn Monroe is based on a German screenplay from the1930s. more

Two young women from Israel, who wouldn't be out of place in any cool café in the world, coming across just as smart and fashion-conscious as their contemporaries in Berlin or Buenos Aires. But blogger Sarah and photographer Shlomit have paid a high price to have arrived in the here and now as modern women. Both of them were cast out by their families after fleeing from the ultra-orthodox Haredi community. Over the last decade, the community has become more strongly fundamental, with [...] more

Roaring Fork Valley, a region in Colorado in the western US: Glasgow artist Phil Collins studies the immigrants, who mostly come from northern Mexico and often work in the service branch. Most of them work at the most popular winter resort in the USA: Aspen. Inspired by Jean Genets "The Maids" (Theatre of the Absurd, the Surrealist) and from the melodrama of Latin American telenovelas, SOY MI MADRE is a portrait of the social reality of this region. Collins reproduces the telenovela [...] more

Joe embarks on a sadomasochistic adventure with a stranger. For him it’s all about the sexual thrill, but for Tim their game satisfies deep psychological needs. An encounter between two people with very different desires, after which, nothing is the same as before. more

During the harvest, the farm hands are out working every day – even on Sundays. The barn has to be kept clean at all times and, if a cow refuses to bond with her calf, then it is raised by hand. Marko is an apprentice working on a large agricultural complex in the Nuthe Urstromvalley district sixty kilometers south of Berlin. If he passes his final examinations he will be a fully-fledged farmer. That is, if he really wants to. But he’s not sure. He doesn’t have many friends [...] more

STORIA DI PIERA tells the story of a family, bound by archaic and unbreakable ties that supersede the laws of nature and age. The film portrays the relationship between a mother (Hanna Schygulla) and her daughter (Isabelle Huppert). The relationship is defined by friendship and sensuality. The girl declines school and discovers that theatre is the aim of her dreams. She has however the wish to be both a man and a woman. Her personality radiates strength and tenderness. Thanks to her unique attractiveness, [...] more

Óttar Thor is the undisputed star of Icelandic premier league football team, KR. All hell breaks loose one day when he innocently tells reporters about his homosexuality. Moreover, not only did he neglect to inform his ex-beau ty queen wife and their teenage son about his decision to come out, it also completely slipped his mind to tell even his fellow team-members. The ensuing crisis is the final straw for a family already beset with problems and, at KR, Óttar suddenly finds himself [...] more

STRELLA, the name of one of the characters in the film, is a play on words, a combination of the female name Stella and the Greek noun Trela (madness, lunacy, or extravagance). Yiorgos is released after having served a 14-year sentence for a murder he committed in his native village. He spends his first night of freedom at a cheap hotel in the centre of Athens where he meets a transsexual prostitute named Strella. They sleep together and are soon a couple. Yiorgos’ past catches up with [...] more

According to an ancient proverb, anyone who catches a leaf as it falls from the branch of a tree will be granted their dearest wish. Leung and Will are 16 years of age and friends. Both are aware of this proverb and, the longer the boys try to catch a leaf, the more Leung’s wish becomes apparent. He wants to kiss Will. But - will he succeed? more

There are countless Sun Cities in the world. Perhaps the most famous and certainly the most bizarre of these is Sun City in South Africa, a huge resort with a disco, casino and swimming pools two hours north of Johannesburg by car. It was built in the 80s, when the Apartheid system was attempting to prevent any sort of encounter between black and white. Except in Sun City, that is. Under the banner of supposed-ly apolitical entertainment, a tourism laboratory to carry out radical political experiments [...] more

Following a chance encounter with a stranger, Adam, the hero of this film, finds himself under the surveillance of powerful unseen forces, who see to it that he loses his job as an IT trainer, and who watch his every move. Unbeknown to Adam, the stranger he met in the bar has planted evidence of a homosexual affair with a gay member of the British royal family. Adam goes underground. In desperation he turns to the only people he feels he can trust - his father, and a reporter named Amy who [...] more

A father and his teenage son travel to Berlin. The boy has never met his mother who is in hospital in a coma. The father is confronted by his uncertain past. Both are unsettled by the winter gloom in the unfamiliar big city, and by the hostile environment of the hospital. The mother’s flat where both are staying is equally unwelcoming. They meet a mysterious and beautiful woman there, the mother’s flat mate. While the boy explores the city, the father waits for the mother to recover. [...] more

Tom Kalin’s visually stunning, black and white feature film debut SWOON tells the well-known story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two wealthy Jewish college students who kidnapped and brutally murdered a 14-year neighbourhood boy in Chicago in 1924. Convinced of their intellectual superiority, Leopold and Loeb had set out to commit a “perfect crime,” but ended up instead arrested, tried, and sentenced to life in prison. Although this famous case inspired two [...] more