Outspoken films that celebrate and explore sexual orientation, gender identity, and cultural expression across the globe
Listen up, people. June 2018 marks the 25th installment of one of the UK's leading documentary festivals, Sheffield Doc/Fest 🎉
Operating in the heart of UK – the lovely city of Sheffield – Doc/Fest is a hub for all documentary and non-fiction storytelling across all platforms, from feature length to shorts, and including interactive, augmented reality, and virtual reality projects. ​
Race, class & sexuality intersect at Newark strip club the Dojo: home to the New Jersey Nasty Boyz. Gene Graham’s This One's for the Ladies celebrates the community of women who sustain this microcosm of black American society. Tickets here: https://t.co/JDEy0hm1Nj #sheffdocfest pic.twitter.com/gACau5eomW
— Sheffield Doc/Fest (@sheffdocfest) 1 June 2018
Welcoming over 32,700 Festival goers each year, Sheffield Doc/Fest is also a big supporter of LGBTQ+ film making.​
"This year's film programme reflects progressive, radical queer cinema from from around the world," Doc/Fest's film programmer told DIVA. "These are films of the now, from voices that look forward."​
This year, their LGBTQ+ strand features everything from ​from tender coming out stories, to buoyant portraits of strip clubs. Outspoken films that progressively celebrate and question sexual orientation, gender identity and cultural expression, across the globe, here we've rounded up the best of their lez/bi/queer offerings…
GAME GIRLS
This compassionate observational documentary charts the relationship between two homeless women in Los Angeles’ sprawling Skid Row. Tiahna seems resigned to street life, but girlfriend Teri wants to escape.
MUSIC WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT
In a small town in Brazil, where pristine nature meets growing urbanity, Emelyn is a teenager with an androgynous appearance. When a woman director, both foreign and close, perhaps like a feminine alter ego of the filmmaker, arrives in town and starts to turn her life into fiction, Emelyn becomes Bernardo.
TURNING 18
Two young girls meet at a vocational training programme after which their lives move in completely different directions. Both from broken homes, Pei searches for hope in love, while Chen struggles to avoid her parents' fate. As they approach 18, the undercurrents of their lives surface, nearly overwhelming them. How can an unloved life find a strength of her own?
SILVANA
Silvana Imam is a fierce force of nature. We witness the Swedish rap artist’s career soar, and the genesis of her relationship with pop artist, Beatrice Eli. The pair become Sweden’s Beyoncé and Jay-Z, a power couple of phenomenal talent and influence. As the pressures of her iconic status begin to spiral, Silvana is forced to confront her inner conflicts.
OUT
Through a montage of compelling videos posted on the Internet by young gays, bis, lesbians or transsexuals, Out makes us experience from within the groundbreaking moment of their coming out – after which their intimate and social life shall be forever changed.​
And make sure you check out Andro and Eve – local queer royalty's – coverage of the film Out which premieres at this year's festival.
We're excited to announce we'll be hosting the Q&A with the director of OUT premiering at @sheffdocfest on Saturday 9 June at 9pm. The film captures many moments of 'coming out' for young LGBT+ people through videos posted online. https://t.co/R6uOX0pngD pic.twitter.com/TcRZCQimnz
— Andro & Eve (@Andro_Eve) 31 May 2018
Sheffield Doc/Fest runs from the 7-12 June. For tickets and to find out more visit sheffdocfest.com
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