From 16-18 June, we host the XPOSED Queer Film Festival Berlin with two recent films as well as a programme of works by the eminent experimental filmmaker Su Friedrich.

The festival celebrates queerness as an approach, an experience full of ambivalences and perspective on past and future at the same time and invites the audience to perceive the complexity of queer lives, thoughts and feelings around the world.

Friday June 16, 9:10 pm:
THE BLUE CAFTAN
By Maryam Touzani, with Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, Ayoub Messioui
France, Morocco, Belgium 2022, 122' Arabic with english subtitels
Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man. THE BLUE CAFTAN, developed by Halim, Mina and Youssef, showcases a tale of hidden desire in negotiation with social norms and recognition of craft amidst LGBTQ+ debates in the region. Back in the days, queerness was found in certain materials, especially textiles. Interweaving hidden texts requires the collaboration between queer, lower class subjects, and cis-women… just as is the case for this beautiful film and its miraculously touching end.

Saturday June 17, 9:10 pm:
A HAWK AS BIG AS A HORSE
By Sasha Kulak, France 2022, 74', Russian with english subtitles
The film follows the daily life of Lydia, a bi-gender ornithologist who lives in Shcherbinka, a remote suburb of Moscow. As Lydia embarks on remaking David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, she creates Lara, a life-size silicon doll of her wife, Vasilisa. Between bird hunting, strange rituals and filming, Lydia seems to be the only one who can keep up with her endless fantasies.
A cinematic experience that transcends the documentary genre, becoming a very unique fairy tale guided by the enigmatic protagonist and director Sasha's voice. Using three-dimensional animations and various cinematic techniques, the borders between reality and dream become blurred.

Followed by a talk with the director.

Sunday June 18, 9:10 pm:
DAMNED IF YOU DON'T
By Su Friedrich, USA 1987, 42', English
Since the late 1970s, Su Friedrich has skillfully mixed experimental, narrative, and documentary forms with feminist and lesbian themes to create a significant body of original hybrid films. A leading figure in avant-garde filmmaking and a pivotal force in the establishment of Queer Cinema, her films have been of great influence for artists of later generations.
DAMNED IF YOU DON'T is beautifully shot in black and white, blending conventional narrative technique with impressionistic camerawork, symbols and voiceovers to create an intimate study of sexual expression and repression. It begins with footage from a stylish old potboiler about an isolated convent whose tale of passions leashed and unleashed provides the leitmotif for a young lesbian who watches it and the lonely nun she pursues and seduces.
Accompanied by GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM (USA 1981, 13 min), one of the earliest 16mm experimental shorts by Su Friedrich.