WHO I AM NOT

Thu., 26.10., 7.30 p.m., Bremen | Mon., 30.10., 7.00 p.m., Bremerhaven

Bremen: QueerScope Debut Film Award Ceremony, with reception starting at 7.00 p.m. and followed by a Q+A (probably with sign language interpretation)

Bremerhaven: just opening speech (probably with sign language interpretation)

When former South African beauty queen and amateur craftsperson Sharon Rose Khumalo learns that she is intersex, she begins to explore her own identity. Together with intersex activist Dimakatso Sebidi, she wants to overcome the barriers intersex people face. The two question why society places such a high value on distinct sex characteristics and realize that both of their lives ran parallel and yet are quite unique.

Tünde Skovrán has worked with Sharon and Dimakatso for over four years to give the film a shared form, to give the intersex community a public voice, which is rarely achieved as respectfully and poignantly as it is here.

Content warning: mention of interphobia, discussion of surgeries; depiction of animal killing, religious hate speech

RO/ZA/CDN/D/US 2023 | Documentary | R: Tünde Skovrán | 103 min. | English, Sotho with German subtitles

HUMMINGBIRDS

Thu., 26.10., 5.30 p.m., Bremen & online

Silvia and Beba know that the long summer nights of their youth won’t last forever. In 2019, at the ages of 18 and 21, they linger in places long familiar because immigration proceedings are stalled, and deportation is always looming. Between bars, drive-ins, acquaintances’ couches and the borderlands, they fight against the impositions of everyday life, for their community and their future. The dusty twilight offers them space for poetry and dreams, humor and creativity.

For the Berlinale Generation jury, the film is “a touching and subtle insight into the intimate moments of unforgettable characters whose self-determination and playfulness, in front of and behind the camera, are inspiring. Their actions, jokes, songs, laughs and bodies are political and so very necessary as a form of resistance.”

Content warning: mention of termination of pregnancy

USA 2023 | Documentary | R: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía Contreras | 78 min. | English, Spanish with German subtitles

TOUCH ME NOT

Thu., 26.10., 10.15 p.m., Bremen

On the border between reality and fiction, Laura, Tómas and Christian, who want to explore their intimacy and (a)sexuality, embark on an emotional journey. How can the balance between desire and the fear of losing control be achieved?

Radically, Adina Pintilie exposes the psychological and physical taboos of our supposedly sexually liberated times and does not shy away from accompanying people with anxiety disorders and physical disabilities on their way to a fulfilled intimacy.

We are screening the winner of the Golden Bear at the request of the debut film winner in order to present WHO I AM NOT in dialogue. Both films have in common that they develop their very own formal language to portray their protagonists in their intimacy and strength.

Content warning: explicit sex depiction, stroboscopic effects

RO/D/CZ/BG/F 2018 | Experimental | R: Adina Pintilie | 125 min. | German, English with German subtitles