Ten days of Berlinale. Ten days full of spectacular and creative queer films and ten days of anxious waiting for the decision of this year’s jury. Once again, prizes will be awarded in the categories best feature film, best documentary/essay film, best short film and the TEDDY Jury Award, as well as the Special TEDDY AWARD for lifetime artistic achievement to outstanding personalities.
But the wait is now over. The jury of the 38th TEDDY AWARD has made its choice and selected the winners. drum roll please
When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years. Supported by her chosen family, Angie begins a later-life journey into emancipation.
Directors: Judy Landkammer und Philipp Fussenegger
Seamlessly weaving together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage, this documentary captures the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches.
Created from archival materials from communist Poland, the film tells the story of a multispecies matriarchal family through the eyes of a child grappling with the reproduction of ideological and representational systems.
Lia, a retired teacher, has promised to find her long-lost niece, Tekla. Her search takes her to Istanbul where she meets Evrim, a lawyer fighting for trans rights, and Tekla starts to feel closer than ever.
Congratulations to this year´s winners! Thank you to all directors, filmmakers, actors and sponsors for being part of the 38th edition of the TEDDY AWARD.
Dear queer independent film lovers, today there is is another packed program waiting for you. Additionally there are various film premieres of up-and-coming international hits. Otherwise we as always have a list of reruns of films that already premiered below.
We wish you a lively and queer cinema experience today, tomorrow and for the rest of the Berlinale!
INTERVIEWS:
Fin (Huling Palabas)
In the summer of 2001, 16-year-old Andoy searches for his long-lost father in the most unlikely of places: on VHS tapes. When two movie-like characters appear in his small hometown, his reality begins to falter.
Fourteen-year-old Elias increasingly feels like an outsider in his village. When he meets Alexander, his new neighbour of the same age, Elias is confronted with his burgeoning sexuality.
Two tales of migration, memories and ghosts. After a disaster floods her land, Joana moves to São Paulo and tries to restart her life. Following the death of her father, Flavia moves to his farm in the country with her wife Mara.
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show – a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the TV, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.
Buenos Aires, 2019. Lucrecia, who works as a museum security guard, foresees a sharp rise in the dollar’s value with her pendulum and falls in love with the employee of a currency exchange office.
Created from archival materials from communist Poland, the film tells the story of a multispecies matriarchal family through the eyes of a child grappling with the reproduction of ideological and representational systems.
West Berlin, 1979. Jürgen Baldiga, son of a miner from Essen, has just arrived in the city and decides to become an artist. Working as a rent boy and cook, he writes poems and a diary. After learning that he has HIV in 1984, he discovers photography. He intends his images to stop time and capture reality. They reveal his friends and lovers, wild sex, life on the street and the camp queens from the SchwuZ gay club who become his adopted family. Oscillating between despair and desire, rebellion and the will to survive, Baldiga becomes a chronicler of the queer West Berlin subculture in the face of his own imminent demise. When he died at the age of 34 in 1993, he left behind thousands of photographs and forty diaries – a unique artistic legacy. Using poetic diary excerpts, stark images and memories from companions, Baldiga – Entsichertes Herz depicts not only a ground breaking photographer but also an AIDS activist and committed fighter against the stigmatisation of gay people’s lives.
Filmed during the “Teaches of Peaches Anniversary Tour” in 2022, this documentary seamlessly weaves together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage to capture the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches. From the inception of the stage show to the rigorous rehearsals and riveting performances, the film provides an intimate look at the inner workings of the tour. As a feminist musician, producer, director and performance artist, Peaches has spent over two decades challenging gender expectations, solidifying her status alongside pop and music industry icons. Her fearless originality has called social norms into question, dismantled stereotypes and confronted patriarchal power structures. Through biting wit, she advocates for LGBTQIA+ rights and tackles issues of sexual and gender and identity, leaving an indelible mark on popular culture.
While their parents are away, eight-year-old Rafaela stays at home in the care of her 15-year-old sister, Laura. When Laura decides to go visit a boy she likes, Rafaela has to tag along. But then Laura and the boy lock themselves in his room. Rafaela waits, gets bored and finally begins to explore the house. She has a unique encounter with Uli, a queer young woman, and her pet. A film about the feeling of strangeness and the possibility of finding freedom in an unfamiliar place.
Tú me abrasas is an adaptation of “Sea Foam”, a chapter from Cesare Pavese’s “Dialoghi con Leucò” published in 1947. The ancient Greek poet Sappho and the nymph Britomartis meet beside the sea and have a conversation about love and death. Sappho is said to have thrown herself into the ocean from lovesickness. Britomartis apparently tumbled off a cliff and into the water while fleeing from a man. Together, the two discuss the stories and images that have emerged around them to try and understand, at least for a moment, the bittersweet nature of desire. The film adapts not only the text but also footnotes and gaps in the story. For example, the fact that, in 1950, a desperate Pavese committed suicide in a hotel room with this book by his side. Or that Sappho’s poems have survived only in fragments. Or that sea foam is historically and scientifically associated with fertility and bacteria, that is, with life itself. “Everything dies in the sea and comes back to life”, says Britomartis. Tú me abrasas introduces new readings and translations that go beyond the myths by Pavese and Sappho.
Welcome back to the second day of the 74th Berlinale and its queer program. Today there are a several premiers of stunning queer films as well as the TEDDY Jury Reception. Find more information about the event by clicking here. Six films are premiering today and we have two great interviews for you.
INTERVIEWS:
Teaches for Peaches
“Have you heard the Teaches of Peaches? Don´t miss this tour the force portrait of an uncompromising and unapologetic queer icon. Free yourself and fuck the pain away!”
Seamlessly weaving together exclusive archival gems with dynamic tour footage, this documentary captures the transformative journey of Canadian Merrill Nisker into the internationally acclaimed cultural powerhouse that is Peaches.
“In this deeply moving film about loss and collective grief, Berlin’s queer community raises awareness about the ever growing issue of substance-related deaths in the scene. An emotive and urgent piece of filmmaking.“
Berlin queer community members mourn the substance abuse-related loss of their friends by sharing memories and rituals. Resembling glow-in-the-dark fungi, they radiate light together as a network of support and care.
When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years. Supported by her chosen family, Angie begins a later-life journey into emancipation.
Gretchen travels to the German Alps with her father and stepmother. In the resort town where they are staying, she comes across some dark secrets. She hears strange noises and is plagued by frightening visions of a woman chasing her. Gretchen is drawn into a conspiracy involving bizarre experiments by the resort’s owner that echoes back generations…
Here, where even monsters are political, the topography has its own memory. It has the mythological blues. Meanwhile, old gods are upset with us, and I am upset with my father.
Created from archival materials from communist Poland, the film tells the story of a multispecies matriarchal family through the eyes of a child grappling with the reproduction of ideological and representational systems.
Fellow members of the Berlin queer community mourn together the loss of their dead friends due to substance abuse and the mental health crisis as well as the loss of urban safe spaces in general. By sharing personal materials, stories, and honest criticism about the club scene, working on this film becomes a means of healing for this group of friends. Resembling glow-in-the-dark fungi, they radiate light together as a network of support and care, they transform dead bodies and memories into a collective structure that sustains future living..
Eleven-year-old Mona and the rest of her seven-member Kurdish family have fled Syria and ended up in Berlin. Or, more precisely, the neighbourhood of Wedding where Mona is sent to a notorious primary school attended by 90 percent “foreigners”. Chaos reigns in the school. Most of the teachers are having a nervous breakdown and frustration levels amongst the pupils are growing by the day. Mona feels it, too. She can barely speak German, but she can speak football. In her hometown, she often played street football with her mates. She misses her home, her friends and especially her aunt Helin. She was Mona’s hero who always supported her passion for football. Everything is different in Germany. Then a dedicated teacher called Mr Che recognises Mona’s special talent and selects her for the girls’ team. But this well-intentioned gesture fails to make things any easier. Mona is quickly identified as an outsider and playing in a team with the other girls turns out to be more difficult than expected. Each of them is fighting their own battles but one thing soon becomes clear: they will only win if they all play together.
