PrideArts announces the PrideArts Fall Film Festival, a month long festival of 32 films from 9 countries that will stream online in four segments, each available online for one week.
Films address a wide range of issues and situations that are common across many cultures: defining oneself as an LGBTQ person, family relations, forming and building connections with others, body image, and survival under political and economic pressures.
The first week of the festival will kick off from November 1-8 with a selection of 11 short films from Pakistan curated by the Aks International Minorities Festival – a global human rights initiative designed to facilitate socio-political and cultural dialogues. Launched in April 2014, Aks aims to promote the visibility of minorities and marginalized groups and communities. More information on the Aks Festival is available HERE.
PRIDEARTS FALL FILM FESTIVAL
Streaming Online – November 1 – 29, 2021
Four weekly programs of international short queer films
$12.00 per weekly program. Admission allows unlimited viewing of the weekly program through the end of the week of release. Full festival passes for all four weeks are also available for $30.00.
Tickets and more information on PrideArts Fall Film Festival available HERE.
COMPLETE PROGRAM
Fall Shorts Week 1 – Streaming November 1 – 8, 2021
BHANG (Pakistan, 8:24). Directed by Imran Sajid.
A man dares to confess his love but finds himself in a dreadful situation.
DASTAK (Pakistan, 7:30). Directed byFazal Ahmad.
A man wakes up to sounds of celebration on the streets. Switching to TV News, he realizes that the entire country has embraced the inclusive philosophy.
DEAR DAD (Pakistan, 10:00). Directed by Ibrahim Azmat Rana.
A young man visits his dying father for the confrontation of his life.
FAIRY MALCOLM (Pakistan, 15:46 ) Directed by Fawad Khan.
Malcolm looks after toilets at the Gentlemen’s Club. It’s not a happy job but it starts feeling better after a gentle encounter.
FOUR FIFTY-FIVE ML. (Pakistan, 7:39). Directed by Mahnoor Zaidi.
In response to a call for blood donations for a critically ill boy with a rare blood group, Kausar, a middle-aged trans-woman, rushes through the busy streets of Lahore.
HAPPY MARRIAGE (Pakistan, 10:12). Directed by Sana Jafri.
A strong-willed transgender woman encourages her long-term friend to get married to a woman of his family’s choosing as his masculinity is questioned by his friends and family.
HIJR (Pakistan, 7:14). Directed by Vicky Zhuang Yi-Yin.
Meher, Anwar and Arhab, a bereft and broken family, must face the circumstances around the death of Jibran (Jibi), their son and brother.
IT’S A BOY? (Pakistan, 7:53). Directed by Marya Javed.
Neha and Taimoor debate whether their son might be gender dysphoric. They struggle to make sense of his behavior
MAGAR (Pakistan, 7:36). Directed by Sabeeh Ahmad.
A young, middle-class Pakistani couple struggles to hide a secret and keep up the facade of normalcy as they host the husband’s overbearing family at dinner.
NEXT SCENE (Pakistan,14:00). Directed by Sunil Shanker.
A struggling actor, an actress and a director find themselves in a bizarre situation as their real lives blend into the struggles of their characters through a story that they are trying to tell.
NO BELOVED. (Pakistan, 8:00). Directed by Salman Alam Khan.
An intense moment triggers 50-year-old Ehsaan to encounter an identity he had given up to fit into society.
Fall Shorts Week 2 – Streaming November 8 – 15, 2021
A TEAM OF TWO (Brazil, 11:00). Written and directed by André Santos.
Flávio and Wendel are from the same soccer school and they share the dream of being a professional soccer player. Flávio is having doubts whether he should keep trying and when he thinks about quitting, Wendel realizes that what they feel for each other might be more than just friendship.
BOYCAM (LEG INGLES), (Brazil, 20:00). Directed by Rodrigo Sena, Arlindo Bezerra e Ernani Silveira
The sexcams industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world. In contemporary life, personal relationships have decreased statistically and virtual meetings have increased. Unemployment increases as people search for alternatives suitable for the digital labor market. What is a father to do to pay the bills?
FINDING TOGETHER (Guatemala, 10:12). Written and directed by Luis Fernando Midence.
A love story about Eddie and Byron, a couple that begins their relationship prior to COVID-19 and are forced to navigate the complications that the pandemic puts in their way: distance, work, and having to live together without knowing if their courtship will work.
I THINK HE KNEW (USA, 4:26). Directed by Kyle Bahl, Written by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews.
A true story of the love a father has for his son, and the complicated journey it takes for families to deal with sexuality all told in a music video.
JESSE JAMES (USA, 19:58). Written and directed by Josef Steiff
JESSE JAMES traces the moments between a neighbor’s phone call and the arrival of the police, when Jesse and his lover test the boundaries of their relationship and come face to face not just with what they are losing but with what they have already lost.
NOT YOUR ORDINARY SISTER (Germany, 4:13). Written by Anja Wutej, Directed by Maša Zia Lenárdič, Anja Wutej
A queer satire which, in a witty yet direct way, addresses both the startling popularity of lesbian vampire films as well as the lack of proper representation in queer cinema on the subject of queerness within the conservative and patriarchal religious organizations.
THE NIGHT IT RAINED (USA, 12:48). Written by Lamont Lamar, Mustafaa Tajuddin; Directed by Lamont Lamar.
After losing his scholarship, a queer college student makes a life-altering decision in his hopes to stay enrolled.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD (USA, 7:00). Written by Albert M. Chan, Directed by Albert M. Chan, Anthony Grasso
A troubled man records a video message for his pregnant sister. Drawing its power and immediacy from its first-person, confessional style, the film presents, in one continuous seven-minute take, the journey of one man’s awakening from isolation back to humanity.
Fall Shorts Week 3 – November 15 – 22, 2021
DATE PREP (UK, 9:38). Written and directed by Chezdan Mills.
Struggling to get over his ex, a young man arranges an anonymous hook up. Then anxiety sets in – what if his date is a murderer?
HIGH TIDE (Netherlands, 20:00). Written and directed by Claire Zhou.
Tarik is a 32-year-old Moroccan man, who spends his time alone in a holiday cottage on the Veluwe to avoid the divorce with his wife. Shortly after his arrival, the plumbing seems to be broken, and Jonas, the owner of the cottage, comes over to repair it. From that moment on, Tarik is confronted with feelings he has been suppressing his entire life.
OUT OF PLACE (Brazil, 13:00). Written by Drica Czech, Directed by Drica Czech and Laís Catalano Aranha.
2018: Brazil’s general election. Emotionally shaken by the possibility of Bolsonaro being elected, a young lesbian takes refuge in her family’s farm. As she tries to understand why her mother spent the last days of her alone in the old house, she is faced with revelations about her own story.
PASTRY (UK, 12:44). Written by Alison Rayner, Directed by Eduardo Barreto.
Romance blossoms between an inspirational baker and a businesswoman with a seriously sweet tooth.
TEN (USA, 12:44). Written and directed by Romel Lanae Nusdorfer.
In an interview with his live-in partner and first male relationship, an African American and former soldier is forced to come to terms with the conflict between his Christian faith and homosexuality.
WHERE IS THE LOVE? EP. 5 (USA, 6:12). Written and directed by Tisa Key.
Welcome to “Adulthood” where it’s hard to find love.
Fall Shorts Week 4 – Streaming November 21 – 29, 2021
BONSOIR (France, 17:20). Written and directed by Athena Gendry.
Suzanne is a successful lawyer from Lyon. Skeptical of dating apps, she finally decides to go on her first date with Lucille. The two women meet in a bar on the slopes of La Croix-Rousse and get to know each other over a few amber Jenkins.
CRY WOLF (USA, 33:26). Written and directed by Kevin Anthony.
While making a special delivery, Corbin hears his neighbor Tim. Corbin tells many secrets which may be true, but will the two lost men find solace?
GLANCES (USA, 6:57). Written and directed by Aleksei Borovikov.
Emotionally driven story of two strangers who lock eyes in a cafe and have to deal with unexpected feelings.
I FOLLOWED DARBY (USA, 12:51). Written by Beaty Reynolds, Directed by Ryan Czerwonko.
Darby and Donna are two enigmatic drifters going from motel to motel in search of pleasure. A younger man named Jasper is seduced by their carefree lifestyle, but the darkness within his new lovers threatens to shatter his world.
CUPID (Canada, 3:50). Written and directed by Marcus Mullen.
A mysterious app installs itself on the phone of a recent breakup victim in an attempt to get her to see that love is always possible.
THE CONFESSIONAL (USA, 8:40). Written and directed by DeZell Lathon.
When a conflicted seminary student struggles with his desires that call his moral integrity into question he enlists the help of a new AI, Reba.
UNCOVERED: ALL CUNTS ARE BEAUTIFUL (Brazil, 4:39). Written and directed by Gio Formenti.
A Claymation animated film that explores how the heteronormative media has damaged the idea of vulva, and subsequently the self-image of people with vulvas. Uncovering the myth of the “perfect” vulva.
Tickets and more information on PrideArts Fall Film Festival available HERE.
