OPEN OUT FESTIVAL: QUEER CINEMA, Tromsø

Queer cinema: Short film programme curated by Išgirsti, SAQMI, Flat Earth Cinema and Open Out

Practicing Hope 

In this second appearance of Open Out Cinema we have invited Flat Earth Cinema, The Swedish Archive For Queer Moving Images and Išgirsti to collaborate on an event centered around Queer Moving Image in the Nordics and beyond. These organizations are all exciting pioneers in their own right when it comes to their norm breaking work with moving images, cinema going and queer culture – this is a night you do not want to miss!

The screening program features 8 short films (72 min. in total) as well as an introduction and a poetry recital. Come smile and cry and wonder and feel and listen at watch with us<3 Everyone is invited to continue the night together with us at the Verdensteatret Bar after the screening.

***Careen Koleilat, director of Lost Arab, will host a workshop during the festival related to the programme – Wednesday 14-16.00 (see more in the festival program)***

Careen Koleilat is a Lebanese-Palestinian Trans/Non-Binary filmmaker whose artistic vision canters on creating immersive audio-visual work. Their work seeks to evoke powerful emotions, much like waves crashing over the viewer, with themes of identity, displacement, and queerness woven throughout their films. With sixteen years of experience, Careen’s work aims to challenge traditional narratives and engage audiences on a deeply sensory level.

The film program

Be Vardų, Be Kojų (2023, 3min) by Brigita Gedgaudas
The film is a foray into queer world-building, using the indeterminacy of digital space to imagine queerness within Lithuanian folk dance, a traditionally binary dance style.

A bath in my mothers womb (2022, 17min) By Mona Namér
The film is a short experimental dance film adapted from a solo-piece of choreography by Dancer, Choreographer and Director Mona Namer. Namer and her Co-Director Sofia Aedo Zahou take the conceptual themes of birth, chaos and stillness and twist them into an impressively cinematic piece.

you who were loved, like no others (2024, 10min) by Finnur Kaldi
is an experimental short film that traverses through various moments and memories in transition. The film is made from both shoot footage and personal archives which the filmmaker has gathered through their life. It is a journey that delves into unrequited grief.

Om det var 2007 (2019, 6min) by Jon Ely Xiuming Aagaard Gao
A music video for the poem and later song “Om det var 2007” / “If it was 2007” from the EP “Ohavsdjur” / “Monster sea creatures”Text and film by Jon Ely Xiuming, Music by Erik Annerborn

Simeiz (2022, 18min) by Anton Shebetko
Simeiz is a small village on the southern coast of Crimea which is temporarily occupied by Russia. In the Soviet era, an underground gay resort arose in the village. It started with a small nudist beach; a popular bar and night club, Hedgehogs, appeared later in independent Ukraine. From the 1990s on, Simeiz became a significant meeting point for members of the LGBTQ+ community from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Every year, about 4,000 people visited the place before the temporary occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. At the moment, Simeiz, as a gay resort, is threatened with disappearance due to the homophobic laws of the Russian Federation. If this happens, old photos and videos will be the only evidence of its existence and extinction.

Queers without borders (ongoing, 4min) by ESE
This documentary project (still ongoing), aims to highlight some of the struggles queer people face in Nigeria. But also, to shine a light on the beautiful queer joy that continues to grow in a country that ignores our existence and is comfortable discriminating and killing us simply because of who we are and love.

Lost Arab (2022, 5min) by Careen Koleilat
Lost Arab is a visual poetry collage reflecting my journey as a queer Arab immigrant, exploring identity, belonging, and the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion. Inspired by Omar J Saker’s poetry book “The Lost Arabs,” it conveys the emotional struggles of a queer Arab artist.

Voices from Diaspora (2024, 9min) by Omar Abogabal and Aleya
An intimate close-up on Aleya, a trans woman who has recently moved from Cairo to Berlin right after her transition. This portrait marks her first year as a woman, having to cope with the loss of loved ones, family disownment, hormonal and psychological turmoil. She shares intimate stories, anecdotes and poems that document her transition.This short film portrait is a segment from the audio-visual collective, “Voices from & to: a diaspora”, 2024.