Projects in genres: LGBTQIA+

Synopsis

Cosmo, a South African pianist falls in love with Sakeena, a British Muslim ballerina, who is being forced into an arranged marriage by her abusive radicalised Uncle Jehandar. Through their struggle, Cosmo tries to show that the power of love is far more important than the love for power. Cosmo seems like the perfect choice for Sakeena, but he is running away from a dark past which catches up with him as he tries to prove his love for Sakeena. Only ever wanting true happiness, the pair begin to fight for their freedom to love each other, but this leads to her family discovering the truth about their relationship. Feeling betrayed, her Uncle Jehandar arranges an honour killing and promises her family that she will never step a foot out line once he's finished with her.

Synopsis

As dawn creeps across London, two lost outcasts meet in the darkness. As the sun begins to rise, the pair are forced to look at themselves, and face the undeniable reality that in the cold light of day, it takes more than the eyes to see inside a soul.

Synopsis

Two young, straight, Premier League footballers share a hotel room the night before a key match. Out of nowhere, one kisses the other. The emotional impact of this ‘pass’ plays out through the next ten years of their lives – a decade of success and failure, secrets and lies, in a sporting world where image is everything. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2016 - Debate Strand

Synopsis

DICKGIRL 3D(X) is the non-binary version of EVA v3.0, an avatar purchased online and appropriated by the artist. Through the experience of 'DICKGIRL 3D(X), the viewer becomes a post-human pleasure-seeker in an encounter with a submissive clay-like sculpture.

Synopsis

This is a story about a sweet seduction. Our fairy-tale starts when Caroline, a business woman, allows her desire for a doughnut to win over her months of dieting. But the first doughnut leads to a doomed diet, and so much more.

Synopsis

Saar is a gay man from a religious family in Israel. After being kicked out of his conservative kibbutz because of his sexual orientation, Saar flees to London where he enjoys a gay lifestyle denied to him in Israel. He lives the dream, but wakes up to a nightmare when he discovers that he has contracted HIV. When he breaks the news to his family, they struggle with fears and prejudices. With the support and warmth of Saar's surrogate brothers - the London Gay Men’s Chorus - he begins a reconciliation process with his biological family in Israel. Saar finds himself torn between the two worlds and must make a decision: should he return to Israel and embrace his family once more, or stay in London and live in exile forever. Saar and the rest of the London Gay Men's Chorus provide a glorious soundtrack for this tender, honest and intimate film by acclaimed directors Barak Heymann and Tomer Heymann ('Mr. Gaga', 'Paper Dolls' and 'I Shot My Love'). Shot over several years, this documentary is about the power of forgiveness and the power that home has, no matter how far we go. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2016 - Journey Strand

Synopsis

An eight year-old tomboy challenges gender expectations when forced to make an Easter Bonnet with the girls. Then, when confronted with a family with two mums, she begins to question traditional family dynamics. Bravely subverting convention, her vivid imagination and resourcefulness leads her on a journey of discovery around her neighbourhood that will have radical and far reaching effects. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2016 - Journey Strand

Synopsis

A fable in the vein of 'A Christmas Carol', set in a gay sauna, with zombies. A jaded narcissist stalks the bathhouse looking for his next hookup. When he finds himself amid a zombie outbreak, his survival may depend on the one thing he didn’t come for: a human connection.

Synopsis

Poverty stricken lovers Eden and Matilda have enough trouble just getting through the days… Their Landlord is trying to terrorize them and strange things seem to be going on at "Juicy Girls", the place where Matilda works… but when Eden buys a pet spider the real troubles start.

Synopsis

When Howard Brookner lost his life to AIDS in 1989, the 35-year-old director had completed two feature documentaries and was in post-production on his narrative debut, 'Bloodhounds of Broadway'. Twenty-five years later, his nephew, Aaron, sets out on a quest to find the lost negative of 'Burroughs: The Movie', his uncle's critically-acclaimed portrait of legendary author William S. Burroughs. When Aaron uncovers Howard's extensive archive in Burroughs’ bunker, it not only revives the film for a new generation, but also opens a vibrant window on New York City’s creative culture from the 1970s and ‘80s, and inspires a wide-ranging exploration of his beloved uncle's legacy. Sundance Film Festival 2016 - World premiere

Synopsis

Lucy and Johanna are on their honeymoon. Johanna is partially, and Lucy profoundly, Deaf. A seemingly insignificant disagreement about the demeanor of the landlady, silently turns into a hurtful argument, as the noise of the weir dominates the background.

Synopsis

A shorthand term made popular by gay men in recent years for the use of drugs (specifically crystal meth, GHB and mephedrone) in a sexual context, ‘chemsex’ has been seen by some as a significant contributing factor in the rise of HIV diagnoses in London... In this unflinching documentary, we meet a host of men whose lives have been affected, from self-confessed ‘slammers’ to sexual health workers, each of whom talk candidly about the pleasures and perils associated with the scene. (LFF brochure) BFI London Film Festival 2015 - World premiere