Films A to Z

A book about discrimination against Aids sufferers in China provided the inspiration for Chinese director Changwei Gu – who won a Silver Bear for KONG QUE - THE WOMAN at the 2005 Berlinale – to make his latest drama, MO SHUWAI ZHUAN - TIL DEATH DO US PART, a moving love story in which Aids plays a role. Having cast two well-known actors, Zhang Ziyi and Aaron Kwok, as the leads, the director decided to cast genuine Aids patients in supporting roles. Made alongside Gu Changwei’s [...]

Homosexuality is a strict taboo in Czechoslovakia. This documentary looks at the social aspects of this in a changing society and interviews several homosexuals about how they cope with the denial of their sexuality. (BFI - British Film Institute) ZAPOVEZENÁ LÁSKA was honored by the TEDDY jury 1991 with a "special mention": "The Jury recognizes and appreciate the openess in its portrayal of gay life in Czechoslovakia. The film stands as an example of our continued [...]

Stories from the lesbian subculture in West Berlin, about being in love, clichés, desire, and conflict—“shot as a narrative, with real lesbians at real locations about real feelings”. Annette has a new amour and her girlfriends want to know everything. But Maria Lang’s film is a sparing with words as Annette. As the director said, “the most important thing in my film is mystery, meaning everything it doesn’t say, the lost mosaic, whose interstices provide [...]

Synopsis When your lover is considered your enemy, your relationship may have more at stake than the average affair. Selim and Ezra are lovers caught in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Selim is Palestinian and Ezra is Israeli. Samira and Edit met at a demonstration. They too are lovers. Samira is Palestinian, Edit is Israeli. The documentary feature ZERO DEGREES OF SEPARATION takes viewers on a unique journey through the complex lives of Israeli and Palestinian gays and lesbians [...]

It is the beginning of the 1990s and Polish society is trying to redefine itself after years of stagnation. Schools are being named ‘Solidarno ’, the first West German spa visitors are bringing hard currency into the country, porn videos are doing the rounds and TV constantly repeats images of the trial of Rumanian dictator Ceaușescu. But private emotions remain untouched by these external changes: all the hopes and longings, caught between work, family and religion, [...]

Fifteen years after Monika Treut portrayed human rights activist Yvonne Bezerra de Mello working with street kids in Kriegerin des Lichts (Warrior of Light, Panorama 2002), she returns to Rio de Janeiro to document the development and sustainability of the alternative educational project, Uerê. Every day, de Mello provides meals for around 250 children in her institution and offers them a loving, secure and effective learning environment. Her alternative approach to teaching enables the [...]

Unlike many other cities where the mansions of the wealthy are to be found in the hills, the well-heeled citizens of La Paz live down in the city’s southern district. Here life goes on in large houses surrounded by stunning parks, undisturbed by noise, polluted air or commotion. It’s a dream world, one immense island of comfort, where two different spheres and perceptions of reality coexist side by side. On the one hand there’s Carola, the mother of Patricio, Bernada and Andrés [...]

Oops! Shocking? Now here’s a rare sight: two naked elderly men in elegant surroundings talk about their relationship and the good old days, and chat in a refreshingly candid manner about their fetishes, sadomasochistic predilections and bondage.

The camera follows closely on the heels of two brothers – one gay, the other straight. Both are looking for a job in order to survive. But both are also looking for themselves and long to find a foothold in life. The younger brother sells vegetables at the market where he meets a young woman who cannot speak but who gets up to all sorts of crazy things. The older brother is attracted to a dancer at a nightclub and finds himself drawn into some shifty business. Taking [...]

Norma DIn works in the Patent office. her life is dominated by the daily toil at her post and the abstract presentation of inventions that she must read without context. Norma DIN is personally affected by two new patents. She has the job of patenting a music box with a living puppet and a »robot« that will one day replace patent officers like her. Luckily the bureaucratic regulations allow Norma DIN to declare both inventions nonpatentable. As early as 1984, Monika Funke-Stern [...]

Katja and Isabella decide to have a child. However, like many lesbian couples they soon discover that this is much more difficult than they first imagined. Most of the sperm banks and fertility clinics refuse to treat them, citing legal arguments.Fortunately, they are able to find one doctor willing to help them for a large sum. After a while, Katja decides she wants to call a halt to their ‘project’ on account of the way it is taking its toll on their relationship – not to mention [...]