QFFU x art200: Eastern European Queer Shorts (sold out)

QFFU joins forces with the art200 International Queer Culture Festival to bring you the “Queer in Eastern Europe” program. The program features productions from Central and Eastern Europe that aim to explore how the queer body and imagination navigate the cultures specific to the post-socialist and post-Soviet space. These societies are often not perceived as not quite European or fully civilized, perpetually infantilized and seen as inferior in representations through the Western gaze. Gender identity and sexuality are often framed as topics that Eastern Europe must “catch up on”. 

However, the films in this section aim to break away from this image. They avoid exoticizing cliches and narratives that solely focus on the oppression of queer bodies. Instead, they feature a dignified and self-aware world, in which individuals can share their own stories. Within this world, queer subjects become caring siblings within chosen families, BDSM partners in the domestic space of socialist apartments, or lovers lost and found. Melancholy and pain mix with humor and sass, allowing us a glimpse into these underrepresented contemporary lives.

Rosa Oomen, QFFU

This program is organised together with art200.

Behind the Door – Natalia Sara Skorupa (Poland, 6 minutes)
This is a short story about two queer people living in Poland. In a country where being queer is widely condemned, Andrea and Kornel can only truly be themselves within the confines of their home, behind closed doors. Within this private space, they adopt a slightly mocking approach, finding humor in the stereotypes surrounding queer people.

I Had Been Sleepwalking When I Saw All Those Colors – Bogdan Balla (Rumania, 11 minutes)
Inspired by Derek Jarman’s Section 28 installation, the film juxtaposes stories from the recent history of the Romanian queer community with present-day personal experiences. It intertwines these narratives with lyrical observations, shedding light on a present that remains largely concealed. The film serves as a reflection of the stark contrast between the silent realities of queer love and the sensationalized representation it often receives in public discourse.

Imprisoned – Piotr Bieliński (Poland, 20 minutes)
Batory is a trans man. We meet him when he is serving a prison sentence in the Warszawa-Grochów Detention Center for frequent travel by city train without a valid ticket and beating his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend. Batory shows us around his world—a world made up of bars and closed rooms.

Personality Under Construction – Bruno Lovrenčić (Croatia, 11 minutes)
As an actress prepares to step onto the stage, she delves deep into her subconsciousness. She begins to question her own past and reflects on her relationship with a friend, a connection that served as the foundation for the monodrama she is about to perform..

Sașa and Petre – Luca Istodor (Rumania,10 minutes)
I’s 1957 in communist Romania. Sașa recounts his 45-year-long relationship with Petre, during a period when homosexuality was criminalized.

Inside – Tamara Broćić (Serbia, 12 minutes)
Stefan is spending the summer in the countryside with his sister, helping their grandmother with seasonal work in the fields. This is where he meets a local boy, Marko, who brings about a personal discovery about himself.