Sokos Hotel, 3A Bataisky Pereulok, metro Tekhnologichesky Institute 19.30 — 22.15 Ceremonial Opening of IX Side by Side, Feature: Angry Indian Goddesses 22:15 — 23:15 Q&A with actresses and discussion: women’s rights in India and Russia
Radisson SAS Hotel, 49/2 Nevsky Prospect, metro Nevsky Prospect / Mayakovskaya 20:00 — 21:40 Documentary: Who’s Gonna Love me Now? 21:40 — 23:00 Q&A with director and protagonist
Sokos Hotel, 2-4 Birzhevoy Pereulok, metro Vassileostrovskaya 15:30 — 17:35 Shorts: The World in Shorts: Part 1 17:50 — 19:15 Documentaries: We’ve Been Around, The Trans List 19:15 — 20:35 Discussion: representation of transgender people in media 20:50 — 22:45 Documentary: Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
Sokos Hotel, 2-4 Birzhevoy Pereulok, metro Vassileostrovskaya 15:30 — 17:15 Documentary: Sick 17:15 — 18:15 Q&A with director 18:30 — 20:15 Feature: Theo & Hugo, Paris 05:59 20:15 — 21:15 Q&A with directors and discussion: people living with HIV 21:30 — 22:50 Documentary: Call Me Marianna
Radisson SAS Hotel, 49/2 Nevsky Prospect, metro Nevsky Prospect / Mayakovskaya
MOD Club, 7 Griboedov Canal Embankment, metro Nevsky Prospect
20:00 — 21:45 Feature: Margarita with a Straw
20:00 — 21:50 Documentary: Little Girl Blue: Janis
21:45 — 22:55 Discussion: challenges faced by differently abled persons in the LGBT community
21:50 — 22:50 Music Surprise! Iva Nova plays Janis Joplin
MOD Club, 7 Griboedov Canal Embankment, metro Nevsky Prospect
Space LOFT 18.46, 2 Arsenalnaya, metro Ploshad Lenina
20:00 — 21:45 Documentary: Back on Board: Greg Louganis
19:00 — 20:45 Сборник короткометражек «Квиру мир!»
21:45 — 23:00 Q&A with Greg Louganis
21:00 — 22:50 Игровой фильм «Я, Ольга Гепнарова»
Space LOFT 18.46, 2 Arsenalnaya, metro Ploshad Lenina
Sokos Hotel, 2-4 Birzhevoy Pereulok, metro Vassileostrovskaya
20:00 — 21:35 Feature: Arianna 21:35 — 22:55 Q&A with actress and discussion: intersexuality
15:00 — 16:30 Documentary: Remembering the Man 16:30 — 17:30 Q&A with directors 17:45 — 20:00 Closing Award Ceremony of IX Side by Side LGBT Film Festival and Feature: From Afar
Sign language interpretation will be provided for all interactive activities Wheelchair access Entrance is restricted to persons 18+ only All films are shown in the original language with Russian and/or English subtitles
MANNY DE GUERRE
BENYA
GULYA SULTANOVA
NATASHA KIM
The Side by Side Film Festival will be held for the ninth time this year in St. Petersburg. Since our founding in 2008, we have gone through a lot, but we have always negotiated the difficulties and responded to the challenges. Our work has transformed Side by Side into one of the leading cultural and public events in town, a place where important, informative and interesting things happen. Our audience has grown by leaps and bounds, our circle of partners and sponsors has expanded and our team has become larger and more diverse. This year the festival focuses on the individual in history. This is no accident. In one way or another, all of us are making history every day. The history we are living now and the history awaiting us in the future depends solely on us as individuals. This year, we have put together a program of films about people who changed the course of history. Through their actions and attitudes and, sometimes, at the cost of their own lives, they made change possible. They include transgender pioneers, people who overcame the contempt and stigma towards their HIV- positive status, innovative artists who blazed new trails in art, and people with health problems who were willing to break
MARINA MIRT
JULIA SOLNTSEVA
down external barriers and the barriers in people’s minds. Guests from seven countries and three continents will be joining us at Side by Side this year. They include the renowned American Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, Indian actresses Anushka Manchanda and Pavleen Gujral, French filmmakers Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, Italian actress Ondina Quadri, Israeli filmmaker Barak Heymann and the star of his film, Saar Maoz, Croatian filmmaker Hrvoje Mabić and American queer and trans researcher Cáel M. Keegan. The Side by Side Film Festival is not just about movies and encounters with amazing people. It is also about a dialogue with others in an atmosphere of acceptance and respect, making new friends and truly celebrating diversity.
INDIAN GODDESSES Forget about Bollywood: Indian filmmakers are blazing new frontiers in cinema. Our opening film, Angry Indian Goddesses, is a powerful, dynamic and life-affirming buddy movie about women. The film provides authentic Indian recipes to women’s liberation. Two of the Indian goddesses, actresses Anushka Manchanda and Pavleen Gujral, will be guests of the festival.
The second Indian feature film, Margarita with a Straw, tells the story of Laila, a teenager with cerebral palsy. Laila leaves India to study in New York, learning a lot about herself and the world in the process.
FAMOUS PERSONALITIES: GREG LOUGANIS, JANIS JOPLIN, AND ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE Everyone knows such stars as Greg Louganis, Janis Joplin and Robert Mapplethorpe, but not everyone knows the difficulties these people faced when dealing with their identities. They made breakthroughs with their art and their talent, and they brought many personal questions into the public arena, sparking debates in society. The documentary films Janis: Little Girl Blue, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, and Back on Board: Greg Louganis acquaint viewers with these people’s talents and strength, the ups and downs of their careers and lives from different angles.
TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN POP CULTURE AND THE MEDIA In recent years, the media have written extensively about sibling filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski, actress Laverne Cox, sports star and TV personality Caitlyn Jenner. What do they have in common? They made the bold step to be themselves. They went through gender reassignment surgery and told the whole world about it. Their comings, out greatly increased the focus on transgenderism and transgender people in the Russian and foreign press. The lively discussion has given rise to many projects exploring the representation of transgender people on screen, from online serials and TV shows to big-budget Hollywood films. How can international know-how help transgender people in Russia? How effective are international projects amid the country’s current realities? When will the first Russian transgender star finally appear? We will be talking about these and many other questions with trans* activists from Russia and other countries.
EASTERN EUROPEAN WAVE LGBT cinema is booming in Eastern Europe. Side by Side features three films from Poland, Croatia and the Czech Republic. These films have very different central characters, but a common basis: escape from the aftermath of the totalitarian system, a renewed interest in individual identity and negotiating the legacy of the past.
The Opening Film 17 November, Th 19:30 — 23:15
ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES Pan Nalin, India / Germany, 2015, 104 min 2015 — Rome Film Fest, Best Film 2015 — Toronto International Film Festival, Best film 2016 — Toronto Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, Best film
India’s first female buddy movie Angry Indian Goddesses is a fresh, realistic portrait of women in India today. Frieda, a fashion-commercial photographer trying to find her own art, gathers her closest girlfriends from all over India to travel to Goa for a surprise announcement: she’s getting married! Thus begins an impromptu bachelorette party that lasts for a full week—a riotous rollercoaster ride in a sumptuous setting. Through the fun and frenzy, heartbreak and heartache, passion and obsession, youth and innocence, secrets tumble out, tensions emerge, bonds are formed and emotions run high. Soon events will take a more serious turn, but for the moment these women are determined to seize the day.
Anushka Manchanda «The women you will see on screen in the Angry Indian Goddesses are women that I am surrounded by, a true reflection of urban India. After taking this film all over the world, we have realised one thing - women everywhere are the same. We all want one thing - the freedom of choice. We want to make our own destinies. As women, we can really change the world if we stand by each other, and this is what AIG asks of you».
Pavleen Gujral
Natalia Khodyreva — psychologist, feminist
«Angry Indian Goddesses is like a chameleon. It shows a different colour and gives a different perception to every viewer, be it an Indian, American, British or Russian and be it a boy, a girl, a man, woman or a child. I feel like one or the other aspects of the movie really settles down well inside your heart since it has so many layers. The one thing that stays with you forever is to be true to yourself, to be who you really are, what yourself wants you to be. Angry Indian Goddesses is a vision into the future, where one is free - free to choose their sexuality, religion, education and life».
Join Actresses Anushka Manchanda and Pavleen Gujral after the screening for a Q&A and discussion on women’s rights in India and Russia.
Moderator — Alisa Tayozhnaya, film critic, journalist
THÉO & HUGO, PARIS 5.59 Jacques Martineau & Olivier Ducastel France, 2016, 97 min
20 November, su 18:30 — 21:30
2016 — Berlin International Film Festival, Teddy Audience Award 2016 — FilmOut San Diego, Best Actor, Best International Feature
Théo and Hugo encounter each other’s bodies in a sex club. They talk, things blur into the haziness of unbridled desire, then take shape for a moment as their gaze meets before they resume their exploration and lose themselves anew. A few moments later the two men feel the need to go outside. Together they drift down the deserted streets of nocturnal Paris. Suddenly they find themselves confronted by a sense of reality that wipes out their freedom and aimlessness and lends each step an existential helplessness. Do they want to know more about each other? Will their trust be rewarded? What are their expectations? Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau display consummate sensitivity in bringing us closer to two men as they strive for intimacy in spite of being stalled by their insecurity. Their two leading actors delight us with their remarkably intuitive performances and their incredible charm. «Théo and Hugo is, among all our movies, the one which deals only with love, and sex, and freedom, and the right to be yourself. We hope those images will help the audience to be more free and happy. Love is all we deserve». Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau have been working together since 1995 and in that time have created a formidable volume of work including the road movie The Adventures of Felix (2000) which won the Jury Prize Teddy Award at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival. Over the years their work has been screened at many of the leading festivals including Locarno and received awards such as the Jean Vigo Prize in 2009 for the film Family Tree. Their latest collaboration, Théo & Hugo Paris 5:59 was presented at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival in the Panorama Section, and has met with rave reviews from the critics and is one of the must see films of the year.
Join Jacques Martineau and Olivier Ducastel after the screening for Q&A. In participation with Russian employees and volunteers of HIV/AIDS-service organisations, we will talk about living with HIV, issues of stigmatisation of HIV-positive people and learn about the situation in Russia and France.
21 november, fr 20:00 — 22:55
MARGARITA WITH A STRAW Shonali Bose, India, 2014, 97 min. 2016 — National Film Awards, India, Special Jury Award 2015 — Asian Film Awards, Best Composer 2014 — Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Best Actress
Laila is a talented composer-songwriter who views her cerebral palsy as a minor hurdle to overcome as she strives to fulfil all the typical desires of an ambitious and spirited young woman. When a fellow musician at Delhi University breaks her heart, Laila makes the difficult decision to leave her affectionate family and enter a writing program at NYU. During an Occupy Wall Street demonstration, Laila escapes from tear gas with Khanum, a beautiful BangladeshiAmerican woman (who is visually impaired and a Muslim), and their flirtation quickly blossoms into a full-on affair. After-film discussion will be about LGBT people with disabilities in Russia, about inclusiveness and acceptance in society and within the LGBT community itself. Activists of Queer Peace — an organisation for LGBT with disabilities - will take part in the discussion.
26 november, sa 17:45 — 20:00
But what will happen when Laila brings her new love home to India, where homosexuality is still illegal by legislation, and where such a romance among the differently abled is especially taboo? Her exhilarating adventures cause a rift both within herself and with those she is closest to. Desiring and pleasing another, fully participating in life with all its joys, wackiness, and losses—this heroine shows how it can be done and despite all the obstacles it is possible to find the strength to be truly oneself.
Participants: Аyman Eckford, Queer Peace activist for neurodiversity Jolant Whale, Queer Peace activist, blogger Kirill Fedorov, Queer Peace leader, civil activist
I, OLGA HEPNAROVA Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, Czech / Poland / Slovakia / France, 2016, 105 min 2016 — Sofia International Film Festival, Best Director 2016 — Berlin International Film Festival, Nomination Best First Feature Award
Olga Hepnarova was a young, lonely lesbian outsider from a cold-hearted family who couldn’t play the part society desired of her. Her paranoid self-examination and inability to connect with other people eventually drove her over the edge of humanity when she was only twenty-two years old. The film, meticulously composed and shot in elegiac black and white, shows the human being behind the mass murderer without glorifying or downplaying the terrible crime she committed. Guided by her letters Olga’s psyche is delved into and we lay witness to the worsening of her loneliness and alienation which culminate in a disastrous act. Although the story is set in the seventies, young people worldwide today still face problems of not belonging, being different, and being bullied because of race, gender or sexual orientation.
ARIANNA Carlo Lavanga, Italy, 2015, 83 min
25 november, fr 20:00 — 22:55
2016 — Dallas International Film Festival, Special Jury Prize 2016 — Golden Globes, Italy, Best Actress (Migliore Attrice) 2015 — Venice Film Festival, Best Actress in a Debut Film (Venice Days)
Arianna was born three times: once as a boy; three years later as a girl; and finally, fully, during a sultry lakeside summer, when she discovers that she is neither, or both— intersexual. At 19, the captivating pale-eyed beauty looks as if she had stepped out of a Renaissance painting, with her boyish figure, tousled hair, and fine nose. But there is anxiety behind her eyes — she has not yet begun menstruating, and despite reassurances from her doctor
father, the hormone patches have resulted in not much more than aching breasts. Arriving at her parent’s country retreat near Lake Bolsena in Tuscany, Arianna embarks on a journey uncovering the secrets of her past through the exploration of her body. Slowly she pieces together the truth and finally comes to face with the true nature of her sexuality and her identity.
Ondina Quadri
«At Side by Side I am presenting a film that deeply changed the course of my life. With this film we tried to show that it is possible to exist outside of the box and not have the desire to exist within another. It is a film that talks about the discovery of oneself and the fight for self-determination».
Join Actress Ondina Quadri after the screening for Q&A and the discussion on intersexuality.
FROM AFAR Lorenzo Vigas, Venuzuala / Mexico, 2015, 93 min
26 november, sa 17:45 — 20:00
2016 — Miami Film Festival, Best Screenplay 2015 — Venice Film Festival, Golden Lion 2015 — Biarritz International Festival of Latin American Cinem, Best Actor 2015 — Havana Film Festival, First Work
Wealthy middle-aged Armando lures young men to his home with money. He doesn’t want to touch, only watch from a strict distance. He also follows an elderly businessman with whom he seems to have had a traumatic relationship. Armando’s first encounter with street thug Elder is violent, but this doesn’t discourage the lonely man’s fascination with the tough handsome teenager. Financial interest keeps Elder visiting him regularly and an unexpected intimacy emerges. But Armando’s haunted past looms large, and Elder commits the ultimate act of affection on Armando’s behalf.
Moderator — Alisa Tayozhnaya, film critic, journalist
Since 2010, the Side by Side Film Festival has awarded — the BOBIK. The jury will decide which film will win Categories: best feature, best long documentary, best short fiction.
Ksenia Reutova Ksenia is a journalist and film critic. A graduate of the journalism department at St. Petersburg State University, her work has been published by Chastnyi korrespondent, Gazeta.ru, Vash Dosug, Film.ru and Germania-Online.ru, among others. She did an internship with the Film Commission Hamburg SchleswigHolstein and in 2012 was awarded the Peter Boenisch Prize for best young Russian journalist writing about Germany. Since 2011, she has worked as a consultant for the German Film Festival in Petersburg, organized by the Goethe Institute. She has curated the Russian-German Film Forum in Hamburg since 2013.
«All of us know about cinema’s function as entertainment, but for some reason we often forget it also has a social function. Cinema (if we are talking about the art rather than its counterfeit) interprets reality, blurs boundaries and breaks taboos. What matters to cinema is the main character’s personality and her story rather than the color of her skin, her religion or sexual orientation. It acknowledges and accepts any kind of otherness, because nothing at all would emerge on the silver screen
without otherness. It should be that way in real life too, but, alas, a considerable part of Russian society finds it easier to reject the other than to understand and accept them. I continue to believe, however, in the power of art. I consider the Side by Side Film Festival one of the little steps that someday (very soon, I hope) will lead us to a world where people will not have to apologize for their individuality or hide it from the majority».
Anton Macintosh Anton is coordinator of the Petersburg trans project T-Action, runs support and discussion groups for trans people and their loved ones, and holds transgender sensitivity training workshops.
«In 2014, when T-Action was just getting up and running, I took part in a discussion on transgender at Side by Side. A certain number of trans people I knew were in the room, but then I realized there were even more strangers, people not yet willing to talk about these subjects, especially publicly. The funny thing is that some of those people are now volunteers and activists at T-Action. This is very important work to me: mobilizing the community by setting up inclusive venues for talking about complicated, vital topics. Someone has to start the conversation, and someone else will inevitably pick it up. Art and the Side by Side Film Festival, in particular, are great ways of starting conversations. It is great honour for me to be a member of the festival jury. I am also glad that, at least this year, I will finally get to see all the films».
Alisa Tayozhnaya Alisa (was born 1986, Moscow) writes about cinema and contemporary culture for The Village, Wonderzine, Afisha, Interview, and GQ. She runs the Youth & Truth film club and lectures on the history of cinema and art. A graduate of the Higher School of Economics and the Manege/MediaArtLab Open School, she has studied at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague and Anatoly Osmolovsky’s BAZA Institute.
«The most interesting thing in culture is the conversation about humanity and human beings, about differences between personal and collective experience, about how people grow, change, and turn into new selves. The cinema of recent years makes quite palpable the sense that personal stories are innovative and genuinely captivating compared with commercial cinema’s genre films. Very complicated things are portrayed more convincingly in documentary and socially engaged cinema. They speak in a quiet tone to the audience, making unusual worlds familiar, tangible, and intelligible. Cinema’s principal quality is creating the impression that viewers can reach out and touch
the main characters, live the lives they live, embrace their experience, and look at events with new eyes. I appreciate the curiosity of audiences and their interest in other viewpoints. I look forward to films I have not seen yet expanding my knowledge of the world. Openness and receptivity are the most valuable human qualities. I think it vital that Russia serve as a venue for events that make us rethink our present and our history, human relations, and the opinions we share with others. The media are chockablock with discrimination and degrading stereotypes about people who are not like us. I support all grassroots cultural efforts to fight these stereotypes».
ˇ celis ˇ Augustas ci Augustas comes from Vilnius, Lithuania, and is a part of Vilnius LGBT* Festival Kreivės. He has an academic background in gender studies and has been involved in LGBT* activism and wider human rights movement for about a decade. Augustas has started to combine his passion for activism and cinema in 2012, joining an LGBT* film festival in Vilnius, which then developed into Kreivės – a wider annual cultural festival, providing a unique space for film screenings, events and community building.
«The importance of Side by Side cannot be overestimated in today’s shifting environments. For years closely following the festival and being fascinated by its development, I am very pleased and honoured to be able to be a small part of it this year».
Anastasia Postnikova Anastasia is a singer, keyboard player, and percussionist with the band Iva Nova and her own solo project, Aisatsana. She studied philology at the Pskov Pedagogical Institute, and then sociology at St. Petersburg State University before doing a stint as a journalist. Music has been her only pursuit since 2005. Iva Nova has performed at various polystylistic music festivals in Russia and abroad. The group performed at Petersburg’s QueerFest in 2009 and 2011.
«I cannot imagine my life without music, books and movies. They are filled with humanity, its diversity, vastness and mystery, its foolishness, value, and sensitivity, everything that makes us so different and so much the same as people. I look forward to watching the films at Side by Side, because the festival is where you can see movies not often available to a wide audience».
Valery Nechay Valery is a journalist with Echo of Moscow radio station, a newscaster, and political commentator. He has covered such major political events as the revolution in Ukraine in 2014, the international investigation of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 near Donetsk and the US presidential elections. He focuses on Russian domestic policy, human rights and social problems.
«Cinema is a unique language that lets us talk even with our opponents. We can use it to explain that, in fact, we are all the same, whatever our peculiarities, interests and likes. All of us live, breathe and feel. All of us feel joy and sorrow, hatred and love. The most interesting thing is this conversation
is conducted not through words, but on the level of feelings, the most accurate and powerful destroyer of stereotypes. May this nonverbal conversation keep on going. It is proof all of us are quite different and, at the same time, all the same».
Galina Artyomenko Galina is a Petersburg journalist. Born in Leningrad, she has worked at radio stations, newspapers and news agencies in Leningrad/ Petersburg. She currently works for the news website MR7.ru, as well as the Internet newspaper Fontanka.ru. Winner of the Petersburg Human Rights Commissioner’s Special Prize for her contribution to the coverage of human rights issues, awarded at the 2015 Golden Pen competition for journalists working in Petersburg and Leningrad Region.
«Everyone has the right not to be lonely, to love and be loved. I am talking about the right and the desire to be close to someone else. Life is impossible with this right and desire. We cannot doubt whether another person has this right. That is why I support the LGBT movement. I think it is vital that different people realize you cannot encroach on anyone’s right not to be lonely in this world, to want love and warmth».
Fyodor Dubshan Fyodor, a journalist, has worked for the newspapers Peterburgskii Chas Pik, Delovoi Peterburg, and Vechernii Peterburg, and the magazine Snob. Since 2011, he has been involved in social and political activism, in particular as an ally of the community in LGBT protests.
«I am extremely honored to be serving on the festival’s press jury. It is a double pleasure for me. First, Side by Side is about culture, and there are often loads of really talented films. Art and culture are what I write about. Second, Side by Side deals with the problems and lives of LGBT people, and nowadays, especially in Russia, this is one of the most important and controversial issues. The problems of all minorities, which make up the majority, are important,
but the fight for LGBT rights is, perhaps, the most visible and telling phenomenon. This is the principal dispute: whether we will build a life based on humanity and understanding or on some other grounds. When the personal and universal are connected, when the filmmaker’s freedom and current social issues come together, a genuine conversation between people is born from this synthesis. This is the best way to reach out to each other and realize we all stand side by side».
Not only invited professionals can select the best films but YOU TOO! Love it or hate it be bold in your decision making and vote so your favourite film wins this very sort after BOBIK AUDIENCE AWARD.
1. Сбербанк, карта: 4276 3801 4327 5662 2. Яндекс.Деньги: 4100 1236 9030 511 3. Paypal: belovaip@yandex.ru 4. http://yasobe.ru/na/dubovaya 5. КИВИ: 7-926-338-33-66
18 november, fr 20:00—22:55
WHO'S GONNA LOVE ME NOW Barak Heymann, Tomer Heymann, Israel, UK, 2016, 85 min 2016 — Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama Audience Award 2016 — Krakow Film Festival, Audience Award
It was 18 years ago when Saar, a young Jew, raised in a religious family, had to leave the kibbutz because of his sexual orientation. He moved to London where he could finally live the life he wanted. When it turned out he was HIV positive, his family had to face yet another challenge. Ever since he was diagnosed with HIV, Saar has craved his family’s love, while they struggle with fears and prejudices. When confronted with his mother, father and siblings, he tries to name and re-work the problem dividing them in order to become soundtrack for this documentary about the power of forgiveness and the power that home has, no part of the community again while continuing to be himself. Saar and the rest of the London Gay Men’s Chorus provide a glorious matter how far we go. Barak Heymann
«I am very pleased, honoured, proud and excited to be screening this film at Side by Side. To say that the LGBT community’s struggle for equal rights in Russia still has a long way to go is as an understatement. After telling people that I am going with such a film to such a festival in Russia, I wish to believe that in the future no one will ever tell me to be careful and to watch myself. I promise to keep on supporting this struggle by any possible means as I believe that bringing change is in our hands and we must keep on fighting together for justice and humanity». Join Director and Protagonist after the screening for Q&A.
MAPPLETHORPE: LOOK AT THE PICTURES
19 november, sa 20:50—22:45
Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, USA/Germany, 2016, 108 min
This film is the first definitive, feature length portrait of the controversial artist since his untimely death in 1989. A catalyst and an illuminator, but also a magnet for scandal, Robert Mapplethorpe had but one goal: to ‘make it’ as an artist and as an art celebrity. He could not have picked a better time: the Manhattan of Warhol’s Factory, Studio 54, and an era of unbridled hedonistic sexuality. His first solo exhibition in 1976 already unveils his subjects: flowers, portraits and nudes. Mapplethorpe quickly gains notoriety through his explicitly sexual photographs from the gay sadomasochistic scene as well as nude pictures of black men.
19 november, sa 17:50—20:35
WE'VE BEEN AROUND Rhys Ernst, USA, 2016, 25 min 2016 — Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Jury Prize 2016 — Outfest, Los Angeles, Audience Award
We’ve Been Around is a series of short films celebrating the lives of just a few transgender pioneers through history. Directed by Rhys Ernst (co-producer of Amazon’s hit Transparent) and produced by Christine Beebe, We’ve Been Around is series of documentary shorts* that chronicle the lives of Lucy Hicks Anderson, STAR, Albert, Little Ax and Lou Sullivan. Each trans* trail-blazers
in their own right, and each with stories that have, until recently, gone largely unnoticed by mainstream society. From the narrators to the composer to the animator, the series was made with a breadth of talent from the trans* community. The team includes Transparent actress Alexandra Billings; writer and filmmaker Susan Stryker; and trans historian Monica Roberts.
THE TRANS LIST Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, USA, 2016, 57 min
The Trans List explores the range of experiences lived by Americans who identify as transgender. No two experiences of trans* people are exactly alike. Transgender, trans- sexual, genderqueer, bi-gender and non gender-binary are just a few of the multitude of self-identifiers in the trans* community.
This film gives a platform to a diverse group of eleven individuals to tell their stories in their own words of their experience with identity, family, career, love, struggle and accomplishment.
Ekaterina Messorosh — trans activist, presenter
«As a trans person and a trans activist, I am often confronted with the question of visibility in the media. Inside the trans community, opinions on this matter can be quite the opposite from one another. However, I see another interesting aspect of this issue: what is the opinion of cis-gender people? As a result of media representation what kind of has been formed of trans people? Does this media image represent reality? Has the media helped in the fight against transphobia, or vice versa, do they broadcast and reinforce stereotypes?»
Cáel M. Keegan is an expert in LGBTQ Studies whose research specializes in the analysis of transgender media, image production, and aesthetics. Over the course of his career, he has published multiple articles on the global circulation of queer and transgender images, including pieces that investigate the emergence of the transnormative subject in film/television of the Global North, queer juvenility in midcentury American popular melodrama, transgender phenomenologies of image reception, trans masculinities and the visibility dynamics of photographic portraiture, and the political economy of post-2008 LGBT film production. After-film discussion will be about the representation and self-representation of trans*people in media and cinema, the visibility of transgender people (the benefits and drawbacks) and about recent tendencies.
23 november, we 20:00—22:55
BACK ON BOARD: GREG LOUGANIS Cheryl Furjanic, USA, 2014, 87 min 2015 — Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival, Audience Award
Greg Louganis is the most extraordinary Olympic diver of all time, a beloved American hero, and a pioneer in breaking barriers. When he came out as gay and having AIDS two decades ago—a time when openly gay athletes were exceedingly rare and AIDS was still a highly stigmatized and almost uniformly fatal disease – he changed the course of American history. Back on Board chronicles Louganis’ thrilling rise from lonely, abused child to universally acclaimed superstar athlete, drawing on never-before-seen archival footage that reminds viewers of what made Greg Louganis a singular and cherished
figure in the history of Olympic sports. With unprecedented access, Back on Board follows Greg over the past three years, through financial struggles that threaten to bankrupt him and cost him his house. This thoroughly engaging film offers an intimate portrait of a still vital athlete who is forced to re-evaluate his life, his choices, his relationships, and his career as he ultimately reemerges on the world stage with legendary grace to combat prejudice, promote respect, and to mentor a new generation of young athletes.
Greg Louganis
«I am honoured and humbled to be travelling again to Russia to support the LGBTI community. It is important and meaningful to give voice and support to youth and the community of acceptance of ourselves as human beings. To be bringing and showing Back on Board is a real tribute to the dedication of the Side by Side LGBT Film Festival, to show people we love and care about humanity as a rich diverse culture». Meet Greg Louganis after the film screening! The story of Greg’s life, is a story that has inspired millions, and he regularly speaks to the most significant organizations and companies in the world to share that story. Today, as an author, actor, activist and humanitarian, clothing and jewelry designer, he continues his traditional of excellence in every field he touches.
Moderator Evgeny Pisemsky, LGBT / HIV activist, Phoenix Plus leader
«15 Years ago HIV became a part of my life and then Greg’s story emerged, which was a saving moment for me. When I learned about my status, Greg had been HIV-positive for almost 13 years and this was not a barrier and he in fact impressed upon me as being a successful man. It meant that I also had a chance to live and to be happy. I would like to thank Greg Louganis, because his example guided me to become strong and successful».
20 november, su 15:30 — 17:15
Sick Hrvoje Mabic, Croatia, 2015, 95 min 2016 — Toronto Arthouse Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature Film
At the age of 16 Ana was locked up in a psychiatric hospital by her parents who arranged the treatment for curing her homosexuality with the hospital director. After enduring five years of heavy traumas at the hospital, Ana is now free but on the verge of suicide and with almost no trust in people around her. Everyone she ever loved have rejected and abandoned her. Still, she longs for a girl who would accept her and wouldn’t think of her as insane because of her PTSD condition. She finds all that in Martina, her new love whom she plans the wedding with. However, Martina’s huge patience and devotion wanes with time as she finds Ana obsessed with her past. Her only reason for living is revenge on everyone who caused her pain and suffering, and not the relationship and life they’re sharing together. Will Ana manage to overcome the hell she went through and devote herself to the life with Martina? Or will she end up abandoned and alone again? ‘Sick’ is a film about love, betrayal, revenge and forgiveness. Hrvoje Mabic Hrvoje was born in 1974 in Croatia. In 1997 he graduated philosophy in Zagreb. He is the founder of the production studio Fade In, which deals with socially engaged films and television products. He has directed many successful documentary series for which he has received awards from various festivals. His work mainly covers human rights topics including LGBT, minorities, workers rights among others.
Join Director Hrvoje Mabic after the screening for Q&A.
CALL ME MARIANNA Karolina Bielawska, Poland, 2015, 75 min
20 november, su 21:30 — 22:55
2015 — 55th Krakow Film Festival, GOLDEN HORN, Audience Award, Award for Remarkable Social Awareness, Award for The Best Documentary Film 2015 — Festival del Film Locarno, Premio Zonta Club Award 2015 — Message To Man IFF, Petersburg, Grand Prix Golden Centaur, Press Jury Award
Marianna is an attractive 40-year-old woman who has just sued her parents in order to obtain a gender reassignment. Alienated by her mother and neglecting her best friends, she seeks refuge in a theatre group where she comes to make sense of her situation by rehearsing a play based on her past. When the days to the operation loom over her, Marianna kindles an unlikely romance with an older gentleman who offers her a ray of hope, but she remains confronted with the idea of losing what she holds dearest to her – her family – and she must face the chilling reminder of the sacrifices one takes to be themselves. Call Me Marianna, the opera prima by Karolina Bielawska, is a homage to freedom of identity and the unpredictable twists and turns life can offer.
Moderator — Alexander Markov, director, producer, film specialist
The Transgender Day of Remembrance — 20 November
22 november, tu 20:00—23:00
LITTLE GIRL BLUE: JANIS Amy Berg, USA, 2015, 107 min
Janis Joplin is one of the most revered and iconic rock & roll singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who thrilled millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1970 at age 27. This in depth examination presents an intimate and insightful portrait of a complicated, driven, and often beleaguered artist. Joplin’s own words tell much of the film’s story through
a series of letters she wrote to her parents over the years, many of them made public here for the first time. Joplin was a powerhouse when she sang, and her recordings have never left the radio or the hearts of rock fans worldwide. A new understanding of a bright, complex woman whose surprising rise and sudden demise changed music forever.
Join the music surprise — IVA NOVA is performing covers of Janis Joplin!
26 ноября, сб 15:00—16:30
REMEMBERING THE MAN Nickolas Bird, Eleanor Sharpe, Australia, 2015, 83 min 2016 — Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Audience Award — Best Documentary, Jury Award 2015 — Adelaide Film Festival, Foxtel Movies Audience Award, Best Documentary
In the 1970s, at a prestigious Catholic boys school in Melbourne, arty and flamboyant Tim Conigrave fell madly in love with the star of the school’s football team John Caleo. In 1995, Timothy Conigrave’s memoir, Holding the Man, was published. The book told the story of his passionate relationship with his first and only love, John Caleo, a relationship that began in high school and ended 16 years later when the AIDS virus struck down both men. Tim’s memoir became an instant classic. Millions of copies have been sold and the book has been adapted for the stage and screen. Remembering the Man is a feature length documentary that
uncovers the true story of these star cross‘d Romeos: their awkward schoolboy romance; their parents’ efforts to keep them apart; temptation, infidelity and separation; how they came back together stronger than before; and finally the courage they had to find when they learnt they were both HIV positive. Through Tim’s voice and intimate interviews with friends and colleagues and unprecedented access to archival footage and family photos, Remembering the Man paints a raw, gritty and intimate picture.
«Remembering the Man is an intimate love story set in a time of war; a microcosm of the AIDS pandemic; a face to put on all the faceless victims of HIV; and an operatic story of tragedy and triumph. The relationship in this documentary transcends death and tragedy to become something triumphant and uplifting. Making Remembering the Man has been a labour of love. It took four and a half years to make this film and you only spend that amount of time doing something if you are passionate about it. It was difficult to secure funding. It was difficult to find the interviewees and convince them to take part. It was difficult to track down and clear all the archive that appears in the film. But ultimately it has been an amazing experience to make this film and help preserve this story». Join the Directors Nickolas Bird, Eleanor Sharpe for Q&A after the screening.
19 november, sa 15:30—17:35 MORE THAN GOD Kev Cahilll, Ireland, 2015, 9 min
Attempting to catch his adulterous wife, a pious doctor is confronted by the rigidity of religion, the strength of family and the fragility of life.
BUDDY
Niels Bourgonje, the Netherlands, 2015, 11 min
When a young man is asked by his ex lover to support him during an HIV test, he sees an opportunity to find out if there’s still a chance for reconciliation.
WEIRD TIMES
Mehmet Emrah Erkani, Turkey, 2015, 20 min
The night takes a weird turn of events when Haldun goes out to walk the streets in a seedy neighbourhood of Istanbul.
MOMS ON FIRE
Joanna Rytel, Sweden, 2015, 20 min 2016 — Berlin International Film Festival 2016 Won Teddy-Best Short Film(Joanna Rytel) Nominated — Golden Berlin Bear for Best Short Film (Joanna Rytel)
Two women, uninhibited, full of desire and passion, break all taboos in the final days of their heavily pregnant state.
TREMULO Roberto Fiesco, Mexico, 2015, 20 min
On the eve of Mexican Independence Day, a young barbershop assistant is smitten when he locks eyes with a new army recruit, who stops by for a trim before he must deploy.
BALCONY Toby Fell-Holden, UK, 2015, 17 min 2016 — Berlin International Film Festival Crystal Bear-Generation 14plus — Best Short Film
In a neighbourhood rife with racial tension, a local girl falls for a recent immigrant who is the victim of prejudice and shame.
PARTNERS
Joey Ally, USA, 2016, 6 min
Professional and life partners Kate and Leigh, following a slump in their relationship, are forced to reconsider their relationship and confront how intertwined their lives have become.
THANKS FOR DANCING
Henrik Martin Dahlsbakke, Norway, 2016, 18 Min
A lifelong relationship is coming to an end, as we follow two elderly men and former athletes the last winter they are living together.
THE WEDDING PATROL Rogier Hardeman, Germany, 2016, 14 min
Russian expat Mikail, when seen kissing a woman, is under suspicion of falsifying his gay marriage. The police are sent out to investigate and as it turns out things are not always what they seem.
24 november, th 19:00—20:45
HOMEWORK
HONEYMOON
Annika Pinske, Germany, 2016, 10 min
Ronit Meranda, UK, 2016, 10 min
A young father, his twelve year old daughter, one night club, two secrets and a lie that will solve everything.
A seemingly insignificant disagreement, between a honeymooning couple, Lucy and Johanna, silently turns into a hurtful argument, played out publically and with all eyes watching.
глубже HEADLONG
MASCARAS
Alice steps out of her comfort zone to share a spontaneous moment with her teammate.
Lucas, an unlucky romantic is approached by a serial seducer named Victor who promises him the moon. Disappointed and having been cheated on once again, Lucas decides to take revenge...
Nadia Bedzhanova, Russia / USA, 2016, 8 min
David San Juan, Belgium, 2016, 13 min
DISSONANCE Ana Ngo, Canada, 2014 4 min
A closeted trans* outcast yearns to enter the men’s washroom and be accepted for their gender identity. However, their journey is immediately threatened upon coming out to their intolerant community.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST Mikael Bundsen, Sweden, 2016, 12 min
A casual conversation between a mother and teenage son leads to revelations that will change their relationship completely.
SMUACK
Alejandra Sanchez Orozco, Mexico, 2016, 22 min
Luisa’s life revolves around her job at a gay bar and crushing on its patrons, until she awakes one morning to find a stranger at her door: her 8-year-old niece, Susana.
TEAR JERKER
1985
Amy Alder, USA, 2016, 14 min
Yen Tan, USA, 2016, 9 min
Tear Jerker is a portrait of a transgender guy, Elliot, faced with difficult life circumstances trying to find new ways to express old and familiar feelings.
In preparing to move in with his mother, Adrain, seeks the help of a beauty consultant to help hide his scars.
OH BE JOYFUL Susan Jacobson, UK, 2015, 13 min
Sophie is a fulltime carer for her terminally ill grandmother, Rita, who is determined, before she dies, to drag her granddaughter out of the closet.
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WATCH FILMS, READ AND EDUCATE YOURSELF!
IF YOU MISSED SEEING A FILM AT THE FESTIVAL, DON’T BE UPSET. THERE IS A CHANCE YOU CAN WATCH IT ONLINE ON OUR WEBSITE.
bok-o-bok.ru Online film of the month
LGBT cinema
Each month, we post films that festivalgoers particularly enjoyed in our ONLINE FILM section. You can watch each movie anytime during the month. A new film goes online on the first day of each new month.
We feature a new article about LGBT cinema in this section once a month. Our film critics and journalists write about what is new in the theatres, survey the work of well-known filmmakers, track recent trends, analyze topics of interest and review films in an easyto-read, entertaining way.
Hot topic Focusing on education and social issues is an important part of our work. In our HOT TOPIC section, you can find out what intersexuality is, how Russia’s trans movement is faring, what feminitives are and why we need them, the ups and downs of the LGBT movements in Lithuania and Georgia, and much more. Sign up to our pages on the social networks and you’ll always be up to date about new films, articles and events.
If you write about cinema or LGBT-related social and political issues, we would be glad to have you on board. Write to us at info@bok-o-bok.ru and put “Contributors” in the subject line.
There really are a lot of people who make this festival happen, not just the people you see at the festival venues. Many of them work behind the scenes, but the contributions of each and every one of them makes our beloved Side by Side vivacious, actionpacked, amazing, and professional. Our team members attend workshops and seminars, lectures and informal meetings. Our helpers travel to other cities and countries to present Side by Side and Russia’s LGBT movement. Being on our team is an opportunity for growing and educating yourself, overcoming your own phobias and lack of self-confidence, feeling you are part of a tight community, expanding your horizons, and just having fun. Would you like to join us? Write us at info@bok-o-bok.ru and put “Team� in the subject line.
Festival Organizing Committee Manny de Guerre Gulya Sultanova Natasha Kim Marina Mirt Yulia Solntseva
Editors Tatyana Kolesova Eric M. Kaufman Elena Leontieva Andrey Bardo
Translators Alexandr Kuznetsov Alexandra Novitskaya
Anastasia Astakhova Anastasiya Dyumina Anna Moskovkina Darya Zheleznova Dmitry V. Dotsenko Haya Dvora (Natalia) Tsymbalova Irina Fedorenko Julia Kuzishina Katerina Kalegina Katerina Kirschenman Tatiana Shmankevich Vera ScoVita Zhenya Dorofeeva
Helpers through Thick and Thin Ada Fursova Aleksandr Potapov Alena Ivanova Anna Kray
Ekaterina Firago Elmira Bilialova Eshik (Nadezhda Ivanova) Gregory Zaritovsky Irina Pechen’kina Irina Sigova Lada Shilnikova Lesya Belimova Maksim Petkov Mariia Balganova Mariya Zalesskaya Mikhail Zeifer Oksana Sikorskaya Olga Masina Polina Kislitsyna Roman Melnik Sasha Burova Svetlana Moshkova Tanya Dolzhenko Varvara Abramova Vladimir Krasnov Yuliia Gataulina Yuliia Pelinen Zhanna Yurieva