ECHT (Queer Film Award)

With the queer film award ECHT, the BIFF honors in cooperation with the Verein für sexuelle Emanzipation e.V. (Association for Sexual Emancipation), bisexual, gay, trans*, inter and queer filmmaking.

The jury prize is endowed with 2,500 euros and is sponsored by the VSE e.V., financed until 2022 with funds from the Queeres Netzwerk Niedersachsen.

Jury Statement:
We award the queer film prize ECHT to the film TOLL by Carolina Markowicz.
An unfortunately still (worldwide) current topic - conversion therapy - is told here in a courageous, visually stunning and surprisingly light way. The director stylishly manages to give all the characters and relationships an ambivalence and complexity that makes it impossible to judge or condemn them too lightly and forces the audience to deal with the hardships, constraints and realities of life of a single mother and her queer son in a precarious environment on a deep level. Particularly noteworthy is the director's courageous decision to give the mother's perspective a great deal of space & emotional comprehensibility. A film that, far from simplification and easy answers, is deeply moving and resonates for a long time.

Directed by: Tünde Skovrán, Romania/Canada 2023, 102 min.

The documentary film WHO I AM NOTby Tünde Skovrán, moved us deeply. With great sensitivity, the director introduces us to the lives of the two protagonists Sharon-Rose and Dimakatso, two intersex South Africans. In everyday momentsmoments, such as job hunting or dating, are very impressively and relentlessly how how violent the binary gender system is for people. is for people. Sharon-Rose and Dimakatso will not be suppressed; they are living proof that society is sick, not them. society is sick, not them. Sharon-Rose competes as a beauty queen, Dimakatso does educational work as an activist and meets medical students, among others. Time and again, they are forced to muster the strengthto find themselves, but it is their environment that denies them their place through their ignorance and fear of rejecting a supposed norm. The question that Dimakatso asks her partner - "Where do I belong?" - echoes long after the end credits and forces the audience to reflect on the rigid concepts of belonging and identity. and identity. Finally, we were particularly impressed by the the affectionate staging of the protagonists that gives them the space they are often denied. "Who I Am Not" is not only emotionally moving, but also thought-provoking. The film is a clear indictment of the binary system and reminds us that life exists in its diversity.

Special mention: ALONG CAME LOVE

The feature film ALONG CAME LOVE, original title Le Temps d'aimer [lə tã d(e)me], receives an honorable mention in the category REAL an enthusiastic Honorable Mention.
This narrative drama by French director Katell Quillévéré [katɛl kiléveʁe] is worth seeing in a number of respects. Yes, very worth seeing indeed. We on the jury are deeply impressedwhat the the ambition and the visual aesthetics of this film. We were also impressed by the historical accuracy.
We are talking about a story that takes place over three consecutive decades. The opening credits are also a prelude. A montage of monochrome images that stimulate our emotions. A concise prologue, with which black and white ways of thinking suddenly come up against the colorful nuances between delight and rage.
It's about Love - and war. What is love if not war? If not a warlike confrontation with the peace we feel in loneliness and the frustration we experience in relationships.
The waitress Madeleine, a single mother, and the intellectual François, the offspring of a wealthy family, meet in the early 1950s. On a picturesque shore in Brittany, not far from the once hard-fought beaches of Normandy, they fall in love with each other. They say yes to each other, but conceal their serious personal secrets.
But the queer connection? Where is it? Where is it not? It simmers explosively under the lid - and under the covers. In a surprising way bi- and homosexual desires gain color and form, so to speak. At the same time, the moral conventions of the world have a crushing effect on the protagonists, an event that the director symbolically predicts when she follows the couple as they walk through a narrow, dark tunnel between dream and trauma.

Sweden, Norway 2022, 87 min, colour, directed by Christoffer Sandler.

Everything is going wrong in 18-year-old Joanna's life right now: she has run out of ADHD tablets and is desperately trying to get money for new ones. She is bullied at school and her depressive father won't get off the couch - not even to visit her mother's grave. Against the growing storm in her head, she goes swimming - even without paying admission. There she meets Audrey - and everything changes. The film accompanies Joanna through her complicated life, showing situational comedy, but also depth, without ever becoming pathetic. This is mainly due to Niki Hanseblad, the charismatic actress of Joanna, who radiates combative optimism.

Biography Director: Christoffer Sandler is a Swedish writer, producer and director. He has worked on various "coming of age" TV series. His first feature film SO DAMN EASY GOING was among others the opening film of the Gothenburg Film Festival and nominated for several awards.

JURY STATEMENT

"Lesbian love as a haven of peace for a troubled main character. How rarely have we been told it like this? In So Damn Easy Going, teenage Joanna not only struggles with growing up, but also has to deal with her ADHD. When her depressive father is unable to finance her medication and the daily necessities of life in the meantime, she gets into trouble. Also because no one is supposed to know about her precarious situation - especially not her love interest Audrey.
The screenwriters Lina Åström, Jessika Jankert and Linda-Maria Birbeck as well as co-writer and director Christoffer Sandler with their wonderful youth cast have not made it an arthouse drama, but a young, mainstream arthouse dramedy. With the award for this film we want to set an example for casual storytelling of
multi-layered, queer characters who are not defined EXCLUSIVELY by their sexual orientation or gender identity."

Special Mention for MY EMPTINESS AND I

"While there are now a multitude of films telling stories about trans* people, trans* lead actress Raphaëlle Pérez was directly involved in the script for "My Emptiness and I" and thus helped determine the telling of her own story from the very beginning. This resulted in a film that does not serve a classic narrative about trans* people, but at the same time addresses issues that many who live outside the gender norm are familiar with. Raphi is primarily concerned with the question of how far she wants or has to adapt her body to the norm in order to have a fulfilling relationship, for example. There is always the question of what makes a woman a woman.
makes a woman a woman. We dedicate a special mention to "My Emptiness and I" because the film accompanies the main character Raphi in a process that does not primarily show a gender transition, but rather critically reflects the process of a seemingly apolitical life into public visibility in society."

Directed by: Lara Aerts, Netherlands 2020, 7 min

Why is it so important to be a boy or a girl? Wen Long explains quite naturally and openly that Wen Long was born as an intersex child. The nine-year-old child wears both "boy" and "girl" clothes and plays with toys that are attributed to both of these genders. The only problem is that others don't know what to make of it. People say, "If you're a boy and a girl at the same time, you're basically nothing." Wen Long is not interested in making a decision, but just wants to be Wen Long. This insightful, playful documentary shows how absurd the imposed binary gender division really is. Clothes, toys, washrooms - everything is strictly separated. The social taboo of intersexuality leads to problems. A typical example is the fact that Wen Long's teacher considers the topic unsuitable for children, although it is a completely natural phenomenon that also occurs in the animal kingdom. So why is it strange for humans?

Director: Levan Akin, Georgia, Sweden, 105 min

Merab has lived for Georgian dance since his early youth and trains with his partner Mary in the National Ensemble of Tbilisi. Apart from daily ballet lessons and occasional dates with Mary, he has hardly any time for himself, especially when he has to take care of his chaotic brother. But his world falls apart when the charismatic Irakli joins the ensemble. Not only does he become Merab's biggest rival for a permanent position, but he also awakens Merab’s sexual desire. Levan Akin develops the story in a field of tension of hardness and devotion, passion and mercilessness against the background of a society marked by homophobia.

Olga Chajdas, Polen 2018, 130 Min.

Nina and Wojtek are a mismatched couple looking for a suitable surrogate mother for the child they hope will save their relationship. One day they both meet Magda and it seems they have found the ideal candidate. Things get more complicated, when Nina suddenly feels attracted to Magda. Nina is a story about an unexpected, difficult love and complicated decisions, in which winners and losers are on the same side and where the world is not divided into good and evil or hetero- and homosexuals. This perfect film debut paints a sensitive portrait of a strong but confused woman, trapped in her role as wife and daughter.