Queerness Is Borderless

Hello! My name is Skate Courduff (she/her). I am a screenwriting major and queer studies minor at CSU Northridge. For this week, I will be discussing current representations of queer in international films.

Even though they’re working within a system that’s rigged against them, Fumi and Kazu’s enduring optimism for the future and the egalitarian power of justice should still give us hope. Love and law are intertwined in ways that Japanese society might not account for just yet, but it’s reassuring to know that there are people out there willing to fight by combining them both into one powerful force for good.”

Of Love & Law - Rokudenashiko Clip

https://screen-queens.com/2019/06/12/review-of-love-and-law/

https://screen-queens.com/2019/06/12/review-of-love-and-law/

This particular film is probably my favorite one that I included in this blog. It is such an interesting and unique story!

Of Love & Law Trailer

“Documentarian Hikaru Toda’s intimate look at the hidden gay world in strictly conformist Japan follows real-life couple Fumi and Kazu, an openly gay married couple who run a law firm together. As they attempt to change the status quo by taking on human rights cases, Toda captures a human portrait of grassroots activism.” - via https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-gay-foreign-films-queer-lgbt-international/426404/

“Themes of abandonment, loneliness and yearning wash through Hard Paint, a hypnotically intimate character study examining a damaged young gay man's double life as an online sex performer... The mix of sexual explicitness and incisive social context with melancholy sensuality should put this distinctive work on the radar of queer film specialists beyond the festival circuit.Set in the co-directors' hometown of Porto Alegre, Brazil's southernmost capital, the movie at times recalls Moonlight, not just structurally, in its separately titled three-part breakdown, but also in its moving observation of a vulnerable gay male protagonist in an unaccommodating environment, who is less fragile than he initially appears. However, those similarities are more than likely unintended, as the voice here is very much the filmmakers' own.”

“The Teddy Award is one of the most prestigious gongs in the LGBT film calendar. This year’s award has now been handed out and has gone to the Brazilian movie, Hard Paint (Tinta Bruna). The film comes from directors Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon, who have previously worked together on LGBT projects such as the movie Seashore, and the provocative short film, The Last Days Of Zanzibar.”

Hard Paint (Tinta Bruta) - Berlinale 2018 - Teaser Trailer

“This moody Brazilian drama won the 2018 Teddy Award, the Berlinale’s coveted queer film prize. Set in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, the film follows a reclusive Pedro (Shico Menegat), a cam boy who uses neon paint to illuminate his body during shows. When he accuses a competitor of stealing his signature technique, the charismatic Leo (Bruno Fernandes) gets Pedro out of his shell.” - via https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-gay-foreign-films-queer-lgbt-international/screen-shot-2018-11-06-at-9-14-33-am/

Katharina Mueckstein via https://www.lanimale.com/en/

L'ANIMALE - Trailer with English subtitles

“While I was working on the script to L’ANIMALE I was preoccupied with one of the big contradictions of our times: we idealize individualism but at the same time subject ourselves to strong external constraints, often without even noticing. Not so long ago, it was absolutely clear what we should rebel against – conventions, injustice, subjugation. Today, it is more complex and more difficult to grasp what makes us unfree. The characters in L’ANIMALE are objectively free to do what they want. But internally, they fight against a feeling of not being free to choose and a longing for change and truthfulness. The utopia of L‘ANIMALE is a human fighting to find a fitting place for his/ her innermost essence in the external world. Someone who can combine the three forces of passion, desire and reason in order to become free.” -Katharina Mueckstein 

“If Celine Sciamma’s “Girlhood” and “Tomboy” had a baby, it might look a bit like this gutsy coming-of-age tale from Austrian director Katharina Mueckstein (“Talea”). Sulking tomboy Mati (Sophie Stockinger) spends her days riding motorcross with her gang of boys, fending off advances from her best friend but really eyeing the local girls. This coming-of-age tale doesn’t break the form, but it features stunning camera work, film references, and assured performances.” - via https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-gay-foreign-films-queer-lgbt-international/426733/

“The personal is subtly political in Blerta Zeqiri’s compelling and compassionate relationship drama “The Marriage.” Paralleling the unquiet recent history of the contested nation-state of Kosovo with the lives and interactions of three of its inhabitants, Zeqiri has crafted an exceptionally well-performed, absorbing and empathetic first feature. Transforming gradually from an authentic and insightful portrait of middle-class life in contemporary Pristina into a gay love story, the film is guaranteed wide exposure, especially in festivals with dedicated queer cinema sidebars, following its well-received premiere at Tallinn’s Black Nights.”