International Queer Film Festival
Arte Institute suggests “International Queer Film Festival” in Lisbon and Porto.
Queer Lisboa 20
September 16th to September 24th
Cinema São Jorge and Portuguese Cinematheque
Queer Porto 2
October 5th to October 9th
Teatro Municipal Rivoli, Maus Hábitos, malavoadora.porto and Wrong Weather
In 2016, Queer Lisboa – International Queer Film Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary, from the 16th to 24th September, with a special edition that will include a comprehensive retrospective on Derek Jarman, one of the seminal directors in the history of queer film, to be held at the Portuguese Cinematheque. In addition to his most iconic features, such as Edward II or The Last of England, Queer Lisboa will screen for the first time in Portugal a number of newly revealed and restored short films in Super 8, such as an experimental documentary on the Scottish band Orange Juice, that will have its world premiere in Lisbon. This retrospective will also serve as a motto to reflect upon punk and post-punk culture, and British experimental cinema, placing Jarman’s work in dialogue with the films of other directors such as John Maybury, John Scarlett-Davis and Cerith Wyn Evans. A total of over 40 films complete this thorough program, including features and short films, in what is one of the biggest retrospectives ever dedicated to Jarman.
As part of the retrospective, the Portuguese Cinematheque will host a debate with key personalities linked to Derek Jarman’s work, notably James Mackay, producer of some of his most important films; Keith Collins, Jarman’s former partner and actor; director John Scarlett- Davis – a central figure in the British experimental film scene of the 1980s –; and William Fowler, programmer from BFI – British Film Institute.
Long-awaited and recently premiered in London with great uproar, Artistic Director João Ferreira and Queer Lisboa programmer Nuno Galopim, announced they have secured the Portuguese premiere of Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, the big screen adaptation of the British TV cult series, that brings to the cinemas the adventures of Eddy (Jennifer Saunders, creator of the series) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley). The film will be opening Queer Lisboa 20, on September 16, and closing the second edition of Queer Porto, on October 8, at Teatro Municipal Rivoli.
In partnership with TV Cine & SeÌries, Queer Lisboa 20 will also host the national premiere of Looking: The Movie, the HBO film, directed by Andrew Haigh (Weekend director, which Queer Lisboa premiered in Portugal), which serves as a final chapter to the television series, broadcasted between 2014 and 2015 and that quickly became a viral phenomenon. The film will be screened at the Queer Lisboa 20 Closing Night, on September 24, at Cinema São Jorge.
After talking about the Queer Lisboa 20 special edition, the Festival programmers announced some of the highlights of the second edition of Queer Porto, taking place from the 5th to the 9th October at the Teatro Municipal Rivoli, malavoadora.porto, Maus HaÌbitos and Wrong Weather.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of American essayist B. Ruby Rich’s article in Sight & Sound, where the author coined the term “New Queer Cinema” to define a new cinematic language that emerged in the 1990s, responsible for changing the paradigm of the representation of queer themes in film, the Festival announced a retrospective dedicated to the New Queer Cinema, with some of the most representative films of this movement which dominated the first decade of the 1990s and forever changed the panorama of independent American cinema. The New Queer Cinema Retrospective will screen the emblematic titles Mala Noche (1985), Gus Van Sant’s first feature film, The Living End (1992), by Gregg Araki, Poison (1991), by Todd Haynes, Go Fish (1994), by Rose Troche, The Watermelon Woman (1996), by Cheryl Dunye, and Swoon (1991), by Tom Kalin.
This second edition of Queer Porto – International Queer Film Festival will be attended by director Tom Kalin, who will hold a master class at malavoadora.porto on the evolution of queer cinema’s aesthetic and narrative. The New Queer Cinema Retrospective still promises some surprises, including a collaboration with several Porto-based artists, to be announced next September.