We teamed up with MindOut to celebrate Black History Month with a special night at The Latest MusicBar on Tuesday 25th October.
Crypsis
Dir: Chris McGill – 9:00, UK
After fleeing for his life, a gay refugee files for asylum in Scotland. Lacking evidence, he decides to photograph himself in the dark techno world of a queer underground scene. Based on accounts of real-life African LGBT refugees and the challenges they face during the asylum process, Crypsis is a raw depiction of a grim reality obscured by vitriolic public debate about refugees and the broken system that surrounds them.
Pure
Dir: Natalie Jasmine Harris – 12:20, US
On the eve of her cotillion ball, a young Black girl grapples with her queer identity and questions her purity.
Embrace
Dir: Latesha Merkel – 5:18, US
An animated short film about asexuality – an orientation generally defined by a lack of sexual attraction, regardless of gender. The narrative explores the common asexual experience of feeling different than most of the population, and the isolation, confusion, and self-loathing that difference can create. However, the story also emphasizes the self-love and joy that can come from recognition of one’s asexuality and the asexual community, and how it’s possible to embrace the orientation by viewing it in a different light.
October
Dir: Mae Mann – 7:56, US
October follows a Ugandan teen named Dembe, as they come out to their mother as transgender and try to navigate their identity in a society opposed to it.
Tender
Dir: Felicia Pride – 14:53, US
After an unexpected one-night stand, two women at very different stages of their lives, share an even more intimate morning after.
The Beyoncé Experience
Dir: Blaise Singh – 10:00, UK
Follow the story of Aaron Carty in the lead up to UK Black Pride, who gave up a career as a police officer to live his dream of becoming a positive role model for the Black queer community as a Beyoncé drag act.
The Comfort Zone
Dir: Ran Yatim – 17:00, US
What would it take to break you out of your comfort zone? Caleb is by all accounts a successful executive. Despite exceeding his father’s expectations, Caleb is far from happy. That is, until Star, a vibrant and aspiring rockstar, comes crashing into his world and turns his comfortably numb existence upside down with a string of reckless misadventures and a new outlook on life.
Sia
Dir: Ashlei Shyne – 12:22, US
Sia is a poetic short film that follows Nola & Sia, a Black queer female couple whose vibrant life together is upended when a global pandemic threatens to tear apart their entire world. “Sia“ takes place during the 2020 social justice uprising in Los Angeles following the murder of George Floyd. Through the eyes of Nola and Sia, we will see how national policies, voter suppression, and lack of access to adequate health care for BIPOC & LGBTQ+ people have helped contribute to the vast number of deaths in the United States.
Eve
Dir: Joe Solomon – 13:04, UK
A young newly married woman faces anxiety, panic and stress at her wedding reception as she finally acknowledges her repressed attraction to women, turning her world upside down.
Black Trans Masculinity – A Short Film
Dir: Will Stanley – 15:11, UK
“Representation of people like me, people like us, is so few and far between. I made this short film to hopefully fill in some of those gaps and feel more understood, and in hope that it may make other people feel little more seen and understood.“
