The hurdles we face, and a celebration of those around us who let us be.
My Brother is a Mermaid
Dir: Alfie Dale – 19:30, UK
Social realist fairytale about a trans-feminine teenager, as seen through the eyes of their 7 year old brother. Set in a desolate and prejudiced coastal town, the film examines how a child’s unconditional love can be a powerful and disruptive force for good.
Vincent before Noon
Dir: Guillaume Mainguet – 17:00, France
A father pays his son a visit after years of conflict and turns up in the middle of his house move. The son Vincent reacts violently to that intrusion. Emotionally weakened, the father involuntarily reveals the true reason of his visit, which revives the tension between them.
Kapaemahu
H. Wong-Kalu, D. Hamer, J. Wilson – 8:28, US
Long ago, four extraordinary individuals of dual male and female spirit brought the healing arts from Tahiti to Hawaii. Narrated in an ancient Hawaiian dialect, Kapaemahu brings this powerful legend back to life in vivid animation, seen through the eyes of a curious child.
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Complicated
Isak Kohaly – 22:05, Israel
Itamar, a chubby and depressed young man, returns to his childhood home in the suburbs following a mental breakdown. As he struggles to get better under the care of his quirky and overprotective mother, old tensions about his sexual orientation arise.
Chado
Dir: Dominica Harrison – 7:24, UK
During a long hot summer in the forest, Child is forced to grow up. First her Dog becomes ill, then out of the blue her Mother returns with a new lover in tow. Child’s world is turned upside down. A coming of age story, set in an enchanted Russian wilderness.
Cost You Nothing
Dir: Patricia Kelly – 10:15, Ireland
A mother’s fractious relationship with her son disintegrates when she cannot accept the man he has become.
Thicker Than Blood
Dir: Liang-Chun Lin – 9:51, US
Indian boy Karan recently gets a white stepsister, Lily, when their lesbian moms move together. Karan does not get along with Lily nor with this whole new family idea. As he desperately needs to blend in with peers at an upcoming party, Lily gets her first period.
Felt Right Then, Feels Right Now
Dir: Ashton Blyth – 2:00, UK
The childhood memory of Blyth trying on his father’s boxers at age eight, before leaving for Brownies still wearing them under his uniform. This memory is one of many that have contributed to Blyth understanding that his gender identity did not align with the sex he was assigned at birth, leading to the artist coming out as transgender at eighteen.
Weighing
Dir: Martina Amoretti – 10:23, UK
Being a conversion therapist, Éidin has always thought she is doing the right thing. But when she meets Iulía, she begins to question whether being gay is that bad after all.
The Summer House
Dir: Luke Willis – 13:30, US
After many years away, Greg returns to his family’s secluded vacation house with his boyfriend only to be tormented by the ghost of his homophobic father.
Before the Eruption
Dir: Robero Pérez Toledo – 9:26, Spain
Although a volcanic eruption can occur without any prior signal, volcanoes will most likely issue different types of warnings before the eruption begins. We barely saw it coming.
As Simple As That
Dir: Luciana Bitencourt – 19:08, Brazil
Suspicious that her son is gay, Joana shares her doubts with her husband. To her surprise, the boy’s father knows much more about the subject than she imagined. After all, why was she the last to know?
Oxtail Soup
Dir: Peter No – 5:00, US
A Korean boy struggles to reconcile broken relationships in his life.
The Middle of a Lake
Dir: Guillaume Mainguet – 22:08, France
After the cremation of his father, whose ashes are to be dispersed the following day over a nearby lake, Vincent and his family get close friends and relatives together out back behind the family butcher shop for a last tribute.
