FilmPride comes to The Ledward! Grab a soft drink in a friendly atmosphere and enjoy a weekend of thought-provoking entertainment.
All films include English subtitles and a BSL interpreter will be present. Each screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers in attendance. Please note, these screenings are 15+ only. Tickets available here
The Ledward Centre
14a Jubilee St, Brighton BN1 1GE
Saturday 29th July
1.30pm – 3.30pm: Identity & Discovery
An exploration of queer identities and how we are seen by intimate partners, society at large – and ourselves. Tickets available here
Life in Love – Cinthia & Robyn
Dir: Abel Rubinstein (he/him) – 13:00, UK
Cinthia and Robyn get real about their two-year relationship to unpack the stereotypes and misconceptions around asexuality and desire.
Love Lingers
Dir: Washington Calegari (he/him) – 22:22, Brazil
Jonas is isolated at home as he reflects on his relationship with his boyfriend and best friend, who are hospitalized during the pandemic.
Trailer available here
To My Next Lover
Dir: Kieran Charnock (he/him) – 3:26, New Zealand
This will not end well! A poet forewarns their next lover of what lies ahead. Based on the poem “to my next lover” by Paula Harris.
Ordinary
Dir: Atlas O Phoenix (they/them) – 11:51, US
“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anaïs Nin.
In a personal, experimental essay, Ordinary asks the question, “Have your eyes really seen (me?).”
A patchwork quilt of intersecting identities, Ordinary weaves together multiple storylines to explore the purpose of identifiers and their meaning. Atlas questions whether identifiers truly identify anyone.
Finding Queer Disability Culture
Dirs: Jen Sungshine, (she/her), David Ng – 05:54, Canada
Directors Jen and David connect with Amar Mangat and Vivian Ly, who are part of the Deaf, and Neurodiverse, communities, respectively. Parallels between Deaf identity, Deaf Culture, and Autistic identity and Autistic Culture are drawn as both individuals challenge neurotypical and hearing-privileged ways of understanding disability, language and access within queer culture.
Because I know How Beautiful My Being Is
Dir: Ana María Jessie Serna (she/her) – 18:00, UK
Pearl is a well-known boutique owner in Manchester. Cheryl is a poet, playwright, and theatre director. Claud is a teacher who is making a documentary about Black Angels: a nightclub she co-founded. Nick is a young psychologist working in the Student Union. Together they belong to the black and queer community in the UK. “Because I Know How Beautiful My Being Is” moves from the intimacy and solitude of one’s own spaces to the confluences that are generated in the streets, to the agglomerations of other human beings, corporealities, black, queer and diverse.
See me: A Walk Through London’s Gay Soho in 1994 and 2020
Dir: Lee Campbell (he/him) – 10:10, UK
See Me includes sections of a walk that I made through Soho, London. As I walk, I listen on headphones to the compilation music tapes that I made when I first came to this area as a teenager in the 1990s. I reflect upon the difference between me in 1994 and me in 2020.
Trailer available here
Where’s Danny?
Dir: Amy Pennington (they/them)- 15:05, UK
Ho, ho, who? In not, all bright and sunny resort town of Southend, England, suited in drag, TV reporter Barbara Standard, brings you unearthing news about the “GAY SANTA GETS SACK” from 1986. Where’s Danny? is a mockumentary drawing upon Derek Jarman’s painting “Time”, exposing and critiquing the temporal othering of queers during the AIDS epidemic in Britain.
4pm – 6pm: Relationships & Passions
Queer relationships, pastimes and passions – finding freedom, contentment, or coming into conflict. Tickets available here
Warsha
Dir: Dania Bdeir (she/her) – 15:54, France
Mohammad is a crane operator working in Beirut. One morning he volunteers to take on one of the tallest and notoriously most dangerous cranes in Lebanon. Away from everyone’ eyes, he is able to live out his secret passion and find freedom.
Trailer available here
Out Out
Dir: Sarah Louise Worth of Highly Sprung (she/her) – 9:31, UK
A bold new dance film that unlocks the voices of Coventry’s LGBTQIA+ community. Bringing to the mainstream voices that are often hidden, in a celebration of togetherness and coming out. Created using a verbatim script based on real stories, contributed by 14-30 year olds in Coventry’s LGBTQIA+ community.
Trailer available here
The Tree
Dir: Ida Hansen Eldøen (she/her) – 14:00, Norway
Low and hungover, Rebecca finds herself fighting off her ex-girlfriend Vivian, who has turned up to claim the apple tree they had planted in Rebecca’s backyard.
Do I Know You From Someone?
Dir: Gwen Rathbone (they/she) – 11:28, UK
A trans woman is set up on a blind date by her best friend, only to realise her date is a woman from her past, before her transition.
Dog Friend
Dir: Maissa Lihedheb (she/They) – 18:52, Germany
Malik and Phillip ignite a fight that highlights their unequal positions within German society. The date then takes an unexpected turn in this meditation on race and politics.
Rural Butch Femme Rap
Dir: Krissy Mahan (she/her) – 3:50, US
In this short, humorous animation, a working class, rural lesbian couple happily plan their upcoming date night, in an ode to the joys of queers living with the land. Sung to the tune of 2008’s “(You Can Have) Whatever You Like” by T.I.
Lola vs Ed
Dir: Lars Brinkman (he/she) – 10:10, Netherlands
A drag-thriller about Lola, a drag queen who gets in the cab with Ed, a quiet taxi driver. He gets confronted with his prejudices and desires by the colorful Lola. The two lonely souls try to get closer to each other during a taxi ride through Amsterdam by night.
Steal Your Girl
Dir: Kitty Richardson (she/her) – 4:25, UK
In this music video, a heart-broken, queer young woman is pining for the love of a straight girl who is in a relationship with a good-for-nothing man.
Sunday 30th July
1.30pm – 3.30pm: Community & Connection
The challenges and opportunities faced when coming out, making connections, forming communities, and fitting in. Tickets available here
Church Camp
Dir: Andrew Bourne (he/him) – 13:36, US
Josh, a gawky camp counselor who puts the bi in Bible Camp, teeters on the edge of coming out to the entire camp.
It’s a Gray, Gray World
Dir: Seyed Mohsen Pourmohseni Shakib (he/him) – 6:12, Iran
In a completely gray world, the colourful identity of a conservative young man is accidentally revealed by a playful boy. People are terrified of this, calling the police to arrest the young man. But the young man manages to escape, returning the next day to defend his right to freedom.
Sons of The Night
Dir: Henrique Arruda (he/him) – 15:47, Brazil
Eight gay men aged 50 – 70 share their memories, lives and nocturnal images, questioning where their bodies fit in the current world.
Trailer available here
Skate+
Dirs: Otoxo Productions – 6:06, Spain
Skateboarding is a life saver for this group of gender queer youth in Barcelona. As they make their way through a traditionally male-dominated sport, they also learn the true value of community.
Trailer available here
The Microcosm
Dir: Joe Ingham (he/they) – 13:13, UK
London, 1966. A woman exposed as a lesbian can expect to lose her job, her lodgings, her family. But in one subterranean corner of Chelsea, the Gateways club offers a safe haven for women to dance, express themselves and love who they want. Or does it? Maureen Duffy published The Microcosm in 1966, turning her probing gaze to London’s first and infamous lesbian hang out. 56 years later, Maureen’s words are brought vividly to life by two-time Oscar winner Glenda Jackson.
Trailer available here
Regalia: Pride in Two Spirits
Dir: Jen Sungshine (she/her), David Ng (he/him) – 5:18, Canada
Duane Stewart-Grant, who is from X̌àʼislakʼala (Haisla) and nuučaan̓uł (Nuu-chah- nulth) First Nations in Canada, explores his identity as someone who is “Two Spirited” – a queer, indigenous identity. He talks about how before the colonial era, First Nations people revered the “Two Spirit” identity, as they were viewed as embodying both the female and male spirits.
Chavo
Dir: Alecio Araci (he/him)- 15:00, Sweden
Tommy’s grill is a meeting place for the Romani community. Here a motley crew of people gather to eat and talk. When a young man visits the restaurant one evening, rumors begin to spread and Tommy is forced to revisit traumatic memories.
Woman Meets Girl
Dir: Murry Peeters (she/her) – 17:00, Canada
As cocktails lead to revealing conversation, chemistry builds between Annabelle, an awkward in her own skin, forty-two-year-old woman and Tessie, an extroverted, eighteen-year-old sex worker. A surprising moment soon introduces the possibility of deeper connection.
Trailer available here
4pm – 6pm: Queer Perspectives & Transformations
Engaging stories of health, wellbeing, reconciliation, transformation, bonding – and cats! Tickets available here
Buddy
Dir: Niels Bourgonje (he/him) – 11:25, Netherlands
When a young man is asked by his ex lover to support him during an HIV test, he sees an opportunity to find out if there’s still a chance for reconciliation.
Izzy Aman: The Joy Of Drag
Dir: Isabella Kaya Walton (she/her) – 12:37, UK
A film about Isabel Adomakoh Young, known as Izzy Aman in the drag world. We witness Isabel become Izzy, but more specifically on this occasion, Bob Ross. Through thrusting, painting and mimicry we witness a gender bending revolutionary performance alongside a candid and powerful conversation about the queer experience.
Trailer available here
Picturesque
Dir: Will Hextall (he/him) – 16:28, UK
A blind queer woman goes hiking with her girlfriend. Together, they embark on a life affirming journey, visiting beautiful places in the Lake District, learning to forgive and discovering how to embrace love and disability.
Well Proud
Dirs: Yorgo Glynatsis (he/his), Charlene Frost (she/her) – 19:23, UK
A short docuseries film from Metro charity exploring mental health and wellbeing among LGBTQ+ identifying, Black and Global Majority members of the community in Lewisham, UK.
The Secret Lives of Lesbians’ Cats
Dir: Kate Jessop (she/her) – 01:38, UK
What do cats talk about when their owners aren’t around? What do they really think of their lesbian owners? The Secret Lives of Lesbians’ Cats is the new episode of Planet Pussy Willow, the feminist sci-fi development of the multi award winning comedy adult animation series Tales From Pussy Willow.
Life in Love – Nick & Kaiden
Dir: Abel Rubinstein (he/him) – 13:00, UK
Exploring the euphoria of early love, Nick and Kaiden talk queer communities and choosing each other over the freedom of being open.
Yellow Polka Dot
Dir: Tin Nguyen (He/Him/His) – 17:40, US
Sandra and Barbara are enjoying a day at the beach with their partners in 1962. The night before, they all went out to a night club. The men bonded, as well as the women, albeit in very different fashions.
Trailer available here
