Reading Queerness from the Mainstream: Joke D’Heer on Conducting Queer Readings of Popular Films
ANIMA 2026: Through the work of this Gent-based media scholar, we explore the concept of and intention behind their live queer readings of films.
Non Classé
As Far from the Sea as Possible: Deceit, Survival, and Home in Kai Stänicke’s ‘Trial of Hein’
BERLINALE 2026: In his feature debut, the German writer-director offers up a triad of interconnected concepts that shape our understanding of decisions made in the pursuit of queer livelihood.
Seeing Is Not Believing: The Bodily Politics of Proof in Markus Schleinzer’s ‘Rose’
BERLINALE 2026: Through both his visual choices and character choices, the Austrian filmmaker puts forth the simple but profound proposition that we should look elsewhere than the corporeal to satisfy our need for a certain truth.
Mother Mary Comes to Me: The Sensuous Renaissance of ‘Little Trouble Girls’
BFI FLARE 2026: We take a look at one of the most intriguing films of 2025, Slovenian filmmaker Urška Djukić’s story of Catholicism-meets-sexuality, made unexpected.
Voice Notes: On Rand Abou Fakher’s ‘Why Do I See You in Everything?’
ROTTERDAM 2026: In the trial run of our new article format, we chat about this Harbour title, which explores the friendship between two Syrian men juxtaposed with footage of the Syrian Revolution in a cinematic conversation about caretaking and breaking cycles of violence.
Cracking the Fairytale Patriarchy Through Queered Desire in ‘Wicker’ and ‘100 Nights of Hero’
SUNDANCE / ROTTERDAM 2026: We unpack how these two films use the fantastical to depict the active shattering of heteropatriarchal social systems by way of queered desire, envisioned more as a rupture than a reinvention of society.
Looking for a Role to Play: Gender Performativity in Andrius Blaževičius’ ‘How to Divorce During the War’
SUNDANCE 2026: Marija and Vytas navigate their uncomfortable divorce as the Russian invasion of Ukraine rages on, setting loose a disruption of binary and performative roles amidst these chaotic events.
Movement Beyond the Surface: Notes on Shatara Michelle Ford’s ‘Dreams in Nightmares’
INSIDE OUT 2025: The writer-director’s sophomore feature encourages us to think critically about their characters in space and through the liberatory act of movement.
San Francisco, I’m Coming Home: Heterotopia and Elena Oxman’s ‘Outerlands’
SFFILM 2025: The US writer-director makes her tenderly liminal feature debut with a story that’s just as much a reckoning with being stuck in limbo as it is a love letter to The City.
Deepa Mehta’s ‘Fire’ and the Lesbian Connotation of Saying No
Nearly three decades after its premiere in Toronto, the first film in Deepa Mehta’s acclaimed ‘Elements’ trilogy continues to offer a poignant yet scorching cinematic exemplar of lesbian refusal.