Each month, the DFF (Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum) offers a quick overview of its queer programming. This includes films and events with explicit non-heteronormative themes, as well as content with queer subtext or relevance to the LGBT*QIA community. Be sure to check back regularly, as new programs may be added throughout the month.
At DFF Cinema
exf f. – tage des experimentellen films frankfurt:
Gregory J. Markopoulos
In September, the festival exf f. – Tage des Experimentellen Films Frankfurt returns to the DFF cinema, featuring works by avant-garde filmmaker Gregory John Markopoulos. Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1928, and the son of Greek immigrants, Markopoulos’s films explore ancient myths, orthodox spirituality, and his experiences of isolation as a gay man in the U.S. He found support in California’s avant-garde, including Maya Deren and Kenneth Anger. Markopoulos, who was in a relationship with filmmaker Robert Beavers, lived and worked in Europe with his partner from 1967 until his death in 1992. Learn more about Markopoulos’ life and work here.
Friday, 6 September | 8:30 PM
BLISS/MING GREEN/HIMSELF AS HERSELF/THROUGH A LENS BRIGHTLY: MARK TURBYFILL
exf f. – tage des experimentellen films
Introduction: Karola Gramann, Heide Schlüpmann
Short and medium-length films 1966-1967. Dir: Gregory J. Markopoulos
Gregory J. Markopoulos is considered one of the most distinctive and influential figures in post-war avant-garde and experimental cinema. In 1967, he moved to Europe with his partner Robert Beavers, withdrawing his films from the established distribution channels of the time. As a result, his work remained largely unseen until his death in 1992 and beyond. This program includes BLISS, MING GREEN, HIMSELF AS HERSELF, and THROUGH A LENS BRIGHTLY: MARK TURBYFILL, a selection of short and medium-length films created between 1966 and 1967 in New York and Greece.
Saturday, 7.9. | 11:00 AM
GALAXIE
exf f. – tage des experimentellen films
Introduction: Francisco Algarín Navarro
USA 1966. Dir: Gregory J. Markopoulos. 82 min. 16mm
“In March and April 1966, Markopoulos created this cinematic portrait of (partly queer) writers and artists from his New York circle, including Parker Tyler, W. H. Auden, Jasper Johns, Susan Sontag, Storm De Hirsch, Jonas Mekas, Allen Ginsberg, and George and Mike Kuchar, whom he mostly observed in their homes or studios. GALAXIE is filmed in vibrant colors and pulses with life. The film is a masterpiece of composition and in-camera editing and serves as a dynamic response to Andy Warhol’s SCREEN TESTS, created around the same time.” (Steve Polta)
Sunday, 8.9. | 12:00 PM
GENIUS
Short film: MOMENT (UK 1970. Dir: Gregory J. Markopoulos. 8 min. 16mm)
exf f. – tage des experimentellen films
Introduction: Francisco Algarín Navarro
Greece/Switzerland 1970-1990. Dir: Gregory J. Markopoulos. 60 min. 16mm
Starting in the late 1960s, Markopoulos developed a purist idea of “film as film,” focusing radically on the essential parameters of the medium. This concept is embodied in the over 80-hour-long, unprecedented work ENIAIOS, which combines material from earlier works (whose original footage he destroyed during editing) with newly filmed content. As an introduction to this monumental and rarely seen work, exf f. presents a part of the third cycle, which features footage from Markopoulos’s GENIUS: The film is a triptych inspired by Goethe’s Faust, depicting the art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and artists Leonor Fini and David Hockney.
USA 2024. Dir: Nathan Silver. Starring: Jason Schwartzmann, Carol Kane, Dolly De Leon. 112 min. DCP. Original version
Ben, a cantor in his forties, has recently moved back in with his two persistent Jewish mothers following the death of his wife. They are determined to interest him in a woman, therapy, or both. When he loses his voice during a service, he flees the synagogue and unexpectedly meets his former music teacher Carla in a bar. The spirited, free-spirited Carla wants to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah and significantly disrupts Ben’s life. A warm-hearted, neurotic comedy about the complexity of faith, attachment, and the promise that things always turn out differently than expected. Although Ben’s mothers play only a small role, we warmly recommend this film, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale. Watch the trailer
Friday, 6 September | 6:00PM
BLACK & ASIAN SCREEN SOLIDARITY
Short Film Program with Conversation and Workshop
Guests: Thi Dang An Tran (Regisseurin XANH), Lamin Leroy Gibba (Darsteller HUNDEFREUND) und andere
Diverse short films, DE 2024. Total duration: 90 min.
What’s happening in post-migrant cinema? The DFF cinema presents an evening of short films featuring four works from Black and various Asian communities in Germany, followed by a discussion. This short film evening is part of the two-day event “Black & Asian Screen Solidarity,” which includes film screenings, keynote speeches, discussion panels, and community-building activities led by Kaddi Wandaogo, Vika Gurina, and Dieu Hao Do (BAFNET). The goal is to expose racist structures in society and promote solidarity among marginalized communities in German cinema. The program includes the film HUNDEFREUND (DE 2022. Directed by Maissa Lihedheb, Sailesh Naidu, Lamin Leroy Gibba), which explores the dynamics between a gay couple, Malik and Phillip, and their differing positions in German society.
On Saturday, September 7, a free workshop (in German, registration required) will be held for individuals aged 18 to 99 who identify as Black, Afro-German, Asian, or Asian-German. For more information, please visit here.
Germany 2021. Dir: Florian Dietrich. Starring: Farba Dieng, Julius Nitschkoff, Valerie Koch. 96 min. DCP. German version.
Just released from prison, Babtou is arrested again on the evening of his failed welcome party. The consequences are severe: despite being born in Germany and living in Frankfurt, he is to be deported to Senegal. He only knows Senegal from his father’s stories, so Babtou and his friend Dennis are determined to prevent the deportation at all costs—by entering into a marriage, it seems. Ultimately, Dennis agrees to marry him… This buddy comedy has won numerous awards. Queer.de noted that queer viewers might need to endure some challenges, but the film manages to touch hearts by the end, stating, “The two men simply care for each other and go through thick and thin together. The performances by Farba Dieng and Julius Nitschkoff are portrayed in a tender way that is both touching and worth watching.” Watch the trailer
Online
Online Exhibition (in English)
A QUEER TOUR
21 cultural objects under a a queer lens
Created as part of the DE-BIAS project
How can we use art to talk about history? Art and cultural objects from European archives can be used to reflect on historical events and break up traditional narratives. Hidden personalities and narratives that have been forgotten or neglected by history emerge from new perspectives. The online exhibition, curated by Dani Martiri of Queering Rome, was created as part of the DEBIAS project and can be viewed on Europeana. More…
Online Exhibition (in English)
CLAUDE CAHUN – EXPRESSION, ART AND ACTIVISM
About the French artist, writer, and activist
Created as part of the DE-BIAS project
Claude Cahun (b.1894 in Nantes, France) was a French photographer, sculptor, writer and activist now known for iconic works that explore gender identity and sexuality. Born Lucy Schwob, the artist adopted the gender-neutral name Claude Cahun in 1917 as a way of protesting gender and sexual norms. Cahun’s partner in art and in life, Suzanne Malherbe, similarly chose to go by the more gender-neutral Marcel Moore. More…
Podcast
Queere Mutterschaft
In conjunction with WEIMAR WEIBLICH
In the podcast conversation with the Berlin artist Annette Hollywood, one of the topics is why lesbian mothers are rarely mentioned in history, and when they are, it’s often in criminal contexts. Additionally, Annette Hollywood introduces her video project, “anderkawer,” which explores the traces of queer motherhood. A video from this project is also on display in the foyer of the WEIMAR WEIBLICH exhibition. More…
Podcast
Das Homosexuellen-Melodram ANDERS ALS DIE ANDERN
In conjunction with WEIMAR WEIBLICH
Richard Oswald’s “ANDERS ALS DIE ANDERN” (GER 1919) was the first film to address homosexuality and Paragraph 175, which criminalized homosexuality. Film scholar Wolfgang Theis talks about the educational film, starring Conrad Veidt, which was not only a box office hit but also faced homophobic attacks. More…
Conversation (in German)
Film scholars Karola Gramann and Heide Schlüpmann about MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM
In conjunction with WEIMAR WEIBLICH
This classic of early German sound film, and revered as a lesbian cult film, features an all-female cast and two women in key roles behind the camera: Christa Winsloe wrote the screenplay and Leontine Sagan directed. After the screening, film scholars Karola Gramann and Heide Schlüpmann talked about the history of the film’s reception, its personal significance for them, and about a wonderful interview they conducted with lead actress Hertha Thiele in the early 1980s. More…
Lecture (in English)
2001: A QUEER FUTURE
International Kubrick Symposium 2018
Will the future be gender-fluid, characterized by an unspecified and changing gender? In this 2018 lecture, cultural historian Dominic Janes emphasized that Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” can also be interpreted as a queer odyssey. More…
RHIZOM Filmgeschichte
QUEER CINEMA
Focus
The platform RHIZOM FILMGESCHICHTE explores the beginnings of films. In the thematic path “QUEER CINEMA – Counter-Narratives and Cinematic Experiments,” Karin Michalski writes about an explicitly political phenomenon that does not adhere to well-defined identities but rather subverts, confuses, and expands normative societal concepts of identity. More…
Online-Talk (in German)
OUTING IN DER FAMILIE
Influential Films and Cinema
On the occasion of the Queer Action Days 2022, Olaf Wehowski (LUCAS – International Festival for Young Film Lovers, DFF) spoke with Ioannis Karathanasis (Association of Binational Families and Partnerships) and Josefine Liebig (Alliance for Acceptance and Diversity Frankfurt) about films on the topic of coming out within the family. More…
