Unashamed Claim to Visibility
Films About Queerness and Dis/ability is a short film package curated by the Queer Film Network (QFN).
As queer communities strive to embrace intersectional politics, those with a disability or functional diversity are often left behind. Despite the higher prevalence of disability among LGBTIQA+ communities, disabled, D/deaf, visually impaired, learning disabled and/or chronically ill queers are often excluded from queer spaces and queer screens. More recently, a growing body of work is redressing this balance and bringing previously invisible stories to the forefront of the conversation.
This programme presented an exciting selection of performative work by and about functionally diverse filmmakers exploring the intersections of queerness and disability. From beautifully-rendered tales of forbidden love to how to get jiggy in (accessible) bathrooms, this collection of hilarious, agonising, erotic, tender and sexy shorts represents an unashamed claim to beauty, desire, autonomy and, above all, visibility. The films were presented with closed captions & audio description.
Just Me
- Dir. Matthew Kennedy | 2014 UK | 2’54
- Fresh, frank and low-fi, Matthew Kennedy’s performance of selfhood tackles labelling and prejudice towards queerness, being femme, and having a learning disability. View here.
Venus
- Dir. Faye Carr-Wilson | 2016 UK | 5’41
- “I think of my drag as kind of a big Fuck You to everyone,” says the incandescent Venus Dimilo in this forthright documentary portrait about taking up the space you deserve. View here.
Funny Girl
- Dir. Rosina Andreou | 2017 UK | 6’10
- Exploring the on and offstage comedy of Rosie Jones, this documentary questions stereotypes about disability, sexuality, and being a Northerner.
Faggot Girl Gets Busy In The Bathroom
- Dir. Krissy Mahan | 2016 USA | 3’39
- Mahan’s disability-rights campaigning, alter-ego butch dyke genderqueer superhero Faggot Girl relentlessly crusades for greater accessibility, arguing that access is a queer issue. In this episode they demonstrate why public bathrooms are a crucial frontier in the fight for equality, and how hot sex and accessibility principles share common ground.
Bars
- Dir. Christine Bylund | 2013 Sweden| 8’14
- The bittersweet story of love between two girls in a Swedish residential home for young people with disabilities, this performed monologue is brimming with sensuality as it questions who is allowed to love.
Rick
- Dir. Jan-Peter Horstmann | 2017 Germany| 15’33
- Ricco Müller was crowned Mr Gay Switzerland in 2009 and now finds a home under the bright lights of the adult film set as Rick Lous, coming into himself away from the limitations that society has tried to put on him as a gay, D/deaf person.
Sins Invalid: An Unashamed Claim to Beauty
- Dir. Patty Berne | 2013 USA | 33’00
- A provocative and unflinching documentary shining a light on Sins Invalid, a performance project on disability and sexuality that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of colour and queer and gender-variant artists. Featuring performances by Nomy Lamm, Cara Page, Maria Palacios, ET Russian, Antoine Hunter, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha , seeley quest, Mat Fraser and Rodney Bell. View the trailer here.