International Queer & Migrant Film Festival: online expert talks

IQMF was founded in 2015 in Amsterdam and is a festival for queer & migrant related films as well as a multi-disciplinary community space with art exhibitions, workshops, talks and the international talent programme IQMF Academy, all contributing to a diverse and inclusive society. For the second year, DutchCulture contributes to the talks with visitors from Turkey and Russia. This year the festival will take place both on and offline.

From 3-6 December, we organise together with IQMF three online talks about the following subjects: Homonationalism, upcoming queer initiatives and an artist talk.

December 3
18:00 - 19:00: Homonationalism, the European perspective

With Dino Suhonic and David Vig from Amnesty Hungary.  

Inclusivity and gay rights are often framed as western values or specific to a certain country (homonationalism. This year we discuss homonationalism in the European perspective and zoom in on Hungary in particular. What is the current situation in Hungary and how is the EU influencing or dominating human rights issues?

Film pairing: for a broader perspective on what is going on in Eastern Europe, watch Welcome to Chechnya by David France.

December 4
18:00 - 19:00: Who Speaks For Whom

With Aynouk Tan (initiator of Queer is not a manifesto), Alejandra Ortiz & Paula Chaves Bonilla (Papaya Kuir Collective) and Timothy Aarons (Caribbean Queer Salon).

Annual IQMF discussion reflecting on the Dutch queer artivism scene. The project Queer is not a manifesto was launched in February 2019 at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and is a podium on which many interpretations of the notion queer are proudly presented. Papaya Kuir is a collective of Trans and Queer Latinx Asylum seekers and artists who have been organising events for 3 years. They aim to highlight the precarious realities of Trans and Queer Latinx asylum seekers. Caribbean Queer Salon is an initiative of Thimothy Aarons who is filling the gap within the representation and space for the English-speaking Queer Migrants from the Caribbean. The Salon was launched in 2019.

Film pairing: find out what the Dutch queer landscape has in store for us in 2021, watch Limbos Paralegales by Papaya Kuir Collective (Dutch premiere).

December 5
19:00 - 23:00: Art Night Out

TALK + ONLINE CLUB NIGHT

On the occasion of the international premiere of Metin Akdemir's documentary Scenes I Imagine Simon(e) van Saarloos and Metin Akdemir talk about the film.

A documentary on Turkish censorship of queer desire in cinema. Heterosexual love is visible shown in Turkish cinema but queer love is only implied. With this fact in mind, this documentary reexamines female ‘friendships’ in three influential feminist productions from the late eighties and early nineties.

Film pairing: watch Scenes I Imagine by Metin Akdemir.

This talk is followed by a vibrant online club night with DJ/Performer Q-BRA (Istanbul) and MamaKil (Amsterdam).

19:00 - 19:45 talk (director Metin Akdemir, producer Irem Akbal and moderator Simon/e van Saarloos)
19:45 - 21:15 MamaKil
21:15 - 22:45 Q-BRA

December 11

16:00 - 17:00 Pride & Prejudice

In this talk, we zoom in on the film March for Dignity which follows a small group of LGBTI+ activists in Tbilisi, Georgia, as they attempt to conduct the first Pride march in the country. They face overwhelming opposition from far-right groups, the government and the Georgian Orthodox Church who have a history of inciting violent attacks on the LGBTI+ community.

Panelist Giorgi Rodionov (Untitled Gallery) will share his view on the Pride and artistic interventions which lead to more visibility of queer culture in Georgia. Leyli Gafarova will highlight her experiences with Salaam Cinema Baku and the first queer/feminist film festival InVisible Festival and Ruslan Savolainen and Elizabeta Drudi (coordinator of the International pride-festival Queerfest) share their experiences with visible outreach campaigns in Russia. Moderated by Chris Belloni (director Art1.)

Film pairing: March for Dignity by John Eames

December 13

18:00 -20:00 IQMF & Cobra Museum 

After the film screening of Magic Mirror by Sarah Pucill, there will be a talk about identity, queer culture and Claude Cahun. Guests are writer and philosopher Simon(e) van Saarloos, dr. Sudeep Dasgupta (University of Amsterdam) and artist and filmmaker Sarah Pucill (who will attend online). Moderated by art director and fashion journalist Aynouk Tan.