#greek queer film

[fiercynn]

queer short cuts week 33: from the river to the sea

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations; each set of films is themed and comes out to no more than one hour cumulatively.content notes are included at the end of each post.you can also check out the full spreadsheet of films i've recommended.

today marks a month from hamas’s attack on israel, and israel’s genocidal response that has escalated the already-unjust violence israel perpetrates through occupation of palestine. in that month, israel’s occupation and bombardment of palestine has only become more horrific. as of today, over 10,000 palestinians have been killed – over 4,200 of them children – and nearly 26,000 wounded in gaza, and at least 163 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied west bank and jerusalem. and those are only the numbers of confirmed deaths from direct combat violence.

this week will be the last (for now) of films that are palestine-themed in some way – the first film is about a queer palestinian character, and the second two, like last week’s selections, are from the 2021 queer cinema for palestine festival. i would love to continue showing queer palestinian films, but i’ve unfortunately run out of films at the moment that I can find online with english subtitles. i will certainly keep looking, and regardless, i am going to continue using this space to speak out against Israel and for palestine, even if the films in future weeks don’t directly relate.

check out the full film recs here

in past newsletters i’ve given a list of things you can do like donating or learning more about the fight for palestinian liberation. those are still there for you to check out if you need, but folks in palestine have been clear that what they really need right now is for us to fight for political change. donations aren’t getting into gaza, so what we really need to be doing is joining protests and direct actions, and demanding that our local leaders support palestine – not only for a ceasefire and aid supplies, but also an end to arming israel (if your country does so) and to israeli occupation of palestine. samidoun has a calendar of resistance events across the world – please do check it out and do what you can to fight for change.

[kaliarda]

Good Girls Club: A Virginity Odyssey (2023) dir. DImitris Tsakaleas & Lida Vartzioti

[phantomladyoverparis]

Sauro Bellini (1982), dir. Maria Klonaris

[celluloidrainbow]

...ΛΙΠΟΤΆΚΤΗΣ | ...DESERTER (1988) dir. Giorgos Korras & Christos Voupouras Christos is a young man from Athens led to a small country spa, enthralled by the rebellious Manolis, a three-time army deserter his same age. At first an insubordinate wildcat, Manolis is slowly assimilated into the social world, causing the two youths to grapple with overwhelming feelings and forbidden desires. (link in title)

[thequeereview]

Exclusive Interview: Misia Butler on his heroic trans character in Netflix's Greek mythology series KAOS "I find it really empowering to see someone so strong in his identity"

Charlie Covell, creator of the BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated The End Of The F***ing World, is about to unleash KAOS on Netflix: their eight-episode, bold, darkly comic, contemporary—and frequnetly queer—take on Greek mythology, launching Thursday, August 29th. Epic in scope, the series follows the steady unraveling of the cruel and capricious King of the Gods, Zeus (Jeff Goldblum), as he…

[taleofmen]

You see, HIV came at a time in my life when I hadn’t figured out almost anything about myself. I had the inner child on the wheel of my adult decision. And since I was 20 years old, when I found out what sex is, sex became the driving factor and key mechanism of being and acquiring a sense of belonging, acceptance and self-esteem. But it also resembled the dark side of me, which I had learned to express with fake ease and shamelessness.

Naturally, I sought confirmation that HIV had not brought me down through sex and relationships. I needed to know – subconsciously at that point – that I hadn’t condemned myself to a loveless life of loneliness and isolation; which are also almost encrypted in the DNA of my family. Between proving to someone who doesn’t live with HIV that I am still worthy and fighting for relationships with people who do, as my last resort for love, happiness and finding a “home”, I ended up hurt in ways unimaginable to me until then, losing touch with what makes me, well, me.

On December 21st, 2021, early in the morning, I was in my HIV clinic for my regular visit to pick up my monthly medication. My doctor also had the results of my latest blood test

It was the best I’ve ever looked on paper! Undetectable, still, and my immune system at its best. I honestly felt ecstatic in, what seemed to be, a full-circle moment.

[artistsonthelam]

WE'RE BACK. // (my tweet)

[homo-ousios]

Dear Tumblr, come read about ancient lesbians! This is a free anthology of Ancient Greek and Latin works by/about wlw (translated into English), and it’s the first sourcebook specifically dedicated to wlw!

The translations and commentaries are done by queer scholars, but it’s inclusive toward a non-scholarly audience. And the project director hopes that “new creations, texts, films, video, may emerge […] and contribute to forging a new LGBTQI+ mythology that would - finally - not be based on shortcuts and reductive views about women in ancient society” (issue 1 p. 6).

So please come check it out and then make a bunch of art or stories about it (and show us!)

[siblingskissing]

Ronance headcanons?

Ronance Headcanons

I have had the BIGGEST brain rot about these two, you guys don't even know, so please excuse my rambling session in this post. As always- feel free to share your headcanons, opinions, thoughts ideas, just be kind <3

-Robin is the biggest simp to ever exist. Nancy mentions liking a color? Guess who's suddenly adding it all over their wardrobe! A favourite food? She's already learned how to cook it. Allergic to something? Robin will destroy it with her bare hands and make it go extinct to protect her girl.

-Likewise, Nancy would and will kill for Robin (come on Robin tell her to kill for you she wants to)

-Their favourite dates include them sitting in one of their rooms, a movie or music playing as they discuss conspiracy theories or whatever story Nancy is working on

"There's been a ton of missing items from farms in the areas. Animals, tools, bales of hay-"

"could it be aliens?"

"Alie- Robin it's not aliens!"

"What? Interdimensional monsters are real but aliens aren't?"

-Many people assume Nancy would get annoyed by Robins carefree joke centered attitude but actually she calms down whenever Robin tries making jokes.

-She doesn't like when people don't take things seriously, but she knows Robin is taking it serious, but using humour to make sure they don't spiral with the problem

-their relationship definitely started off rocky but with some time, understanding and surprisingly really deep conversations they learn to appreciate the little things about one another.

-Robin loves Nancy's drive and her leadership skills. She makes sure that everyone takes her seriously and if the kids complain about Nancy being a hard ass she brings them back to listen.

"Nancy's not our boss!"

"No, but she's the one keeping you dipshits safe- she knows what she's doing so listen up and quit complaining"

-They kids listen to Robin more and so when she follows Nancy with no complaints, the kids unconsciously follow suit.

-When Nancy gets stressed/aggravated Robin will be there to lend her a shoulder. They're very much leader/Right Hand man coded to me.

-Nancy doesn't know much about queer culture so when she does eventually come out Robin is happy to talk to her about it and share what she knows.

"So we use Blue violets because Sappho used to describe women wearing garlands of them,"

"Sappho?"

"... Do you have a spar 3 hours so I can explain Sappho and Greek poetry to you?"

-They take all kinds of cute little Polaroids that they keep at Robins place

(examples of said Polaroids)

-Robins family is more supportive so often Nancy goes over there to spend the night

-when college comes up in discussions Robin mentions that she enjoyed investigating with Nancy, the research was fun when they didn't have death looming over them.

"Yeah, learning Russian to break the code was awesome- the torture kind of ruined it though-"

"The WHAT?"

-Nancy asks Robin 1000X if Robin is sure she wants to go to the same college/same field and Robin promises her that she isn't only going because of her.

"I'd follow you anywhere, but this is also for me- if I have to do one more customer service job I might kill someone."

-They love movie nights, curled up under a blanket watching whatever film they can find. Robin always finds the oddest ones and sometimes some really deep indie films. Nancy also enjoys the foreign films she can find and let's her choose.

-on nights Nancy chooses- she likes care free fun films. Nothing too heavy because she likes the simplicity

-Theyre a gross matching couple- but in a new fun way.

-Mat hing colors in their respective styles, using each other's clothes and making it go with their personal choices, matching patterns/designs.

-They also shared shoes sometimes

-On the 90s Nancy gets a more "Rachel from friends" style like this

-Robin eats it up like no one is watching and often has to hold back from just kissing her 24/7

(also I badly wanna do a look book of the characters so Please someone ask for that because I love fashion)

I definitely probably have more but here you are!!

[jgroffdaily]

Review excerpts:

'A Nice Indian Boy' Review: Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff Star in One of the Funniest, Most Heartfelt Rom-Coms in Years | LFF 2024

Quite often, a wedding isn’t for the two people up on the altar, but rather, for their families. In certain cultures, particularly India, weddings are of colossal importance, an indication of the health and stature of a family. So, what happens when this generational pressure of upholding old traditions collides with modern sensibilities? You get a joyous, beautiful, and nuanced film like Roshan Sethi’s A Nice Indian Boy, adapted by Eric Randall for the screen from Madhuri Shekar's play.

It feels like years since we’ve had a decent, wedding-centered rom-com that is as much about family as it is romance. No film in the past decade has hilariously captured the anxieties of being single and attending repeated weddings like Four Weddings and a Funeral, or the absolute chaos of culture shock marriages between two people from different backgrounds in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. A Nice Indian Boy is the movie we’ve been waiting for. Not only does it call back to these adored classics from the ‘90s and early 2000s, but it’s also a queer love story that blows right past some of the heteronormative love stories that have been dropped on streamers in recent years.Sorry, Billy Eichner, but this is the queer love story everyone wanted.

Karan Soni feels like he was born to play Naveen. It’s a meticulous balancing act to play someone who is so engulfed by anxiety but is yearning to live life freely and unapologetically. The first date could’ve appeared devoid of any chemistry due to Naveen’s clear discomfort, but it’s Soni’s exceptional acting that allows just the right amount of infatuation to shine through. Jonathan Groff is as charming as ever, playing Jay as the confident, open mushball with a fragile core due to considerable trauma. The two of them are lifted by a spectacular cast

[dyketennant]

FAGS IN ARMS OF TUMBLR

i need some examples of visual media (specifically film, television, video games) that has immortal characters who have a fucky relationship with gender/sexuality. at the moment i'm specifically looking at characters that have always been immortal, such as doctor who (functionally immortal for the sake of this paper) and good omens/sandman (unsure how gaim-y i want this paper to be but this at least gives you an idea of the types of characters i'm interested in.) aliens, gods/fantastical or mythological beings, robots/androids (THIS ONE ESPECIALLY I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIND MORE ON)

however, i am not opposed to hearing about media in which characters are made immortal somehow—thinkin bout the old guard especially here, and also interview with the vampire has been banging down my door recently, but there are so fucking many gay vampires and i don't need to make this capstone project any longer/more complicated, hence my apprehension to open that particular can of worms and have said worms consume my entire body. i'll even take stuff about time travelers tbh (trust me when i say that if i could talk about this is how you lose the time war for this paper i would have already done it 20 times over, but that book takes more time to take apart and analyze in the way it deserves, and also is not in the realm of film/media i'm focusing on.)

don't talk to me just about greek and norse mythology, etc. believe me, i know. again, a can of worms i can't dwell on for too long for the sake of me and my advisor's sanity.

thank you queers stay strong stay sexy o7

[fiercynn]

queer short film: "star fallen"

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i'm featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not

greece | 3 minutes | 2018 | animated narrative short

no dialogue but opening text in english

star fallen, created by alex tagali, takes us through the relationships of the two protagonists from childhood to old age – both their relationship with each other, and with the stars. the project took about six months from start to finish, as tagali notes in the description of a “making of” video, with the animation alone taking two months. with a lovely score by uri avi, this short will tug at your heartstrings and leave you teary but satisfied. - deepa's full review, including content notes at the end

check out other work by creator alex tagali!

[kaliarda]

Η Παρέλαση/The Parade (2023) dir. Michail Galanopoulos

[phantomladyoverparis]

Sauro Bellini (1982), dir. Maria Klonaris

[celluloidrainbow]

A PLACE IN THE SUN (1995) dir. Constantine Giannaris Cruising the neon lit streets is handsome and solitary Ilias, looking for someone to distract him from the emptiness of his life. He meets Panayotis, young, Albanian, and ambitious. These two characters are separated by origin and bound by love. (link in title)

[deramin2]

Tonight I got to show my boyfriend Big Eden (2000). I love that movie so much. It's sappy and cheesy but no one had EVER made a gay romcom like like that. No queer movie had existed with that softness and living acceptance. It's 5 years older than the homophobic misery porn of Brokeback Mountain being held up as representation we should be grateful for. Big Eden broke as many barriers as Philadelphia (1993) or The Boys in the Band (1970).

Queer romcoms are only now becoming common 20 years later. Bros (2022) would have no queer Hallheart movies to simultaneously mock and long for without Big Eden. No The Way He Looks (2014), no Cloudburst (2011), no Fire Island (2022), no Spoiler Alert (2022), no Booksmart (2019), and no countless other films.

They exist because Thomas Bezucha said we deserve these stories, too. We deserve gentleness and love and small town crushes held onto for decades and someone who pours all their feelings into cooking for you and pretends it's not him because he's too shy. He deserve a Greek Chorus of old men who do nothing all day getting roped into it and hardware store lesbians and an old busybody playing matchmaker that realizes her errors. We deserve silly love triangles with gentle endings for everyone. We deserve the fantasy of it all. We deserve no queer people dying or being pressured by their family or corrected by anyone. Just love. Sappy, soft, gentle, healing, protective love. We deserve our own take on old tropes. And that's still something special.