SQIFF

Sanctuary shorts in association with SQIFF + Q+A
2021-10-03 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | Online
This community-curated programme* explores the acceptance of identity, self, and of the world around us, while highlighting the universal experience of being queer–with a special focus on being lesbian. The films’ instinctive narratives show the lows of being ‘othered’, and the highs of finding a safe space within that, no matter what age, country, or time period. Join us for powerfully diverse stories, told with heart, honesty, and a perfect amount of humour. You’ll leave the event with a new community of queer film-lovers: your very own sanctuary.
*Back in July, Sanctuary collaborated with SQIFF producer and co-founder Helen Wright to offer 2 online workshops for LGBTQIA+ people, aged 18+, to learn about film programming. Participants worked together to watch a selection of queer short films and make decisions about a final shorts programme. Thanks to Ewan McPherson, Kate Hammer, Liam Rees, JD Stewart, Merik Tiz, Ben Cave, Beth Cooper, Jonathan McLean, Vee Smith and Sand Owsnett.
This is a free event. Book tickets using the button below.

ACCESS
We’ll be using Zoom Webinar for this screening event and Q&A. Audience members will be able to interact with the discussion through the chat function. Once you book a ticket you’ll be sent a link to access the event, 24 hours before the event starts.
The films are in a mixture of spoken languages with English language captions and the Q&A will have live captions and BSL-English interpretation available. The event is suitable for ages 16+. If you have any questions or access requests for this event, please get in touch by emailing info@sqiff.org.
The total films running time is 1 hour 25 minutes.
This film and discussion may include reference to: mental health breakdown, homophobia, transphobia, alcohol or substance addiction. We appreciate this list is not comprehensive and encourage you to confidentially get in touch if there is a particular subject matter not listed you wish to avoid: hello@sanctuaryqueerarts.com.
PROGRAMME
The Way We Are (16m)
Dir: Amanda Ann-Min Wong, Country: Canada, Year: 2020, Language/s:
English
“The Way We Are” shares excerpts of stories from audio interviews with 4 queer Asian women: Katherine Chun, Wenda Li, Tamai Kobayashi, and Nancy Seto. Told in the present-tense, these stories are arranged in a way that explores the past as the present, and in doing so, immersing viewers into the real-lived experiences from a different generation.

A Story of Wedding (27m)
Dir: Wei Zhao, Country: France, Year: 2021, Language/s: Mandarin
To satisfy their families, Huanlin, a gay man, and Ziqiao, a lesbian, have agreed to have a marriage of convenience, which will be held online due to the pandemic. In addition, they have also agreed to have and raise a baby together. However, this decision is changing their lives before they know it.

Fora de Época | Out of Place (13m)
Dir: Drica Czech, Laís Catalano Aranha, Country: Brazil, Year: 2020,
Language/s: Portuguese
2018: Brazil’s general election. Emotionally shaken by the possibility of Bolsonaro being elected, a young lesbian takes refuge in her family’s farm. As she tries to understand why her mother spent the last days of her life alone in the old house, she is faced with revelations about her own story.

Subjekträume (Subject Spaces) (29m) Dir: Kat Voss, Country: Germany, Year: 2020, Language/s: German
Leather, metal, fur: Pelze Multimedia, West Berlin 1981-1996, provided a space for art, musix, sex parties, experiments. A glimpse into an almost forgotten site of lesbian/queer history.

D.E.B.S.
2021-10-09 21:15 - 22:50 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
Sultry crime boss Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster, The Fast and the Furious) is back in the states and the D.E.B.S. – an elite team of paramilitary college co-ed superspies – are hot on her trail. But when their top agent, gorgeous Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster, The Big Bounce), mysteriously disappears after coming face to face with the attractive young villainess, the D.E.B.S. begin a full-scale search for Lucy’s secret lair. They never suspect that Amy may not want to be rescued after all in this smart and sexy spy spoof about love at first gun sight.
A light-hearted lesbian classic. Expect plaid skirts and questionable special effects…
Curated by Nat Lall.
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £2, £4, £6, or £8. To book, click the button below or call the CCA Box Office on 0141 352 4900.

ACCESS
This screening has an age recommendation of BBFC-rated 12.
English audio with English language captions. BSL interpretation by Lisa Li and live captioning by Louisa McDaid for the intro.

Audio description available. Headsets available at the cinema entrance.

92 minutes long.
We have an Audience Access Fund for travel and internet data top-up costs. If you would like to take this up, please contact info@sqiff.org.
If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2021, please contact info@sqiff.org.

Closing Film: Lesvia - SOLD OUT
2024-10-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Centre for Contemporary Arts, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD, United Kingdom
Listen to this Event Page
**Please note this event is now sold out – we may be able to release more tickets nearer the screening. CCA Box Office are operating a waiting list for sold out events – please contact them directly or go to their website to be added to this!**
Since the 1970s lesbians have been gathering in the village of Eressos, Lesvia, once home to the ancient Greek poet and ‘First Lesbian’, Sappho. Lesvia is a documentary film chronicling the site of queer pilgrimage and tensions felt between local villagers and new sapphic arrivals of the last four decades. The feature will be followed by two shorts exploring Barbara Hammer and the lesbian iconography of the carabiner, respectively.
This screening will be followed by a panel discussion hosted by Nat Lall with Looking for Barbara director Helen Kilbride.
Curated by Nat Lall.
Tickets are on a pay what you can sliding scale of FREE, £2, £4, £6, £8, £10, or £12. To book, click here or call the CCA Box Office on 0141 352 4900.

Accessibility:
This programme has:

English, French, Italian, Greek with English language descriptive subtitles.
English-BSL interpretation for the introduction and panel discussion.
Live Captioning for the introduction and panel discussion.

This screening is 93 minutes long and has an age recommendation of N/C 18+.
You can find out more information about accessibility at SQIFF 2024 here. If you have any questions about accessibility at SQIFF 2024, please get in touch with us at info@sqiff.org or by phone on 07873 331 036.

Films in this programme include:

Lesvia, Dir. Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, 2024, Greece, 77 min
Since the 1970s, lesbians from around the world have been drawn to the island of Lesvos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poet Sappho. When they find paradise in a local village and carve out their own queer lesbian community, tensions simmer with the local residents. With both groups claiming ownership of lesbian identity, filmmaker Tzeli Hadjidimitriou—a native and lesbian herself—is caught in the middle and chronicles 40+ years of love, community, conflict, and what it means to feel accepted.
Content notes: Depiction of nudity, sex toys, alcohol use, cigarette use. Discussion of homophobia, sex, harassment, political legislation, oppression, gender dysphoria, body image, fatphobia, childhood trauma, xenophobia, physical violence, police violence, patriarchy, sexism, alcohol.
Access notes: Minimal flashing light in some party scenes.

Looking for Barbara, Dir. Helen Eve Kilbride, 2021, United Kingdom, 9 min
Looking for Barbara is a short experimental film exploring personal archives—photos and cine film from home. Using the filmmaker’s mid-1990s Super 8 footage, it questions memory’s significance and whose stories are prioritised. Inspired by Barbara Hammer, the film blends an ethereal soundtrack with personal testimony, offering a queer perspective on memory and how archives can be reinterpreted to amplify marginalised narratives.
Content notes: Depiction of nudity. Discussion of queer erasure, sex.

The History of The Carabiner, Dir. Gianna Mazzeo, 2023, Netherlands, 7 min
A tongue-in-cheek, historical documentary / fashion film hybrid that takes viewers on a journey through queer history to trace the origins of the carabiner as a lesbian symbol.
Content notes: Discussion of sexism, sex, homophobia.

Donate:
Donate to SQIFF via PayPal or sign up to one of our four Patreon tiers to support our work and show us you’re a big SQIFF fan 🌈✨

Image Credit: Lesvia, Dir. Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, 2024
