The UK’s premier documentary festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest takes place this weekend (7 – 12 June 2018.
Across the six-day programme, international filmmakers and immersive and interactive creators will be showing their work.
Over 32,000 delegates will descend on the northern UK city in Yorkshire from over 60 different countries all around the world.
With stunning views of the nearby Peak District National Park with moorland and rocky ridges surrounding the city, the festival is also going to be super queer this year.
The wealth of LGBTI content of short films, screenings, and documentaries are exploring narratives of pride, identity, and sexuality.
Here is everything you should fill your queer brain with if you are headed to the festival this weekend.
McQueen
(UK/USA, 2017, 111 min, dir. Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui)
Thu 7 June / 21:30 / Bertha DocHouse Showroom Cinema 4
Archival footage and personal testimonials present an intimate portrait of revolutionary British fashion designer ‘Lee’ Alexander McQueen, the working-class boy who became a global one-man fashion brand.
[embedded content]
Room for a Man
(UK premiere; Argentina/Lebanon/USA, 2017, 77 min, dir. Anthony Chidiac)
Thu 7 June / 2:30 PM / Showroom Cinema 1
Sat 9 June / 9:00 AM / Curzon Cinema 1
A young gay Lebanese filmmaker refurbishes the apartment he shares with his mother, then rebuilds paternal ties in Argentina. This artful, hypnotic personal essay explores identity, masculinity, and sexuality.
[embedded content]
Shakedown
(UK premiere; USA, 2018, 72 min, dir. Leilah Weinraub)
Fri 8 June / 9:45 PM / PBS America Showroom Cinema 3
Sun 10 June / 1:15 PM / The Light Cinema 3
“If you straight, you don’t need to be in the front.” Former drag show host Teresa and Ronnie-Ron co-founded Shakedown in the 90s, establishing a thriving underground scene. Dancers including Egypt, Miss Mahogany, I-Dallas and Slow-Wine entertain the throng. This strip club was a space for LA’s African-American queer community to explore identity, sexuality and have an incredible time.
Still from Shakedown | Photo: Sheffield Doc Fest
Obscuro Barroco
(UK premiere; In competition: Art Doc Award, France/Greece, 2018, 60 min, dir. Evangelia Kranioti)
Fri 8 June / 9:30 AM / The Light Cinema 8
Mon 11 June / 2:30 PM / The Light Cinema 3
A metamorphosis is taking place under the gaudy lights of the Rio de Janeiro carnival. Bodies shimmer with otherworldly luminosity, as transgender Luana Muniz dreams herself into being.
[embedded content]
The Gospel of Eureka
(International premiere; Doc/Fest Art Doc Award, USA, 2018, 75 min, dir. Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher)
Fri 8 June / 9:00 PM / Bertha DocHouse Showroom Cinema 4
Tue 12 June / 12:00 PM / Bertha DocHouse Showroom Cinema 4
Eureka Springs, Arkansas is known for both its passion play and gospel drag shows, attracting Christian and queer audiences alike. This nuanced portrait blends colorful performances and contrasting opinions.
[embedded content]
Turning 18
(World premiere; Taiwan, 2018, 87 min, dir. Ho Chao-ti)
8 June / 14.00 / The Light Cinema 6
9 June / 14.00 / Yorkshire Building Society Showroom Cinema 2
Two young girls meet at a vocational training programme after which their lives move in completely different directions. Both from broken homes, Pei searches for hope in love, while Chen struggles to avoid her parents’ fate. As they approach 18, the undercurrents of their lives surface, nearly overwhelming them. How can an unloved life find a strength of her own?
[embedded content]
Silvana
(UK Premiere, 91 min, Sweden 2018, dirs. Mika Gustafson, Olivia Kastebring & Christina Tsiobanelis)
9 June / 18:00 / Abbeydale Picture House
10 June / 18:30 / Exchange/Dome
Silvana Imam is a fierce force of nature. We witness the Swedish rap artist’s career soar, and the genesis of her relationship with the pop artist, Beatrice Eli. The pair becomes Sweden’s Beyoncé and Jay-Z; a power couple of phenomenal talent and influence. As the pressures of her iconic status begin to spiral, Silvana is forced to confront her inner conflicts.
[embedded content]
Tranny Fag
(UK premiere, In competition: Youth Jury Award; Brazil, 2018, 75 min, dir. Kiko Goifman, Claudia Priscilla)
Sat 9 June/ 21:15 / Abbeydale Picturehouse – with a live performance from Linn da Quebrada
Mon 11 June / 21:00 / Curzon Cinema 1
São Paulo pop star Linn da Quebrada is a black trans woman whose explicit electro-funk anthems give voice to marginalized communities from the favelas, while also confronting the Brazilian music scene’s macho, heteronormative prejudices. Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla’s candid profile of this radical performer deftly blends raucous concert footage with tender offstage interludes showcasing her family and friends.
[embedded content]
This One’s for the Ladies
(International premiere; USA, 2018, 83 min, dir. Gene Graham)
Sun 10 June / 15:00 / Abbeydale Picturehouse
Tue 12 June / 21:00 / The Light Cinema 3
Race, class, and sexuality intersect at Newark strip club the Dojo: a karate school by day, home to the New Jersey Nasty Boyz by night. In addition to spotlighting the exotic dancers who work there – both male and lesbian – Gene Graham’s affectionate portrait celebrates the community of women who sustain this microcosm of black American society.
Guest in attendance: Gene Graham (filmmaker)
This Ones For The Ladies | Photo: Variety
Game Girls
(UK premiere; dir. Alina Skrzeszewska, 90 min)
Mon 11 June / 16:30 / The Light Cinema 3 + Q&A
Tue 12 June / 18:15 / The Light Cinema 6 + Q&A
This compassionate observational documentary charts the relationship between two homeless women in Los Angeles’ sprawling Skid Row. Tiahna seems resigned to street life, but girlfriend Teri wants to escape.
Guest attending: Alina Skrzeszewska (filmmaker)
[embedded content]
Music When The Lights Go Out
(UK premiere; Doc/Fest Art Doc Award, Brazil, 2017, 70 min, dir. Ismael Caneppele)
9 June / 09.00 / The Light Cinema 3
12 June / 21.15 / Showroom Cinema 1
In a small town in Brazil, where pristine nature meets growing urbanity, Emelyn is a teenager with an androgynous appearance. When a woman director – both foreign and close, perhaps like a feminine alter ego of the filmmaker, arrives in town and starts to turn her life into fiction, Emelyn becomes Bernardo.
[embedded content]
Out
(World premiere; France, 2018, dir. Denis Parrot, 70 min)
Sat 9 June / 21:15 / Showroom Cinema 1
Tue 12 June / 14:15 / Yorkshire Building Society Showroom Cinema 2
Through a montage of compelling videos posted on the Internet by young gays, bis, lesbians or transsexuals, Out makes us experience from within the ground-breaking moment of their coming out – after which their intimate and social life shall be forever changed.
[embedded content]
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
(World premiere; dir. Arwen Curry, 65 min)
10 June / 21.00 / Odeon Cinema 3
12 June / 09.30 / The Light Cinema 8
A trailblazing rebel who shook the world of literature, defying gender norms, societal expectations, and patriarchal gatekeeping. Ursula K Guin remains a peerless lightning bolt of imagination and political insight.
[embedded content]
ALTERNATE REALITIES PROGRAMME
Authentically Us: We’re Still Here
VENUE – TRAFALGAR WAREHOUSE
Thu 7 Jun / 12:00 – 17:00
Fri 8 Jun / 10:00 – 20:00
Sat 9 Jun – Tues 12 Jun / 10:00 – 18:00
Direct violence and discriminatory legislation against the transgender community continues to rise at a time when transgender visibility in popular culture continues to break glass ceilings. Step into the life of Aiden ShortCloud, a Two-Spirit artist and historian in Boise, Idaho, struggling to preserve and revive his heritage in a race against time.
SPECIAL EVENTS
4:3 X Boiler Room Present: Shakedown Afterparty
Sat 09 June / 22:00 / Theatre Deli
Boiler Room’s new film channel 4:3 is proud to host the after party for Leilah Weinraub’s Shakedown. Vogue icon Ian Isiah aka Big Shugga will be flying in especially from NYC for an exclusive UK performance, alongside London’s queer POC collective.
See the rest of the weekend’s line up of screenings and workshops.
Read more from Gay Star News:
When is Pride? Check out our international Pride calendar 2018
