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The third floor of The Center on Halsted was transformed in to a movie theater for The Little Queer Film Festival Saturday, Feb. 2. The large space constantly buzzed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with interested moviegoers purchasing tickets and making their way into the black box theater. FM rock and excited chatter pulsated throughout the space while moviegoers tried to find a seat for any of the three exclusive shows that day. With a documentary set in Uganda, and two dramas from Sweden and Iran, the festival was themed “International LGBTQA Struggle.”
The event kicked off with “Call Me Kuchu,” a film that did not leave a single dry eye in the room. The film centered on the lives of members of the LGBTQA community in Uganda and the discriminatory laws and hate culture directed at the group.
The documentary exposed the inhumane opinions first expressed by the west toward the LGBTQA community that later spread east to Africa and stained their views of the community. “Call Me Kuchu” was a powerful film that not only captivated its audience, but also inspired emotional responses throughout the film and had many moviegoers discussing the film as they left.
“Kiss Me,” or “Kyss Mig,” the proper Swedish title, is set mainly in the golden-hued Swedish countryside and is a cinematically gorgeous film to watch. This drama explores a family coming together for a wedding, a sexually-conflicted daughter and bride-to-be, and a blooming romantic relationship between stepsisters. The film is in Swedish but has English subtitles and ranges from lighthearted laughter inducing moments to more sobering elements, like the tumultuous relationship between a father and daughter pertaining to accepting one’s own sexuality.
The last film of the day was “Facing Mirrors,” an Iranian drama about two women, one of which is transgender. They meet in a taxi cab and embark on a difficult path to find the inner and outer acceptance that they both crave once they part ways.
The film deals with the clash between Iranian culture, tradition and human sexuality by delving in to the societal reaction, the familial reaction and the change of mindset in one of the women. The energy in the audience during this film was tangible. The highly emotional and violent content garnered a community response of empathy and sympathy.
At the end of the festival, audience members that had stayed for all three of the films left with the realization that the LGBTQA struggle is a worldwide. Although moderate progress has been made in the United States, many other regions are falling behind. The Little Queer Film Festival’s screenings gave a voice to the communities with stories that needed to be shared and hopefully inspired its audience to take an active role in this human rights matter and spread the word about the global fight for LGBTQA rights.