What does it take to set up a film festival? Time, says Bernadette Huber, a lot of time. The self-employed filmmaker and editor, together with 13 other volunteers, is organizing the 8th Queer Film Festival Munich (QFFM), which exclusively shows films from the LGBTIQ community. About people who love differently than the majority of society or who feel they belong to a different gender than was physically assigned to them at birth. Huber is 40 years old, born in Munich and lesbian. You can catch her in her office in the Glockenbachviertel, the queer center of Munich, for a conversation about LGBTIQ in film and the upcoming festival. The QFFM runs from October 10th to 15th.
SZ: There are queer people in many series today. Jokes are made about the character of the gay best friend. Then why is there still a need for a queer film festival?
Bernadette Huber: What sets us apart from commercial providers is that we are independent of click numbers or audience ratings and are therefore completely free to design our festival. As long as it doesn’t violate city regulations, we can show whatever we want and think is relevant. The city and our sponsors don’t ask what film we are playing. We just have to manage in such a way that there is no loss. In addition, the program is available in public media, on private television or on streaming platforms, but until recently it was very thin. And for the most part also afflicted with stereotypical representations.
They are often accused of only showing depressing indie productions.
That’s not true. Of course we also show beautiful, positive films. But the big and well-known productions are shown in the cinema anyway, we don’t have to show them anymore. We concentrate on the films that don’t come to the cinema and that you wouldn’t even come across otherwise. We want a good mix: whether it’s a festival film or one that is relevant because it’s cinematically great or politically important.
Munich has two queer film festivals. How come?
For several years now, Salzgeber has been organizing the “Queer Film Festival” a month before us, but nationwide. Salzgeber, which is the largest gay and lesbian film distributor in Germany, and they only show films that they have available for distribution. There was something similar in the 2000s, but it was then discontinued. We filled this gap with our idea – and both festivals have been in Munich since 2019.
Back to the gay best friend, why are there so few female or transsexual queer characters in film and television?
That has a lot to do with courage, I think. And that filmmakers have to have the courage to write and cast such characters. Hierarchies also play a role, as do the age and attitudes of those making decisions. Things are changing right now, but it takes a lot of time. Films with topics such as transsexuality or asexuality, which we show in our curated films every year, will hopefully be filmed more often in Germany.
What does this change look like?
Let’s take Bavaria Film. This production company is interesting for us as a partner because they are very important locally in the production of television and cinema films. And thus also shape the film landscape. You also visit our festival. They recently had a queer representative who came to us specifically. There is now a young person in this large apparatus whose job it is to represent queer issues and employees.
The festival program is very female, very trans and it is very international. There are few German contributions. Why is that?
Our feature film program has always been less German. This year there was also the fact that there were few films from German-speaking countries that interested us at all. There are still incredibly few queer films being made here. This is also due to a lack of financial support.
How were the films selected?
Every year we look at 150 to 200 films from which we make a selection. The countries in which the films were produced are of secondary importance to us. We look at which films we find good and interesting. When making a closer selection, we then ask ourselves questions such as: Do we have any duplication of themes or genres? Or: Is there an over-presence of male directors and themes? We aim to be as representative as possible when it comes to different realities of life. What was striking this year was the high density of good documentaries. Our opening film “Kokomo City” about black trans sex workers in the USA, for example, or “Queendom” about drag art in Russia.
A scene from “Kokomo City.”
(Photo: Magnolia Pictures)
You have already seen many of the films. Now which one would you like to see on the big screen?
Actually everyone. Because for many films, the QFFM is the only chance to see them in the cinema. I think the Nigerian film “All the Colors of the World Are Between Black and White” is great because I think it’s very important politically. It is a love story in a country where homosexuality is outlawed and persecuted by the state. And I’m pleased that we’re introducing an “Artist in Focus” for the first time: Jovana Reisinger, a local filmmaker and author. We show her previous film work.
The festival opening takes place on Tuesday evening in the Munich Kammerspiele. How did cinema make it to the theater?
The contact came about through the “Habibi Kiosk” at the Kammerspiele. I was at a queer event there with a QFFM colleague. We thought it was so great that we asked the owners of the “Habibi Kiosk” whether they would be willing to cooperate with us. As part of the festival, there is also a nail art exhibition running there.
What do fingernails have to do with queer cinema?
Everything has to do with queerness – and every form of culture is and should be queer. The team has been wanting to have this exhibition for a long time, but we always slowed ourselves down because we initially questioned what it had to do with cinema. Now let’s do it. Because our supporting program for the festival should also offer other places for exchange than just the cinema foyer. The exhibition consists of 80 images. I had no idea what queer nail art could be. Drag on nails is what I would call it.
Scene from “All the Colors of the World”.
(Photo: Coccinelle Film Sales)
For years, the festival opening used to take place at the University of Television and Film (HFF). What happened to it?
True. We wanted to support the students and always showed their short films before the films. That fell asleep at some point. Now, however, the HFF queer student group has approached us and is organizing an event on Saturday to which they have invited film students from all over Germany. We may not be the big Munich film festival, but we can still make things possible, and above all, we can support local groups and create space for exchange. Because that is also the reason why we are doing the QFFM: We want to change something in Munich.
8th Queer Film Festival Munich, October 10th to 15th, various locations in Munich.