Mezipatra Queer Film Festival has announced the PROGRAM for its 26th edition, which will take place in Prague from November 6 to 13 and in Brno from November 14 to 21
This year, you can look forward to a total of 26 feature films and 49 short films from across the globe. Ten feature films will compete for the Grand Jury Prize, and the student jury will decide on the best short film. And as usual, the winner of the audience award will be decided by your votes.
DISCOVER THE PROGRAM
An award-winning Austrian debut
The opening ceremony of the Prague part of the festival will take place on November 6 at 7 p.m. at the Lucerna cinema, with a screening of If You Are Afraid You Put Your Heart Into Your Mouth and Smile (Wenn du Angst hast nimmst du dein Herz in den Mund und lächelst). Director Marie Luise Lehner took home the Teddy Award from Berlinale for her one-of-a-kind debut, focusing on the life transformation of 12-year-old Anna, who lives with her deaf mother in a Vienna housing estate, and offering a tender look at difference and acceptance outside of traditional queer narratives.
Main competition: road movie, magical realism, and more
Among the ten competing feature films is On the Run (En el camino). The Mexican road movie, a winner of the Queer Lion Award at this year's Venice Film Festival, will transport you into the world of truck drivers, crime, drugs, and one unexpected romance.
Love Me Tender, a French drama based on the eponymous novel by Constance Debré, which had its world premiere at Cannes, follows Clémence, played by Vicky Krieps, a writer who gives up her career and social status to seek personal freedom and a new perspective on motherhood.
The competition section also includes Chilean director Diego Cépedes's debut, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo (La misteriosa mirada del flamenco), awarded at Cannes and San Sebastián. The story is set in Chile in the 1980s, where a mysterious disease spreads in a mining town, transmitted by eye contact.
Documentaries, retrospective, and a midnight screening
The documentary section features, among other films, Queens of Joy (Королеви радості) – a time-lapse portrait of three Ukrainian drag queens – and Heightened Scrutiny, which draws attention to the growing systemic transphobia in the US.
This year's retrospective focuses on films by iconic women directors such as the Wachowski sisters (Bound) and Jamie Babbit (But I'm a Cheerleader).
Special screenings you won't want to miss include Summer School, 2001 (Letní škola, 2001), by Czech-Vietnamese director Dužan Duong, a midnight screening of the zombie comedy Queens of the Dead, and the distribution premiere of the Hong Kong drama All Shall Be Well, brought to Czech cinemas by Queer Kino.
The popular short film selection will be shown in seven competitive and two non-competitive thematic blocks.
Accompanying and industry program.
The diverse accompanying program includes the Queering the Industry section, focusing on filmmaking in the V4 region and Ukraine, Czech Television’s audiovisual production, or queer gaming. The latest addition to the industry program is a collaboration with the OUTPITCH platform, which supports filmmakers from the V4 region and Ukraine in the development of queer-themed films.
Festival spot launch party in Prague
To get into the festival spirit even earlier, don't miss out on the premiere of the 26th Mezipatra festival spot on October 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Atrium Žižkov in Prague.
The spot was created by Slovak director Igor Smitka and produced by CLAW Films, with post-production by Soundsquare and UPP. Biofilms supported the production. The launch party will include a presentation of program highlights, welcome drinks by Absolut, and a quiz with the chance to win a festival pass.
