INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

The protagonists of ten feature films are standing at a crossroads which might lead to heavenly heights as well as to bitter tears. Rule 34 shows a young lawyer’s obsession with dangerous sexual desires. Passage and Bones and Names reveal the cracks in long-term relationships and misguided decisions. The main protagonists of Blue Jean and All That Silence might live happy lives with their girlfriends, but each must deal with a different hurdle.

Based on a true story, Fireworks is an epic story of forbidden love between two boys in 1980s Sicily. On the other hand, Smalltown Boys show the more liberated life of contemporary gays in the French countryside. And 20 000 Species of Bees follows eight-year-old Lucía in Spain as she tries to convince her family about her identity.

South Korean Peafowl tells the story of a trans dancer’s return home to her conservative village. And the Chinese summer movie A Song Sung Blue offers a tale of unrequited love which takes Xian over the threshold of childhood and into adulthood.

DOCUMENTARY

This year’s documentary selection offers films showcased at the most prestigious festivals worldwide, such as Sundance, SXSW, Berlinale, and the documentary giants of IDFA and CPH:DOX. Like a fresh summer breeze, the witty and positive M Is for Mothers celebrates pure love and motherhood. Its charming couple will take us on a journey through pregnancy, birth, and all that might follow. Who I Am Not delves into the highly neglected topic of intersexuality, brimming with empathy and unexpected sincerity. Pornomelancholia follows pornfluencer Lalo, who feels insatiable sorrow in private despite his professional success. And Kokomo City peeks behind the scenes of the lives of sex workers, where four fierce and sharply honest trans African-Americans will offer their first-hand testimonies and shy away from no taboo topic.

INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Love, sex, and… agony. No, you don’t need to return to your childhood with Dear Abby and Cosmo tips to enjoy this combo. This year’s main short films competition offers a record number of eight blocks and a mix of excitement, disgust, love, hate, obsession, sex, bizarre, humor, drama… Simply everything our dear eager audiences may crave. It features such classics as gay, lesbian, family and trans blocks, and the popular dark block and section of oddball treats, which are nothing new either. But this year has brought several films so unique that we’ve had to add a few categories. So please, welcome films produced in the Visegrad Four, and those addressing the theme of rebellion. Enjoy a roller-coaster of emotions at this year’s shorts!

QUEER KINO PRESENTS

We love queer film all year round, not just in November! Since 2019, our Queer Kino distribution label sends queer films all around the country. You can see the selection of news in our repertoire as well as iconic classics in this year’s Mezipatra program. Guys from And Then We Danced have prepared for you a lesson in traditional Georgian dances with a major dash of passion and tenderness. Do you prefer to chill in the warm sun in girly company? No problem, Cocoon will make your wish come true. The master of intertwining imagery with music, Xavier Dolan, will prove his mettle with Matthias & Maxime, and the qualities of extraordinary Polish cinema will be illustrated by this year’s new distribution piece, Elephant. If you didn’t catch last year’s Mezipatra winner, the French drama of The Five Devils starring Adéle Exarchopoulos, you have the unique chance to enjoy this audience hit in true festival atmosphere. So enjoy the show!

QUEER BLENDER

This year's Queer Mixer is filled with ingredients that will satisfy even the pickiest of palates. Regardless of how we mix, one of the ingredients is always the strongest – freedom. The attractive young man Moritz from the movie Drifter tries to learn to live on his own and to find the true charm and possibilities in freedom. For promising filmmakers from Ukraine, on the other hand, freedom is something they desire most of all, despite their different themes and artistic processes. Living freely like a bird comes with not only infinite possibilities, but also a great deal of responsibility for one's life and the lives of others, whom we willy-nilly affect with our actions. Balancing between the exhilaration by freedom and the lines you should not cross under any circumstances is often difficult. However, our cocktail manages with ease!

RETROSPECTIVE

This year’s retrospective section is shaped by the most distinctive pieces harvested at Mezipatra during the second half of the last decade, focusing on the theme of this year, Crossroads. From the documentary representative The Queen of Ireland, which won the 2016 Audience Award, to the 2017 Best Feature Film Award Beach Rats, to the comedy The Miseducation of Cameron Post, which won the Audience Award in 2018.

We present the story of Panti Bliss, an Irish drag queen, activist and influencer who comments on the big issues of homophobia, HIV and equal marriage with irresistible power. Frankie is loitering around Brooklyn, dealing with his first major identity question – to focus on his girlfriend, or on gentlemen from a dating site? And Cameron is fighting for her freedom in a conversion center for queer people in a film full of pop-culture references.