THE PERFUMED GARDEN is an exploration of the myths and realities of sensuality and sexuality in Arab society, a world of taboos and of erotic literature. Through interviews with men and women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation, the film lifts a corner of the veil that usually shrouds discussion of this subject in the Arab world. Made by an Algerian-French woman director, the film begins by looking at the record of a more permissive history, and ends with the experiences of contemporary lovers from mixed backgrounds. It examines the personal issues raised by the desire for pleasure, amidst societal pressures for chastity and virginity. The film discusses pre-marital sex, courtship and marriage, familial pressures, private vs. public spaces, social taboos (and the desire to break them), and issues of language.
Wide-eyed Julián is about to spend the summer with a grandmother he barely knows. He is amazed to discover her treasure-trove apartment, his own Caribbean heritage and the lively Brooklyn community he is surrounded by. But most surprising of all, Julián discovers that he is, in fact, a mermaid!
Bishnu returns to her Himalayan village after quitting her job, only to face mounting family pressures and societal expectations. As tensions rise with her pregnant sister's arrival and a budding relationship with a "suitable" boy from her community, Bishnu must choose between conforming to tradition or claiming her independence.
It is night in Warsaw. Two very different homes. In one, a father watches sports lying on the sofa, expecting the son to do the same. In another apartment, a wealthy-looking mother sits at the table to dine with her daughter, completely different from her. At the same time, the boy and the girl embark on a nocturnal adventure of transformation, during which they strip off the various stratifications of gender that they have inherited. The streets of the city are transformed into a liberating walkway. When by chance they meet – face to face, body to body – they mirror each other in silence, offering comfort, safety.
A short documentary exploring the gender inequality that male artistic swimmers are facing in the Olympics, including intimate interviews with Spanish mixed duet Pau Ribes and Emma Garcia, and legendary American male artistic swimmer Bill May.
Ludovic is waiting for a miracle. With six-year-old certainty, she believes she was meant to be a little girl -- and that the mistake will soon be corrected. But where she expects the miraculous, Ludo finds only rejection, isolation, and guilt -- as the intense reactions of family, friends, and neighbors strip away every innocent lace and bauble.
MAX loves to express herself through her physical appearance, specially through clothes: SHE LOVES CLOTHES!, but... because of this, she will find herself in a dilemma of who is she supposed to be: a person who is ruled by the world or the one who rules it, will she win this fight?
A claustrophobic plunge into the dystopian heart of darkness inspired by the director’s own detention, "Tomorrow Was War" unspools on a fraught New Year’s Eve in a Russian police state. Shura, a trans man hiding in plain sight, dreads his prying neighbors and the inevitable knock at the door. As the night fractures, so does the narrative — steered by the officer who arrested him, an architect of memory who twists history, truth, and identity to his will.
Mason is a trans guy and while tripping with his friends, he sees himself as a kid again. But not as the gender he was assigned at birth, as the gender he identifies with. Throughout the short film, he has to come to terms with the difference between the life he really has and the one he fantasizes about.
Two actresses take us through a series of 'raps' and sketches about what it means to be beautiful and black.
Drawn by a strange ringing, a weary writer slips out of her life to follow it through the city, encountering strangers whose fleeting, intimate moments stir something lost in her. Phantasma reflects on the cards we’re given and what we choose to do with them.
"No Refunds" is a visceral, tangled descent into the transactional dynamics of intimate encounters, told through the language of bodies, sheets, and reflections, where the purchase of queer sex work is laid bare. As the filmmaker simultaneously takes on the roles of client and audience, the boundaries between documentary and performance fade, unraveling the artifice at the heart of sex work and the act of filmmaking.
When a judgmental workaholic is gaslit for her excruciating pain due to an ovarian cyst rupture, she's confronted by her own false beliefs about women's pain. Based on a true story.
Zoya Diwan and her 8 year old son are stuck in an abusive marriage with her activist husband, when she is sought out for help by a victim of Triple Talaq
A documentary that is a deep exploration of gender identity within the context of Greek society, providing a multi-layered narrative that reflects the experiences of individuals navigating the complexities of gender in a culture where these topics are still emerging. Over four years, the filmmakers captured intimate stories of people confronting their gender identities, revealing how personal, societal, and familial expectations shape their journeys. The documentary aims to challenge the traditional norms of gender and to give voice to those whose experiences are often marginalized. It marks a significant step in Greece’s cinematic exploration of LGBTQ+ themes and is a pivotal contribution to the global conversation on gender identity.
Two friends, two Viennese, two poets, two unusual women. They have known each other for 30 years. Elfriede Jelinek is the better known of the two, the great author with her analytical mind and her social commitment against the whole "politician's docks." The now deceased lyricist Elfriede Gerstl remains rather tender with her poetry, although her poems do not miss a certain amount of sharpness, albeit ironically packed. When the two Elfrieden sit in their Viennese coffee house and drink the little brown, they usually talk about clothes, they talk about the fashion that Elfriede Gerstl has just collected again.
Martín returns from vacation and discovers that his lifelong neighbor, Jesús, has completely changed. Intrigued and with the disapproval of his roommate, he decides to investigate what has happened to him. How far will his curiosity take him?
In the Deep South of the 1930s, Rose is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Her appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and she knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men.
A compelling feature length documentary about five young people who neither feel male nor female, but rather somewhere in between.
Lucio is a family man who secretly experiences a crisis with himself related to his sexuality. Living years of agony, he decides to assume his true sexual condition for his family and friends.