The third edition of the Merlinka Festival, dedicated to queer cinema, will take place at Belgrade’s Kinoteka from 12th to 18th September.
Friday, 16th September, is reserved for the world premiere of the Slovenian documentary LGBT_SLO_1984, directed by Boris Petković. The film follows the birth of the Slovenian LGBT scene in 1984, when the Magnus Gay Cultural Festival first took place, and as part of it, the first LGBT film festival in Europe.
After the screening, there will be a conversation with the authors, Boris Petković, Suzana Tratnik and Roman Kuhar, as well as one of the people who are featured in the film, the Viennese activist Kurt Krickler.
This year, the festival will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the iconic Italian director and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini and the 40th anniversary of the death of the great German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fourteen films will be screened during the seven-day festival, including five premieres.
On Monday, 12th September, at 18:00, the festival opens with the premiere of the Serbian documentary film ‘Borba koja traje’, directed by Aleksandar Nikolić. This documentary shows the history of the HIV epidemic in Serbia, depicted through the life stories and confessions of people living with HIV. The film describes the historical changes and development of the epidemic and talks about the social panic and stigma that falls on HIV patients. A conversation with the author will take place after the screening.
Two award-winning Swedish films will premiere on Tuesday, 13th September. “Something Must Break” directed by Esther Martin Bergsmark, about the passionate love between Sebastian, who wants to be a woman, and Andreas who is not gay, and “My Father Marianne”, directed by Martin Klingberg, which follows a provincial priest who decides to continue living his life as Marianne.
The weekend of 17 and 18 September is reserved for screenings of films by Pier Paolo Pasolini – ‘Il fiore delle 1001 e una notte’ (1974), ‘Teorema’ (1968), ‘I racconti di Canterbury’ (1972), and ‘Salò o le 120 giorni di Sodoma’ (1975). Pasolini made more than twenty films for which he was awarded the Golden and Silver Bear in Berlin, nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Golden Bear in Venice. He was brutally murdered in 1975, at the age of 52.
Other films to be screened at the Festival include ‘Philadelphia’ (1993), directed by Jonathan Demme, ‘Pink Narcissus’ (1971) by James Bidgood, which has not been screened in Serbia so far, and ‘Midnight Cowboy’ (1969) by John Schlesinger, then the German films ‘Carel’ (1982) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and ‘Consequence’ (1977) by Wolfgang Petersen.
Srđan Dragojević’s 2011 film ‘Parada’ will also be showcased at the Festival.
(Danas, 06.09.2022)
This post is also available in: Italiano