15h30

(Feature Film Panorama)
Rückenwind | Light Gradient, by Jan Krüger (Germany, 2009, 75’)

Two young men, Johann and Robin, take a trip into the countryside. The more they walk the forests of Brandenburg, the stranger their adventure becomes. Bikes disappear, maps prove useless – and each gets to know a new side of the other. Johann and Robin regard the new situation as a kind of sporting challenge. They allow themselves to just go with the flow. After several days of hiking, the two lads arrive at an old farmhouse
inhabited by a woman and her adolescent son. The men receive a surprisingly warm welcome and soon begin to share the small family’s daily routine and their secrets. For a while they enjoy an enchanted round of excursions and storytelling, flirting and games – until one day the new companions get too close for comfort. Johann and Robin are flung out of their refuge and back into the world at large. Light Gradient tells the story of a journey of two men, travelling light, searching for the truth beneath the facade, for fairy-tale moments in the heart of the countryside, and for a natural gay relationship far from the madding crowd.

17h30

(Competition Best Documentary)
City of Borders, by Yun Suh (USA, 2009, 66’)

In the heart of Jerusalem – defying generations of segregation, violence and prejudice – stands an unusual
symbol of unity: a gay bar called Shushan. City of Borders goes inside this vibrant underground sanctuary on the East/ West border of the Holy City, where people of opposing nationalities, religious affiliations and sexual orientations gather under one roof, to find acceptance and create a community among people typically viewed as each other’s ‘enemy’. Set against the construction of the separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories and the struggle for a gay pride parade in Jerusalem, City of Borders explores this resilient community’s daily fight for dignity and their right to existence. In observing the lives and struggles of the regulars at Shushan, City of Borders highlights the bond forged when people from warring worlds embrace what
everyone shares in common — the right to be accepted and belong — rather than be defined by the differences that tear them apart.

19h30

(Feature Film Panorama)
Donne-moi la main | Give me your hand, by Pascal-Alex Vincent (France, 2008, 80’)

Quentin and Antoine, 18 year old twins, decide to hitchhike to their mother’s funeral in Spain, without their fathers’ knowledge. Their trip will be marked by quarrels, reconciliations and many revealing experiences. It will also reveal the differences between their interests and the confusion of their emotions. A luminous trek that will bring them to maturity and that will change their relationship forever.

22h00

(Feature Film Competition)
Ander, by Roberto Cáston (Spain, 2009, 128’)

Ander, a Basque countryman well into his forties, lives alone with his mother and sister at the turn of the twentieth century. He lives a monotonous life between his work in a bycicle factory and his peasent duties shared with his sister and their elder mother. His life starts to change when, due to an accident, he needs to hire a Peruvian helper, José. The newcomer’s presence alters unintentionally the relationships between Ander and his relatives and acquaintances. When he acknowledges that he is developing deep feelings towards José, he has to decide whether he will transform his life in order to include him or not.

0h15 / MIX PROGRAMME (Hard Nights)

Artcore, de Petra Joy (United Kingdom, 2008, 5’)

Messages of desire written on male and female bodies. The most important one being: “What is your fantasy?” Petra calls this “artcore”. Is this art, is this porn? - You decide.

George Bataille’s Story of the Eye, by Andrew Repasky McElhinney (USA, 2003, 81’)

Three enigmatic episodes introduce us to three distinct sexual encounters (gay, lesbian and heterosexual), playing on the frontier between pornography and experimental art. George Bataille’s Story of the Eye is a film about spectatorship, inspired and informed by the academic, transgressive and yet oddly sentimental philosophy of Georges Bataille, appropriating the title of his most famous work for a mesmerizing examination of bizarre anticipation.