05 · 06 · 18

The Sexual Diversity Program + Presents a special curaorship in Berlin

Antonio Harfuch Álvarez, curador del Programa Diversidad Sexual + Morelia

Under the title of "Bodies, Games and Territories", the Sexual Diversity Program of Morelia, presents a program of Mexican short films at the International Queer Festival of Berlin XPOSED. It is an exceptional invitation for the thirteenth edition of this outstanding festival that has managed to consolidate a risky and imaginative programming, in a unique meeting in its class to present the most proactive of international queer cinema.

Since its foundation, XPOSED has presented cartographies of the world cinema uniting and making sexual diversity visible through their problems and needs. It is a refreshing festival that supports the creation, through the Queer Short Film Fund, for audiovisual artists living in Berlin. In 2017, XPOSED opened the doors to Morelia presenting the Audience Award of the Sexual Diversity Program, with El Cisne, by Daniel E Chávez Ontíveros, about a trans Mexican woman living in the United States and her return to the country looking for the family acceptance of her gender identity. On this occasion, XPOSED reopens the doors because Dos Ballenas (Two whales) by Diego Cruz Cilveti, Audience Award of the Sexual Diversity Program, will be presented as part of this invitation.

Dos Ballenas tells the story of two brothers who, in their transition to adulthood, will have the opportunity of reuniting through sensitive conversations that will make them recognize the richness of their differences in a dance of balance, like a breath of fresh air from two brothers who are about to begin a trip to deep waters.

The program "Bodies, Games and Territories", is completed with stories about a Mexico hardly ever seen before, from males debating to reject their true gender identity -En Tierra de Machos, El Joto es Rey (Dave Carrizosa, 2017)-, to men that turn a tradition into the opportunity to bring their bodies closer -El Tigre y la Flor (Denisse Quintero, 2016) -. Intimate narratives that present themes such as fraternal reconciliation regardless of sexual identity – Los Desterrados Hijos de Eva (Omar Robles, 2017)-. The affective bonds that unite brothers, in spite of the social or religious rejection, will prevail. Guilt as the symbol of the expulsion from paradise -Un Juego (Santiago Celorio, 2016)- by "games" that expose the fragility of the body and territory; and the loss in another painful game where people will try to overcome the intangible and tangible walls between two countries -Loving South (Óliver Rendón, 2017).

This program represents a magnificent opportunity to observe and discover the sexual diversity of contemporary Mexican cinema, through a trajectory that crosses the country from south to north and vice versa, with works by graduates of the University Center for Cinematographic Studies at UNAM (CUEC), the Cinematographic Training Center (CCC) and the University of Guadalajara; as well as productions from Sonora, Nuevo León and Oaxaca (IMCINE).

XPOSED will be held from May 24 to 27 in Berlin. The guest program "Bodies, games and territories" will be presented on Friday, May 25 at 10:30 p.m. To learn more about the program, click here.

We thank the Morelia International Film Festival and the Mexican Institute of Cinematography for their invaluable support and especially Bartholomew Sammut, founder and director of XPOSED for this valuable invitation to continue the conversation between our festivals and to continue connecting Berlin and Morelia. His work in these thirteen years inspires every effort of the Program to continue discovering the diversity of our cinema and promoting it beyond our borders.