Coming up: 20th Lesbian Film Festival in Freiburg, Germany

By Ley on Sunday, May 23, 2010 - 21:46

It’s that time of year again, when all the new films get to showcase their stuff on the big screen, and prove to all the other films that they’re awesome: in other words it's film festival time!

For those of you who don’t already know, I LOOOOOOVE films! Seriously! I just can’t get enough of them, and don’t care what genre they are (although I draw the line at horror and thrillers… hyper person + scary films = very little sleep!).

The Lesbian Film Festival in Freiburg is celebrating its 20^th year in June, so we thought we’d give you a run-down of which films will be on show this year, and a little about them all. I know, I know, we’re too kind, but it’s because we love you all so much we can’t help but treat you for loving us back!

The festival runs from June 3^rd to 6^th, and films range from The Owls to And Then Came Lola. As it states in its title, the festival is marketed as a lesBian event, but they allow men to come along too… except for two occasions: Erotic Shorts on the 4^th, and a Women's Party on the 5^th at White Rabbit.

Throughout the duration of the festival, there will be an exhibition on detailing a timeline of how the festival and lesBian films have evolved over the past 20 years.

For a brief overview of the festival's events, check here.

Now for a detailed look at a few of the films on show:

When Night Is Falling (USA, 1995)

Camille and Martin are in love and teachers at a Christian college. They get the opportunity to get a better job, but they would have to marry first. When Camille's dog dies, she recognizes that her love for Martin is not as big as the love she had for her dog. By chance, Camille meets Petra, and Petra falls in love with Camille. They later meet again, but Camille is reluctant to admit her true feelings that would change her conservative life… and would mean leaving Martin. When Martin is away for a weekend, Camille and Petra meet in the Circus where Petra is working as an acrobat and they spend the night together. An enchanting story, sometimes almost surreal, with wonderfully aesthetic images, sensual artistry and compelling main characters.

The Owls (USA, 2010)

The Owls follows the members of “The Screech”, a Riot Girrl Band, after they have gone their separate ways, each finding their own method of escaping. Iris does so through affairs and alcohol; MJ gives up; and Carol and Lily find jobs, but their relationship is emotionally empty and they decide a child is the solution. The movie is shot through a mixture of flash-back and quasi-documentary style sequences. For those of you who, like myself, were unaware of the theory behind the name: OWL stands for Older Wiser Lesbian. In other words, over 35 apparently.