Defiant, joyous, tender, and multifaceted: whilst being openly queer in socialist Eastern Europe was difficult, these films shine a light on the varied experiences of LGBTQ+ people from the Eastern Bloc outside of the Western context. A reminder that progress is rarely straight!

The strand kicks off with Heiner Carow’s powerful story of love and self-acceptance set in East Germany Coming Out (1989), originally released on the night the Berlin Wall fell and closes with Želimir Žilnik’s Marble Ass (1995), the first film from the former Yugoslavia to openly depict LGBTQ+ characters.

Curated by Siavash Minoukadeh and Fedor Tot, presented as part of Other Ways of Seeing, with support from BFI Awarding Funds from National Lottery and Goethe-Institut.

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