Southsea Cinema & Arts Centre hosts PRIDE LGBTQ+ Film Festival as part of LGBTQ+ History Month
The Portsmouth Film Society’s 9th Pride LGBT Film Festival will take place at its new home, Southsea Cinema & Arts Centre throughout the month of February. The Festival will be showing a range of films, will have guest speakers, and aims to celebrate and raise awareness of the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual identities) History Month. The opening of the festival (1st Feb) will be by Chris Chang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement and Student Life) University of Portsmouth.
‘The University of Portsmouth is pleased to be sponsoring the 9th LGBTQ+ Film Festival, as part of LGBTQ+ History Month, which enables our communities to celebrate LGBTQ+ lives in their full diversity. This year’s LGBTQ+ History Month theme celebrates LGBTQ+ peoples’ contribution to cinema and film from behind the lens- animators, cinematographers, make-up artists, producers, screenwriters and beyond. As you take part in the events we also encourage you to look ‘Behind the Lens’ and listen to LGBTQ+ peoples’ lived experiences.’
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement and Student Life) University of Portsmouth
The LGBTQ+ Festival will incorporate a series of films, talks and panels that will inspire, entertain and provide networking opportunities for our community and the local area. This year’s festival is supported by the University of Portsmouth’s Equality Diversity & Inclusion team, British Film Industry Film Audience Network, Portsmouth Pride and Talking Change.
Abigail Russell, LBGTQ+ Outreach Worker for Talking Change, NHS Solent said “As we become collectively more aware of the challenges that individuals face in caring for their mental wellness, it continues to be clear that LGBTQ communities maintain higher rates of mental health problems than those outside of their community. With “Behind the Lens” being the theme of this year’s LGBT History Month, Talking Change are excited to sponsor, be involved in, and embrace the confidence and pride that representation in film can provide for LGBTQ individuals. We look forward to seeing you there!”
Tally Aslam, Commercial Manager and Trustee Chair of Portsmouth Pride Trust added “Portsmouth Pride are excited that the Southsea Cinema is hosting its 9th LGBTQ+ Festival, the varied programme should help raise awareness of the LGBT History Month to the people of Portsmouth”.
The Chair of the Portsmouth Film Society, Aysegul Epengin said: “Our 9th PRIDE LGBTQ+ Film Festival taking place during February is to celebrate that queer cinema is back. The aim of the Portsmouth Film Society encourages our audience to watch and learn from specialised films and this is one of our core missions. We are working hard to keep our Southsea Community Cinema and Arts Centre alive and are very grateful for our local film and art lovers’ support. Many thanks to the festival sponsors BFI FAN, The University of Portsmouth, Talking Change, NHS Solent and Peccadillo Pictures”.
Portsmouth Film Society chair Aysegul Epengin said: “Our 9th PRIDE LGBTQ+ Film Festival is for February celebration of queer cinema is back. We, Portsmouth Film society encouraging our audience watch and learn from specialized films and this is one of our core missions.
We are trying our very best to continue our Southsea Community Cinema and Arts Centre and we are so grateful with our local film and art lovers’ support. Thank you so much to the festival sponsors BFI FAN, The University of Portsmouth and NHS- Talking Change and Peccadillo Pictures. “
LGBTQ+ History Month takes place across the UK and around the world every February. It celebrates the lives and achievements (and promotes awareness) of the LGBTQ+ Community.
PROGRAMME:
1st – Feb Wed 7pm/ 12 Feb Sun 5pm:
Swan Song (2021) 105min + guest speaker Cert 12
Legendary actor, Udo Kier, stars as retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger, who escapes the confines of his small-town Sandusky, Ohio nursing home after learning of his former client’s dying wish for him to style her final hairdo. Soon, Pat embarks on an odyssey to confront the ghosts of his past — and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job. SWAN SONG is a comical and bittersweet journey about rediscovering one’s sparkle and looking gorgeous while doing so.
4th Feb Sat 1pm:
Filmmaking Workshop
A workshop for young people (16-25)
8th Feb Wed: Wildhood (2022) 1hr 39min cert 15 £7
In a rural east-coast trailer park, Link lives with his toxic father and younger half-brother Travis. When Link discovers his Mi’kmaw mother could still be alive, it lights a flame and they make a run for a better life. A coming-of-age story with several refreshing twists, Wildhood sends its protagonist on a bittersweet, beautifully filmed journey
Saturday 11 February 1pm-3pm: COLLECTIVE PAINTING EXPERIENCE with Leyla Sabah
£10 and £8 student/60+ – reservation requested (15 people max) www.leylasabah.com
Sunday 12 February 3pm followed by Swan Song (2021) 105min 4pm
Panel: Unpacking gender and trans identities and role models for youth (collaboration with LGBTQ individuals)
Panel chair: Tally Aslam, Commercial Manager & Trustee Chair – Portsmouth Pride Trust
portsmouthpride.org.uk
Panellists: Abigail Russell, NHS – Outreach Worker
(TBC), University of Portsmouth
Josh Breach (they/them) LGBTQ+ Specialist Worker at Portsmouth City Council and Director, Downtown Pompey CIC
Tuesday 14th February 6pm
Neptune Frost (2022) 1hr 45min Cert 15 English sub-titles £7
In an otherworldly e-waste camp made of recycled computer parts, a subversive hacking
collective attempts a takeover of the authoritarian regime exploiting the region’s natural
resources–and its people. Bursting with ideas and ambition, Neptune Frost is difficult to
describe — and just as hard to resist
14th February Guilty Pleasures Karaoke from Flamingo Boss
LGBTQ+ couples (Valentines Night)
With Rainbow body painted photoshoots with Stefano Pollina
8pm
£5 tickets
Wednesday 15 Feb 7pm and Sunday 19 Feb Wed 6pm
Call me by Your Name (2017) 132min cert 12+ guest speaker
It’s the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who’s working as an intern for Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendour of their surroundings, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awakening desire over the course of a summer that will alter their lives forever.
Sunday 19 Feb Sun 3pm
Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (2021) 120min Cert 15
Manu and Maanvi’s passionate love affair comes to a grinding halt after Manu learns of Maanvi’s deeply personal story. Things take a bitter turn when Manu’s family members get involved.
Guest speaker for A Transgender talk: Katie Yeoman
Wednesday 22 Feb Wed: Rurangi (2020) 87min cert 15
Burnt-out trans activist Caz Davis returns to Rūrangi, the rural dairy community he fled ten years ago, hoping to reconnect with his father, who hasn’t heard from him since before Caz transitioned. As father and son slowly reconcile, Caz finds himself swept up in the environmental fight which is dividing the town.
Friday 24 Feb Fri: Peter Von Kant (2022) 84min cert 15
Francois Ozon’s film Peter Von Kant, a successful, famous director, lives with his assistant Karl, whom he likes to mistreat and humiliate. Through the great actress Sidonie, he meets and falls in love with Amir, a handsome young man of modest means. He offers to share his apartment and help Amir Break into the world of cinema….
Saturday 25 Feb Sat: 6pm Comedy Night with Glenn
This special show will be focusing on LGBTQ+ stories.
Tuesday 28 Feb Tue: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Cert 12 + guest speaker
History professor George (Richard Burton) and his boozy wife, Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), return late one Saturday night from a cocktail party at the home of the college president, Martha’s father. Martha announces that she invited another couple, newly appointed instructor Nick (George Segal) and his timid wife, Honey (Sandy Dennis), over for a nightcap. When the younger couple arrive, the night erupts into a no-holds-barred torrent of marital angst and verbal tirades.
Led by a volcanic performance from Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a scathing adaptation of the Edward Albee play that serves as a brilliant calling card for debuting director Mike Nichols.
The festival welcomes organisations related with LGBTQ+ who are interested in having information stands at the cinema during the month as well as community and youth groups.
