Wicked Queer Boston LGBT Film Festival
Formerly known as The Boston LGBT Film Festival...
Friday, 31 March 2023 until Sunday, 09 April 2023
WICKED QUEER: The Boston LGBT Film Festival is the fourth oldest LGBT film festival in North America and it is largest LGBT media event in New England. Founded in 1984 by film programmer George Mansour, the festival has been hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston since the early nineties. In 2009 the festival expanded to include screenings at the Brattle Theatre in iconic Harvard Square, Cambridge, the Fenway Health Center on Boylston Street in Boston, and the Institute of Contemporary Art. Our mission is to build community and to celebrate Queer storytelling and filmmaking through the uplifting of voices and stories not yet heard and to present and preserve the vibrancy of our histories. In 2021 the festival virtually screened over 149 films in 45 programs across throughout the month of April.
The festival holds Juried awards for Best Feature, Narrative and Best Feature, Documentary. We also have audience awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Feature Documentary, and Best in Show Short Film.
2023 films...
1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted A Culture
L'Homme Blessé ( The wounded man)
BIPOC shorts: Ubuntu: I Am Because of Who We Are
Kevin
A chance encounter with a stranger, Alex, at a record store leads Kevin on an over-thinker’s journey to discover what this new relationship is.
Directed by Tony Moore, Wesley Quinn 11 m
Egúngún (Masquerade)
Seeking healing, a woman must return to Lagos, the city of her birth.
Directed by Olive Nwosu 14 m
Miss Misery
After being broken up with by her girlfriend, a willful nineteen year old must recount her past mistakes during a visit with her estranged older sister.
Directed by Keely Martin 18 m English USA
The Devil Inside Me
A grieving mother believing her son to be possessed by the devil, forces him through a spiritual-religious cleansing. ‘The Devil Inside’ is a poetic exploration of ‘Love’ and the grotesque mutations it can take. A surreal, horror-infused look at a Mother whose intense protective love of her child and innate belief in a deity incite her to take measures that will dismember her son’s trust in her and the world around him. Without acceptance there can be no trust, without trust there can be no love.
Directed by Gabriel Arrahnio 5 m English UK
Don't Text Your Ex
Surviving a global pandemic being queer, cute and still in love with your ex.
Directed by Jo Gustin 14 m English Canada
I Identify as Me
Tina Colleen (She/Her) is a black-indigenous, queer, body liberator, and social disruptor who uses art to promote activism that inspires love and healing for the global majority (aka BIPoC).
Directed by Tina Colleen, Monick Monell 11 m English USA
Eye of the Veil
After the sudden death of her pregnant partner, a closeted attorney must embrace her sexuality and humanity, as she seeks custody of their newborn.
Directed by Dorothy A. Atabong 23 m English Canada
Tabanca
Dampened by office life during a wet Vancouver winter, a genderqueer Trinidadian woman, Marlinn, misses out on the chance to celebrate Carnival season back home. Until, one night, they discover that the power of masquerade is within them no matter where they are.
Directed by Lauren Marsden 12 m English Canada
Firsts: Shorts from the Up and Coming
Blaues Rauschen (Blue Noise)
A young apprentice craftsman is not only dazed by the noise at work. In a chaotic world, among dominant colleagues, an inaccessible father as well as a demanding girlfriend, the young man seeks closeness. In the process, he crosses a boundary and gets to know himself a bit better.
Directed by Simon Maria Kubiena 16 m German Germany
It Had to Be You
When Cleo falls for a customer at the coffee shop she works at, she must catch his attention before her more beautiful coworker does.
Directed by Camryn Garrett 8 m English USA
Light Leak
Oscar has two faithful partners: Lucas, his best friend since childhood, and his Super 8 film camera. Right when he starts shooting his new short film with Lucas as the main lead, he realizes that what he feels for him is more than just friendship.
Directed by Carlos C. Insuela, Carla Voces 13 m Spanish Spain
Up on The Roof
"Up on the Roof" is the second part to a three part short film anthology series entitled "Strangers." This particular short is inspired by questions that I have about being afraid of intimacy, lack of experience and desperation. I was also very intrigued by the idea of a character whose personal gratification comes from making others feel good - no matter their sexual orientation. This story is very near and dear to my heart as I explore my own journey with intimacy, boundaries, consent and self-love.
Directed by Timmy Thompson 12 m English USA
As You Are
When an interabled queer couple spends the night together for the first time, they must confront their complex relationships with desire, sexuality, bodily autonomy, and what it means truly to love another person.
Directed by Daisy Friedman 14 m English USA
Miss Misery
After being broken up with by her girlfriend, a willful nineteen year old must recount her past mistakes during a visit with her estranged older sister.
Directed by Keely Martin 18 m English USA
Mom Dad
Mom, Dad. I am sorry I am sending this in a video.
Directed by Sydney Rose Walker 2 m English USA
Magic Trick
A queer meet cute with a touch of magic.
Directed by Chris Lennox-Aasen 5 m English Canada
The Flour Test
A London journalist returns to his birth nation Brazil in order to face one of the demons of his adolescence: the Flour Test. This ludicrous experiment was conducted during the military dictatorship in order to determine whether army conscriptees were homosexual. It consisted of males being made to sit butt-naked on flour in order to measure the girth of their anus and the integrity of their morals. Sadly, this procedure is not confined to the past. Bolsonaro's ultra-homophobic government has attempted to introduce legislation akin to the infamous Test.
Directed by Victor M. Fraga 19 m English UK
Escape From Canal Street
In exchange for clues about their girlfriends disappearance, androgynous bad-boy Dell is enlisted by an icy drag queen on the path of revenge to rob a notorious downtown sugar daddy in this glitter-noir short film.
Directed by Tristen Stafford 15 m English USA
Dentata Pearls
DENTATA PEARLS is an experimental film that
emerged during the time of isolation, out of a
desire for intimacy and a need for escape. It is a
sci-fi, queer fairytale - manifesto that envisions a
non-heteropatriarchal world of self-determination,
emancipation, and mutual care.
Directed by Antigoni "Bunny" Tsagkaropoulou 12 m English Greece
As I Live and Breathe
In a dystopian world where the air sends you to sleep, a timid romantic uses the only gas mask and her imagination to experience a fulfilling romance with an unconscious heartthrob.
Directed by William Hearle 14 m English United Kingdom
All the Pretty People
Set in the Land of the Freaks and the Home of the Depraved, Sam and Adrian, a young queer couple growing apart, endure a dystopian date night at The Country Club, a patriotic floorshow promoted by Adrian’s enigmatic sugar daddy, Fox.
Directed by Lucky Marvel 13 m English USA
Cannoli Brothers
They may not be real brothers, but their cannoli are anything but fake.
Directed by Ethan Folk, Ty Wardwell 2 m English Germany
Proof is in the Pudding
Milly visits her former classmate Lise. They are invited to a vegan birthday party and discover an unsual recipe. Here they go for an afternoon of carnal explorations...
Directed by Suçon - 16 m Freanch, English France
International Shorts: Across the Pond
Belongs to Anat
Marva (27) finds that on every item in her home there’s a note that reads “Belongs to Anat”. understanding that Anat has left her and that she is on her own, she goes on a journey asking people for guidance. That fails, so in a desperate attempt she sings Anat a love song in the lobby of her office building.
Directed by Yuval Barnea 17 m Hebrew Israel
Christopher at Sea
After embarking as a passenger onboard a cargo ship returning to Europe he begins to question his sanity and the very understanding of his perception of time in this romantic psychological thriller at sea.
Directed by Tom CJ Brown 15 m English, French France
L'Anniversario
Today, Rosa celebrates the anniversary of her engagement with Roberto. While she waits for him for dinner, she spends the afternoon in the pool with her younger brother Angelo. They begin to comment on a news story happened a few days earlier: the body of a boy found in a field a few kilometres from the city. Roberto arrives before they expected: the glances between the three become enigmatic and restless.
Directed by Marius Gabriel Stancu 17 m Italian Italy
My Life At The Beginning
It is New Year's Eve in Medarcos, a small town in the mountains of Madrid, inhospitable and frozen. ROME has 9 years old and his favorite place is the lap of his father, RODOLFO. But the atmosphere is rarefied.
Directed by Ana Puentes Margarito 15 m Spanish Spain
Pure
Love, hate, desire and jealousies are in the midle of a couple, that of Andrea and Fabrizio, who questioning the certainties of their relationship and their feelings.
Directed by Federico Mottica 17 m Italian Italy
The Talk
The life changing conversation that takes between father and son when staunchly unionist father DENNIS walks in on his son Barry in bed with a man.
Directed by Jonathan Hughes 10 m English Ireland
Men’s Shorts: Connection, Connecting and Connected
Troy
Troy has loud sex. Troy has loud sex 24-7. Troy shares a wall with Thea and Charlie. Troy is ruining their lives... or is he saving them? A darkly comedic tale of New York neighbors, the ways in which we become interwoven with the lives of strangers, and the unexpected consequences of unasked-for intimacy.
Directed by Mike Donahue 16 m English USA
Sax
Logline: A college alto saxophone musician prepares to audition for a spot in an elite quartet, but things hit a flat note when he discovers his rival also wants the spot.
Directed by Andrew Van Heusden 16 m English USA
The Dress Code
What happens when a lonely man advertises for company, demanding something very…particular?
Directed by Rikard Westman 3 m Swedish Sweden
Coming Out
Charlie and Mitch arrive at Charlie's mother's home to come out of the closet as being a stoner, however, Charlie's fear of being exiled drags this process out until somebody is caught with their pants down.
Directed by Robbie Ryde, Mathew Young 11 m English USA
Fanatic
Charlie and Gerald reunite their failed 2000's boy band for a competition whose prize money could remedy all of their financial woes. What could go wrong?
Directed by Taran Killam 17 m English USA
Reflections
The good and bad parts about coming out.
Directed by Kane Kwik 11 m English Spain
PIpes
Bob the plumber is hired to fix a broken pipe & lands to his surprise in a gay fetish club.
Directed by Kilian Feusi, Jessica Meier, Sujanth Ravichandran 4 m No Dialogue Switzerland
Gods of the Supermarket
"In times of the body positivity movement, this film
pays tribute to the male body with which the director
has a love-hate relationship. Both obsessed and
frustrated by it, this ideal body represents an
unreachable fantasy."
Directed by Alberto Gonzalez Morales 8 m English, French Switzerland
Cock N' Bull 3
Flight attendants, Chris and Wes, instigate twisted mile-high games with passengers, leading to the unimaginable - trying to make an emergency landing after someone poisoned the pilot.
Directed by Nathan Adloff 24 m English USA
Perpetual Becomings: Queer Experimental Shorts
Gods of the Supermarket
"In times of the body positivity movement, this film
pays tribute to the male body with which the director
has a love-hate relationship. Both obsessed and
frustrated by it, this ideal body represents an
unreachable fantasy."
Directed by Alberto Gonzalez Morales 8 m English, French Switzerland
Lying in Bed Alone, Breathing
A documentation of and meditation on the internal
and external worlds of gender dysphoria, as
experienced by, shot by, narrated by, and written
out by the subject at the film's core. Audio
description and open captions are implemented
throughout the film to create a conversation
between the typically inaudible and ineligible
voices of the queer body and mind.
Directed by Tris Arthur 10 m English USA
Miniature
A sentimental love letter from woman to woman
Directed by Seokyoung Yang 6 m English Republic of Korea
Kerel (Sea of Love)
Trapped in a cargo ship during the lockdown,
Kerel, a gay Filipino seafarer is confronted by
his memory and recalls his complicated past,
present, and future self.
Directed by Jon Cuyson 14 m Tagalog Philippines
Hate
A teenager is questioning their gender identity
and the relationship with their mother. They are
looking for an answer by God itself.
Directed by Emiliano Sisolfi 8 m Italian Italy
History is a Black Circle
A science fiction essay that travels through time
and queer bodies, as well as the black of it all.
Directed by Hamid Waheed 23 m English Norway
Dentata Pearls
DENTATA PEARLS is an experimental film that
emerged during the time of isolation, out of a
desire for intimacy and a need for escape. It is a
sci-fi, queer fairytale - manifesto that envisions a
non-heteropatriarchal world of self-determination,
emancipation, and mutual care.
Directed by Antigoni "Bunny" Tsagkaropoulou 12 m English Greece
The Taking of Jordan (All American Boy)
Jordan, an amateur adult performer,
recalls the horror of his many former lives.
Directed by Kalil Haddad 8 m English Canada
Black Dog
Ege and Berk are introduced by Rana. These two men, who are as different as Batman and the Joker from each other, sleep together the night they meet. Ege learns the details of Berk's trauma and depression: Black Dog. When everything is going well, Ege tells Berk that he loves him. Thereupon, Berk decides not to meet with Ege.
Directed by Fırat Uran 24 m Turkish Turkey
The Window
A year after Beirut’s port explosion, Basma and Mariam reunite in their old bedroom. Surrounded by a view of the port’s remains, the two women attempt to resolve their shared trauma and broken relationship.
Directed by Sarah Kaskas 16 m Arabic Lebanon
Adjustment
The nine year-old effeminate boy, Shahrokh, humiliated and pushed away by his family and friends makes up his mind to adjust himself to his new identity and comes out to the people of his village. Having been through a variety of ordeal, Shahrokh, dressed in girl’s clothes, shows up in the class before his classmates.
Directed by Mehrdad Hasani 17 m Farsi Iran
One Like Him
A Jordanian man (Karim) must find a way to tell his childhood friend and first love (Ramzi) the truth about what happened twenty years ago, when a single moment changed both their lives. When he can’t find the words, the conversation repeats, becoming increasingly surreal until he loses control.
Directed by Caitlin McLeod 15 m Arabic UK, Jordan
Shams
Eden, a 30-year-old Belgian woman, works in a cultural center a few thousand kilometers away from her home, in the bustling capital of Cairo. She makes a life-changing encounter with a young woman named Shams. One day, Shams brutally disappears. With the support and friendship of two valiant young Egyptians, Eden starts a fight against her own fears, denials and bias to find Shams.
Directed by Pauline Beugnies 24 m French, English, Arabic Egypt
Warsha
A Syrian migrant working as a crane operator in Beirut volunteers to cover a shift on one of the most dangerous cranes, where he is able to find his freedom.
Directed by "Dania Bdeir " 15 m Arabic Lebanon
This is a Life: Queer Asian Stories
SAFAR (JOURNEY)
It's a story of two souls who want to live happily ever after and want to blend in with the crowd.
Directed by Kapil Joshi 6 m Hindi Inda
After Sunset, Dawn Arrives
In the early 2000s, old China Town, Los Angeles, when introverted and unsociable sixty-five-year-old Chinese man, Wan falls in love with a man who is nearly 30 years younger than him, Wan struggles to embrace his homosexual identity which he has been suppressed for his entire life and simultaneously confronts his guilt towards his long deceased Chinese wife.
Directed by Andy Yi Li 17 m English USA
Baby Trans
Paradoxe offers a portrait of Laure, a gentle but intense soul. As she begins feminizing hormone therapy, Laure learns to tame the bodily, emotional and identity changes she’s experiencing.
Directed by Aimé Majeau Beauchamp 12 m French Canada
Tank Fairy
In Taiwan, "song wa si de" are workers who routinely supply gas tanks to street vendors and old residential buildings. The magical Tank Fairy delivers her tanks unlike any other - with sass, stilettos and a healthy helping of glitter. Her arrival upends the life of Jojo, a lonely ten-year-old who dreams of dancing and drag. Outcast by classmates and misunderstood by his stern, single mom, Jojo is inspired to live out loud by his fierce, propane-toting fairy godmother. TANK FAIRY is a musical extravaganza that encourages us all to embrace our authentic selves.
Directed by Erich Rettstadt 雷利 10 m
Butch Up!
“Stop being miserable.” After hearing her ex’s last words to her, Mi-hae, a lead singer of an independent band, cannot get herself to sing the band’s most popular song, Oppa’s Girl.
Directed by Yu-Jin Lee 12 m Korean South Korea
Future Flowers
A sham-married queer woman and queer man live together but have entirely separate lives. Yet, their schedules are linked by a propagandistic program that nudges them toward a single goal.
Directed by Hao Zhou 10 m Chinese China
Play House
Xiao Lin and Chuan Yu are lesbian lovers who work in soft porn industries. One day a man hired them to act as his wife and daughter. However, the relationship among them gradually grew tense.
Directed by Xinyi Cao 26 m Mandarin Chian
Write here
An aging gay man in mid-stage alzheimer's struggles to hold onto his identity and onto the memory of his one true love.
Directed by Jake Muñoz Consing 15 m Tagalog Philippines
Hex The Patriarchy
Fed up with being bullied in high school, best friends Bex and Wren strike back with a bit of magic that has unintended consequences.
Directed by Anne Brashier 6 m English USA
Snuff
A woman in the middle of an affair arrives home to find her wife making a snuff film in their living room.
Directed by Louise Nesbitt 8 m English Ireland
Tell Me Something I Don't Know
On his 25th birthday, Cary brings his friends to the desert and requests one gift: for them to list everything they hate about him. A reckoning ensues.
Directed by Neal Suresh Mulani 15 m English USA
(In)convenience
An unexpected love story develops over a box of tampons between Phoebe, a mini mart cashier, and Kirby, a guy in transition.
Directed by Alexandra Greenspan 12 m English USA
Hen
When a non-binary Gem attends their cis mate's hen's night, the girlies turn from bubbly bridesmaids to cock hungry demons. But Gem could never have known just how far they would get under their skin.
Gem (Frankie McNair) and Trisha (Mish Wittrup) have been friends since childhood. Gem will be at Trisha's side on the big day without a doubt. But their bond is no match for the Three Bridesmaids of the Apocalypse. Under the influence of bad vodka and worse friends, Trisha turns from girl-boss ally to monstrous beast in the space of a Ginuwine remix.
Directed by Alice Tovey 10 m English Australia
Brutal
JACK ROTH (Cheyenne Jackson) - once the hottest star of cable news - stumbles upon a "newsworthy sex scandal" and ends up facing off against all sides, including the corporation he works for.
Directed by Sam McConnell 13 m English USA
Hit Friends
Alice and Paul are best friends who do everything together, but when Alice reveals that she went to Six Flags without Paul, he starts to question their friendship. Oh, and they’re hired assassins.
Directed by Daniel Rashid 13 m English USA
Open to it: Episode 4
A loving gay couple experiments with becoming a hot gay throuple. But threesome sex and open relationships come with more complications than limbs.
Directed by Greg Wolf 14 m English USA
Digital Warfare
When two lazy sisters argue about whose turn it is to replenish the snacks, they are transported to a fantastical boxing ring to duke it out over a thumb wrestling match.
Directed by Stephanie Farber 9 m English USA
Transmission: Lisa Stephen Friday
A transgender glam rocker must overcome her struggle of self-acceptance to share her story, a story of hard fought, hard won self-actualization and power in order to preserve an important part of transgender history.
Directed by Emma Underwood 7 m English USA
Here, Hopefully
Zee, a nonbinary aspiring nurse from China, strives to build a gender-affirming life in rural Iowa, US. After graduating from nursing school, they work tirelessly to pass their licensure exam in hopes of obtaining a work visa.
Directed by Hao Zhou 11 m Chinese, English USA
That Dark Day
City councilor Victor mysteriously disappears in Sao Paulo during a day that turns night because of meteorological phenomena and smoke from forest fires. Weeks go by, and Fabio grows closer to Louise. He is a trans man and a caregiver for the elderly. She is ill and living far from her family in France. While aiding Louise (a cis woman), Fabio's relationship with her matures into understanding, affection, and exchange. He becomes her rock.
Directed by Daniel Guarda 30 m Portuguese Brazil
Dilating For Maximum Results
A whack, irrelevant comedy about a black trans woman who tries to dilate, after four years of not dilating, to hook-up IRL with her online boyfriend.
Directed by Nyala Moon 14 m English USA
Hedgehog
Brig Huang, a headstrong trans teenager, is propelled into their hangover when a reckless decision to have sex without a condom triggers an urgent determination for the ‘morning after’ pill.
Directed by Jasper Caverly 15 m English Australia
Aban
Under constant pressure from her ex-husband, Nazanin should turn their child - Aban, nine years old - away from a very driven feminine taste. One day, Aban goes to the hospital thinking of undergoing life-changing surgery.
Directed by Abbas Taheri, Mahdieh Toosi 16 m Persian France
Apayauq
Apayauq Reitan's journey to become the first out transgender woman to complete the legendary Iditarod sled dog race.
Directed by Zeppelin Zeerip 14 m English USA
Within me, the dreams of the world: Latinx Shorts
Warehouse
A queer, Latino-Indigenous, warehouse worker must choose between keeping his job or standing up to his boss when his LGBTQ colleagues are fired for demanding better working conditions.
Directed by Ahuatl Amaro 12 m English USA
Viral Oceans (Océanos Víricos)
Three Chilean performance artists, living with HIV, meet in complicity and affection on the maritime edge of the Pacific Ocean to carry out a ritual and poetic action where a flame of transformation and regeneration emerges.
Directed by Kevin Magne 15 m Spanish Chile
My Pana
Pana is a popular world from Venezuelan slang that means many things: as a noun it refers to a friend, a good person; as an adjective, it’s a positive quality, someone nice, someone friendly and enjoyable. A coming-of-age story, the short My Pana is also a tale of immigration and exile, a portrait of a teenager adapting to a new society with the few tools he knows to survive: his youth, his body and, ultimately, his own resilience. Through the point of view of a teenager we’ll understand the hardships of million of Venezuelans abroad and the consequences of corruption, exile and the fractured soul of a person who was pushed to leave his true life to adapt to a hostile new place.
Directed by Santiago Giralt 14 m Spanish Argentina
Eurydice
Two girls who once loved each other meet in the field. Throughout the conversation, they go through memories, emotions, sensations, until they can finally let go. The release of a place that no longer belongs to you and that you no longer belong in it.
Directed by Isabella Cintra 16 m Portuguese Brazil
The Quinceañeras
The colector Ravena brings the universe of 15-year-old girl parties to talk about dreams and belonging.
Directed by Leão Neto 15 m Portuguese Brazil
Marlen, a Portrait of Hairy Tits
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Marlén, a young adult with tits, takes a personal journey into the past, analyzing memories of how the world reacts to her corporeality.
Directed by Javier de Miguel 11 m Spanish Chile
Women's shorts: Ladies who love other ladies.
Portrait of a Cat Lady on Fire
A lady's life is turned upside down when she meets a charismatic artist with a dubious French accent. Set in modern-day Brighton, Portrait of a Cat Lady on Fire is an anachronistic parody/tribute to lesbian period dramas.
Directed by Deborah Espect 10 m English UK
Soap
Two queer best friends go on a romantic getaway after being dumped. Based on past heartbreak, and present friendship.
Directed by Lulu Wei 10 m English Canada
For Love
Nkechi, an illegal immigrant, who’s been hiding for three years, lives with her girlfriend Martha and their two other friends Dolapo and Tolu. When immigration does a random check on Dolapo, both Nkechi and Martha are forced to make decisions about their love and their future together.
Directed by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor 13 m English UK
You're Alright Hun
Orla is on the brink caring for her terminally ill Dad, Darragh. While waiting in the pharmacy for his pain medicine, all hell breaks loose when Orla's ex-girlfriend shows up to return a potted succulent.
Directed by Katie-Ann McDonough 5 m English Ireland
Work
Struggling to get over her ex-girlfriend, Gabriela impulsively decides to drop into an old job, where she unexpectedly runs into a friend from her past.
Directed by April Maxey 13 m English USA
Good Times and That's Okay
A 70-year-old closeted woman has to confront her faith as she learns what true love is from a sex worker named Destiny.
Directed by Amanda Kaye 13 m English Australia
Keep/Delete
In a future world where memories are handled like computer files, two lovers decide to undergo a procedure and have their entire relationship wiped from their brains.
Directed by Kryzz Gautier 19 m English USA
First Date
Tina, a recently widowed farmer, doesn't want her daughter to move back to the city and leave her alone. When Seamus arrives on the farm talking about a date, she decides to intervene.
Directed by Clara Planelles 12 m English Ireland