Celebrating the medium of animation in telling queer narratives is Queering Animation, our evening screening to close the Queer Media Festival 2017. Expect an amazing array of twelve LGBTQ animated short films created from live action, hand drawn illustrations, computer generated to stop motion techniques exploring the queer colourful cartoon rainbow of diverse stories. Saturday 18th November at 8.30pm at HOME, 2 Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN. Click here to book tickets!

Bearable (U)

It’s not easy living with a bear.
2D animated short film by Studio Meraki.

Queer Heroes (12A)

A celebration of queer figures in both historical and contemporary times who have helped push forward arts, politics or science.
A collaboration between 14 animators, the structure is based on the old Surrealist drawing game Exquisite Corpses.
Each animator was given a hero to animate, passing on their last frame to the next animator to form their first frame and so on.

B. (12A)

B. tells a story about self-determination. It’s the story of Barbie, who fulfils social expectations and therefore leads an imposed existence in which she is unsatisfied.
Barbie falls in love with a mysterious, red haired woman but she is too insecure to react to her feelings. Instead she does what people expect her to do: She goes with Ken and an unkind, but socially accepted, relationship. Doing the one thing she is good at, Barbie suppresses her own desires, as it has been expected by women for all her life. But she is haunted by the thought of what could have been and keeps losing control of her emotions. Realising that she wasted her only chance to live a happy and fulfilled life Barbie tries to find someone to blame. And succeeds.

Tailor (12A)

TAILOR is a transgender cartoonist that shares in his web page other trans people’s experiences and their challenges in society.

The Sad Mime Knight (U)

A Knight who also happens to be a Mime. He’s pretty down on his luck when it comes to cash. Will he be able to buy himself a meal deal later tonight when the hunger sets in?
Meanwhile somewhere nearby, a Snowtrooper from Star Wars is being chased in a light blue Ford Anglia by the meanest boss in the world flying a TIE fighter.

A comedy/thriller/romance brickfilm by Leeds College of Art graduate Sylvia Winnington

Half a Life (15)

After a traumatic encounter, a young, gay Egyptian joins the LGBT rights movement. When his safety is jeopardized, he must choose whether to stay in the country he loves or seek asylum elsewhere as a refugee. HALF A LIFE is a timely story of activism and hope, set in the increasingly dangerous, oppressive, and unstable social climate of Egypt today.

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Boys in the Street (U)

Animation to Greg Holden’s Boys In The Street.

Open Recess (12A)

An animated documentary about a nostalgic story of the childhood romance of two girls.

Chromosome Sweetheart (U)

An ex-couple in a café, a girl sucking on her girlfriend’s hair, a running woman, a fleeing town, a little girl walking along the river. In this world, there are as many forms of love as there are people.

The Night Cleaner (15)

As the night cleaner in Canada’s busiest gay bathhouse, Travis has grown accustomed to the unusual duties that befall an employee in such a testosterone charged environment. With good humour and a touch of shyness, Travis takes the audience on an amusing, and sometimes harrowing tour through his nightly duties. His twilight tour shines a light on the inner workings of bathhouse culture, and addresses ideas of disposable sex, gay male bonding, and heterosexual interpretations of gay male spaces.

Pussy (12A)

A young girl spends the evening alone at home. She decides to have some sweet solo pleasure session, but not everything goes according to plan.

Black enuf* (12A)

A queer oddball seeks approval from black peers despite a serious lack of hip-hop credentials and a family that ‘talks white’. My quest for a Black Card (undeniable acceptance of my racial identity) takes me from Missouri, to New York, and halfway around the world. My animated documentary, black enuf*, examines the expanding black identity through a personal journey. The film interweaves stories from my great- grandmother’s autobiography, interviews of family & friends, and my hand-drawn memories. Tongue-and-cheek humor makes such a heavy topic easier to digest. The visuals mix Monty Python style cut outs, infographics, watercolor, and a variety of illustrative styles. We’re all on a quest for acceptance.

Click here to book tickets!