Main themes of the festival in Narva
Queer festival in Narva will be held on February 17 and 18, 2024
The new LGBTQ+ culture festival Q-Space will take place at the Narva Art Residence (NART) on February 17 and 18, 2024. The film program includes meetings with directors, discussions and a workshop. The main theme of the festival is the acceptance of LGBTQ people in Narva.
During the days of February 17 and 18 in Narva, a festival dedicated to the LGBTQ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people) will be held. The program includes 7 films (2 full-length and 5 short films), which will be premiered in Narva, discussions in the format of discussions, meetings with directors and a master class.
“In Estonia, the law on equal marriage came into force this year. Open events related to the queer community are held in Tallinn and other Estonian cities. There have been no such events in Narva yet, and we consider it important to open the discussion space in Narva with our Q-Space festival. There is a great need for both people in the queer community and their loved ones to come together and discuss topics such as coming out, openness, gender issues, and society's attitude towards queer people. Q-Space sees culture as a starting point for such discussions,” say Gulya Sultanova and Manny de Guerre, organizers of the Q-Space festival.
Opening of the festival - a collection of short films “We are Family”, 17.02, 16.00
Five films by young directors share a central theme: family relationships. The central characters are queer people, and in these films we will see how differently they communicate their identity to parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, what reactions they face and how they live it.Estonian director Kaire Russ, who directed the film “Grandma, Meet Mary”, presents it in the form of a comedy, director Svetlana Sigalaeva shot her film “Bad Daughter” as a drama, and Max Pechersky frames his story “The Year of the White Moon” in a philosophical parable.
After watching these films, we will have a meeting with the directors, moderated by Maria Kapajeva, an artist and native of Narva.
February 17, 16.00 - 18.45, NART, Joala 18.
What is the situation of queer people in Estonian schools?
The key event will be the screening of the film “Blue Jean” (2022). The film, which won numerous awards at international festivals including Venice, tells the story of the life of a lesbian teacher in Thatcher-era England at a time when Amendment 28 was passed to ban so-called “promotion” of homosexuality in schools.
After the film, there will be a discussion about the situation with discussing LGBTQ topics in Estonian schools and what challenges teachers and students from the LGBTQ community face in the educational system and what needs to change to support diversity and inclusion.
Deputy Eduard Odinets, one of those who advocated for achieving marriage equality in the Estonian Parliament, will take part in the discussion about schools. “I am glad that the Q-Space festival will now be held in Narva. Films, discussions and master classes will undoubtedly help make Ida-Virumaa more tolerant and united,” Odinets emphasized.
Trailer for the film “Blue Jean”
February 18, 17.30 - 20.10
In addition, the festival will feature a screening of the Belgian feature film “Lola and the Sea” about the struggle of a transgender daughter with her father to accept her identity, an open microphone workshop on the needs of queer people and their loved ones in Narva, as well as a presentation queer comics How Much Queer Work.
Tickets: 5 euros for 1 session (full ticket), 4 euros (discounted), admission for refugees is free.Tickets are sold through the Fienta website from January 26, as well as directly on the day of the show at the NART venue.
All films are shown with subtitles in Estonian/English/Russian, conversations and discussions are conducted in Russian and English.
Join the Volunteer Team (fill out the form before 02.02.2024)
The non-profit organization Q-Space was founded in 2022 in Estonia. The organization works to expand safe spaces for the LGBTQ community and promote discussion and acceptance in society. In May 2023, Q-Space received the honorary title of Rainbow Hero from the Estonian LGBT Association.In the short period of its activity, Q-Space organized more than 20 public film events in Tallinn and Narva, a rally against violence and film screenings at Baltic Pride 2023. During this time, more than 2,000 people gathered at Q-Space events in Estonia.
Gulya Sultanova (Russian language)organizer Q-Space
gulya@q-space.ee
