Longtime Companion

For this episode we talk about recent release ‘Great Freedom’ (Grosse Freiheit) starring Franz Rogowski as Hans, a German gay man who under punitive laws finds himself in and out of incarceration from post-World War 2, late 40s all through to 1968 when homosexuality was finally legalised in Germany. In prison, a slow and surprisingly delicate relationship between Hans and his straight cell mate Viktor begins to develop.

To talk to us about the film we invited Diego Semerene, Assistant Professor of Queer and Transgender Media at University of Amsterdam and film critic for Slant magazine.

LINKS: tinyurl.com/GreatFreedom

Music: Avant Garde by @tinymusic_aka_florianseraul

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For this episode we are talking about seminal lesbian film Go Fish by Guinevere Turner and Rose Troche. Featuring fresh, unabashed depictions of the everyday life of young women in a thriving lesbian scene in a Chicago district in the early/mid 90s.

Released in 1994, shot in black and white, employing a rather loose narrative and a ferocious independent spirit it fitted perfectly with New Queer Cinema movement of the early 90s.

To talk to us about the film we invited back on the podcast, writer and culture critic Kira Deshler.

LINKS: https://tinyurl.com/gofishfilm

Music: Avant Garde by @tinymusic_aka_florianseraul

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For this episode we invite LGBTQI+ film and culture critic Ben Walters to talk to us about film Moffie. Released in 2020 and directed about a young, white soldier Nicholas Van Swart whose sexuality burgeons amidst the horrors of conscription in the early 80s, in apartheid South Africa.

We discuss the film's themes of brutality, shame and degradation, as well as Hermanus directorial flair and his previous film Beauty.

LINKS: https://tinyurl.com/moffiefilm

Music: Avant Garde by @tinymusic_aka_florianseraul

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For this episode we talk to Romanian director Eugen Jebeleanu about his upcoming debut film Poppyfield. A tightly constructed drama about an anti-gay rally told through the imagined perspective of closeted policeman Cristi (played by Conrad Mericoffer).

Poppyfield explores the conflicting intersectionalities of LGBTQI+groups and religious groups and the psychological impact of growing up gay in a conservative society.

LINKS:

Poppyfield https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11768008/

BFI Flare https://www.bfi.org.uk/flare

Article about Bucharest The Kids Are Alright screening: https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/you-kids-are-alright/

Music: Avant Garde by @tinymusic_aka_florianseraul

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For this episode we discuss the recent proliferation of the lesbian period drama genre. Along with writer and essayist Kira Deshler, we disucuss whether such period films are more palatable way for a straight, mostly white audience to digest gay stories.

Please find links to films and writings mentioned in the show below.

Kira Deshler's work include:

Substack: https://kiradeshler.substack.com

Video Essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfSEDi8_03E

The films talked about in today's episode include:

Portrait of A Lady On Fire https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8613070/

Summerland: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6841122/

Desert Hearts: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089015/

Ammonite: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7983894/

Music: Avant Garde by https://soundcloud.com/tinymusic_aka_florianseraul

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For the first episode of the Longtime Companion podcast host Daniel Theophanous talks with poet & writer Richard Scott about 2013 French queer thriller Stranger By The Lake, where a tucked away gay cruising spot becomes a scene of a curious murder.

Stranger By Lake was directed by Alain Guiraudie, and stars Pierre Deladonchamps and Christophe Paou.

Available to rent on the BFI Player https://player.bfi.org.uk

Music: Avant Garde by https://soundcloud.com/tinymusic_aka_florianseraul

Follow us on Twitter @LTCompanion / Instagram @ltcompanion