SAQMI Play

Trans Excellence first screening took place during West Pride June 12, 2026. The screening and the talk after was recorded and this is the edited version made specially for you to enjoy! It was a magic evening with a lot of queer trans joy and shared collective feelings. All of us together in a swetty room with and for trans people.

Welcome to enjoy a talk about moving images by and for trans people!

SAQMI creates an artistic space for and by trans people. With a fantastic film program as a starting point, we talk about what we have seen together after the screening. This year’s program is filled with visual experiences, existences beyond the ordinary, snails, mermaids and lots of music. See them in a room where trans is the norm and where w(å)ld is banned.

Below is the full film program that screened during the evening.

More about the films, artists and their work:

Chevron Moustache by 

Chevron Moustache is a film born through my performative processes and creative writing. The film uses a script which was first a performance both in different installment editions but also in its entirety. The film takes on camp and theatrical essay film characteristics. Through processes of rethinking and expanding upon the story of The Little Mermaid a narrative emerges around body modification, desire and self representation – focusing on the euphoric experience of gaining a mascara moustache.

Kolbrún Inga Söring (they/them) is a gender queer artist based in Gothenburg whose work spans several areas of artistic expression from performance, video work and site-specific installation to community cultivation and cultural production. Their personal artistic research explores possibilities of using the body as an autonomous site of provocation; problematising cis-heteronormative ideals while questioning the deeply rooted myth of masculine desire. Söring uses a process of performative writing: rethinking popular narratives by unpacking their own troubled relationship with said ideals and desires within a framework of self-representational body politics, body modification and politics of desire. Söring is best known in Gothenburg for their work with their artist duo Status Queer, and their collective CULT of Drag, their free Drag school Initiations, their extensive engagement in engagi ng with, building and providing culture to and by LGBTQIA+ individuals. Söring has also worked extensively with SAQMI taking on various roles like: curator, producer, technician and social media manager.

We Owe You Nothing by REMBODY, 2023, 5:32 min.

The music video for Rembody’s debut song 

Video recording and production in collaboration with artists Kai Merke and Mo Moesgaard. Paper Mache Beings made by Anne Louise Fink and Mo Moesgaard. Recorded in the North Forest in Kulhuse, Denmark. Edited by Silas Lilo Jensen aka Rembody.

Silas Lilo Jensen works at SAQMI as a technician and podcast producer. They are a musician, artist and culture producer with many years of experience in organizing queer meeting places and events.

Slugs, Snails and Slurs 

Slugs, Snails and Slurs is based on questions and statements that trans people are expected to answer. Unlike in real life, where a clever answer could make the situation even more unsafe, the slugs in the film have an endless supply of flirtatious, witty and sarcastic comebacks.

Slugs, Snails and Slurs är baserat på frågor och påståenden som transpersoner förväntas svara på. Till skillnad från verkligheten, där ett smart svar ibland kan riskera att situationen blir ännu mer otrygg, så har sniglarna i filmen ett evigt lager av flörtiga, roliga och spydiga svar.

Zafira Vrba Woodski är svensk-tjeckist konstnär, poet, dödsdoula och interfaith minister verksam i Sverige och internationellt. Zafiras konst utforskar valda släktskap, queer historieskrivning, sorgearbete, nutidsarkeologi, psykisk hälsa och transperspektiv. Bredvid konstnärskapet driver Zafira High Heel Funerals & Ceremonies som erbjuder stöd och ceremonier till hbtqia+communities @revzafira.

Roads to Relief – a queer roadmovie 

Roads to Relief is a journey with the ambition to find the feeling relief. Through confusion and pain, but also care, rest and euphoria. The film is made out of around 5000 still images from the bigger project Stories of relief, collaborative portraits communicating gender euphoria.

Roads to Relief – a queer roadmovie är en resa med målet att landa i känslan lättnad. Genom förvirring och smärta, men också omsorg, vila och eufori. Filmen är gjord av ca 5000 stillbilder ur projektet Stories of Relief, som genom kollaborativa porträtt vill uttrycka känslan av könseufori. 

Photography, editing and text: Still Sam

Still Sam arbetar experimentellt med samarbetet och det som uppstår i kopplingar och mellanrum som centralt koncept. Samarbetet sträcker sig från materiella experiment där materialets egen agens får styra genom anammandet av slump, till konkreta kollaborationer mellan konstnärer och till mötet med betraktaren i interaktiva installationer. Dens praktik tar utgångspunkt i fotografi, men håller sig inte till mediet. Den arbetar med bland annat stop-motion film, spel, pussel och interaktivt performance. Den studerar för närvarande en konstnärlig kandidat i fotografi på HDK-Valand i Göteborg, efter att ha arbetat i 25 år som tatuerare.

Shapeshifter X 

Inspired by Donna Haraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto and transgender interpretations of mermaid and seahorse analogy, the film aims to highlight the empowering nature of shapeshifting transgender bodies. The material for the music and film was created in collaboration with 28 artists and transgender advocates. 21 of these collaborators identify as transgender or non-binary.

Raymonde Gaunoux is a transgender danish-north american composer, singer and multimedia artist with an MFA in Experimental Composition & Creation from The Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. As a performing and composing artist, Raymonde has for many years been engaged with representing queer and transgender narratives in music and popular culture. He is currently working within the field of mixed media, that centers transgender visibility.

Credits SAQMI Play:

This episode is in English. 

Welcome to SAQMI Play, the podcast that features queer artists, filmmakers and their work. For more information look in to SAQMIs homepage where you can see films and read more about the artists.

In this episode we feature a conversation with The Uneven production. A company co-founded by filmmaker Naures Sager and creative producer Michael Detlef, where their creative collaboration is shaped by their partnership in life and shared values. Their work centres queer SWANA perspectives, and builds a cinematic language grounded in relationality, emotional depth, and a refusal to reduce identity to stereotype. Their films carry a sense of dynamism, intimacy, humour, and vulnerability.

This fifteenth edition, curated by Anna Linder, took place at SAQMI’s headquarters Frigga in Gothenburg on May 29, 2024, and featured a screening of films followed by a live conversation with Naures and Michael, moderated by Careen Koleilat. Read more about the event here: Nightfall - Queer Talks and Screenings #15 - Naures Sager.

The films screened at the event was:

A Queer Bird in the Middle East (2024, 17 min) by Naures Sager & Michael Detlef

The uneven stands for everything that is unbalanced in society. WE SEE THE UNEVEN - IT'S TIME TO GET EVEN! Read more about the productions company The Uneven + see a lot of films, clips and documentations.

Naures Sager is an Iraqi-Swedish screenwriter, director, and producer. He earned a BA in Film Production from University West in 2008.

Together with his partner Michael Detlef, Naures co-founded The Uneven, a production company that creates films focusing on LGBTQIA+ issues and MENA characters. Naures has directed the short films 1–1 and Habib & The Thief, as well as the short documentary A Queer Bird in the Middle East. These films have toured international film festivals and have been broadcast on SVT.

Naures has received the Best Project Award at the Haugesund Film Festival. He has participated in the Talent Project Market at Berlinale and the Producers Network at the Festival de Cannes. He serves on the nomination committee for Best Short Film at Guldbaggen (2023–2025). He also worked as an assistant director to Daniel Sawka on the feature film Love and Other Diagnoses (2026). Naures has released his debut single, Mako Mithli, an iraqi queer anthem.

Michael Detlef is a Danish-German producer and production designer. He co-founded the production company 

Michael has participated in the Producer’s Network at the Cannes Film Festival, the Talent Project Market at Berlinale, and the Feature Film Program led by Film i Skåne.

He co-produced the documentary Born to Fight (2026) with Tambo Film in Denmark and worked as a junior producer on the feature film Love and Other Diagnoses (2026) at Anagram Sweden.

Careen Koleilat is a Lebanese-Palestinian trans filmmaker and artistic researcher exploring diaspora, sensory storytelling and new relations between audience and filmmaker. With 17 years of international practice and as co-founder of Blue Fox Studios, they merge film, sound, and decolonial approaches to create immersive, dialogic, and boundary-crossing film informed spaces.

Credits SAQMI Play:

This episode is in English. 

Welcome to SAQMI Play, the podcast that features queer artists, filmmakers and their work. This episode is a talk between the Swedish based artist, curator and educator Zafira Vrba Woodski and SAQMIs excellent moderator Sam Message.

The generous and funny conversation touched on several personal stories, thoughts and ideas such as Queer Love, Death, Sorrow, and Grief in the community of Trans people. What radical love can be and of course an insight into Zafira's artistic work with moving images and reflections on the films that were shown during the event. Saqmi’s queer audience is really the best ever. So many brilliant questions were asked, and so much heartwarming love was shared. Even a lot of tears were shed during the evening both on the screen and among the guests. Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to a fantastic evening. 

The conversation took place in the very packed headquarters of SAQMI in Majorna, Göteborg, 3 March 2025, and followed after the screening of Zafira’s films. The Nightfall event was curated by Anna Linder in collaboration with Zafira and included a selection of five videos between the years 2017-2021.

The conversation with Zafira Vrba Woodski and Sam Message followed Saqmi’s 17th edition of Nightfall – Queer Talks & Screenings – Zafira Vrba Woodski. You can read more about the event and the films on the site above.

Below is the program with all the titles that are mentioned in the podcast. 

Filmprogram – Zafira Vbra Woodski

Himlen är fejk (2017, 16:45 min)

Nightfall is a night of queer talks and screenings. Inviting artists to share and talk about their work and their process. Nightfall is both a showcase for finished work and a queer peer review for work in progress.

Tips and Links:

Radio RFSL - Podcast från 2024 med Zafira som gäst.

Recension av utställningen Transtillstånd i Tidningen Ångermanland. Skriven av Katarina Östholm den 27 november 2021.

Recension av utställningen Transtillstånd i Smålandsposten. Skriven av Janna Li Holmberg den 23 april 2025.

Credits SAQMI Play:

SAQMI Play is produced with support from City of Gothenburg.

This episode is in english. Scroll down for tips and links.

In this recorded talk, filmmaker Careen Koleilat reflects on over a sixteen years of their creative practice spanning from 2008 to present. Moderated by Amra Heco, the conversation navigates the layered intersections of Careen’s identity as a trans, Arab diasporic artist and how this informs their filmmaking, research, and experience within institutional structures.

The dialogue moves through themes of family, diasporic memory, displacement, and narrative form, centering a filmmaking approach that resists linearity and embraces fragmentation, embodiment, and sound. The screening program was curated by Anna Linder and included a selection of Careen’s works from the past ten years, offering a wide lens into the evolution of their artistic language.

The event was held in solidarity with Lebanon and Palestine, with donations collected throughout the evening to support grassroots relief efforts. Below you will find more about how you can help!

The conversation with Careen Koleilat and Amra Heco followed our 16th edition of Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings - Careen Koleilat.

Film Program for the Nightfall event November 21th 2024:

In Search – البحث

Carpet Session (2023, 3:56 min)

The East Rises (2024, 2:50 min)

Deduction 2.0 (Work in Progress, 2:23 min)

Water Earth Wind Fire (2014, 7:20 min)

From Where to Where – من وین لوین  

Lost Arab (2022, 4:49 min)

Total Length ca 45 min

(Short Break)

20:00 - conversation between Careen Koleilat and Amra Heco.

Nightfall is a night of queer talks and screenings. Inviting artists to share and talk about their work and their process. Nightfall is both a showcase for finished work and a queer peer review for work in progress.

Careen Koleilat (@careenkoleilat) is a Lebanese-Palestinian trans/non-binary filmmaker, academic, and creative entrepreneur. With 17 years of global experience, their work challenges narrative structures and explores diasporic storytelling, often bridging the gap between filmmaker and audience through conversation labs, sensory and sound-driven approaches. Educated in Beirut, London, and Gothenburg, Careen co-founded Blue Fox Studios, a queer-led post-production company with roots in London and Dubai. Their practice transforms the screen into a site of dialogue, inviting audiences into immersive, layered experiences that echo with both distance and closeness.

Amra Heco is a filmmaker, radio producer, and human rights activist currently teaching film at HDK-Valand. Her artistic practice explores personal memory and its connections to sites of trauma marked by the erasure of people, cultures, and natural landscapes. Oscillating between storytelling and story-making, she employs diverse technologies to create a process that becomes an act of reconciliation, recollection, and reconnection with fragmented geographic or mental memories. Through intuitive engagement with these spaces and different forms of listening to what calls to be uncovered and addressed, each process gives birth to its own methodology of practice. Each piece thus emerges as a gesture of offering, envisioning new pathways toward a collective imaginary

You can still help and support:

SUPPORT NIGHT FOR PALESTINE AND LEBANON!!!

The situation in Gaza and Lebanon is urgent, and many people need immediate help. You can support by swishing the Palestinian groups emergency fundraiser for Gaza on 1239011578 or swishing (via Careen) a local grassroots movement in Beirut on 0703115969. SAQMI will during the evening donate all income directly to the fundraisers. IF you cannot attend, you can still help by swishing these numbers. Feel free to write SAQMI Koleilat. Thanks in advance!

Credits SAQMI Play:

SAQMI Play is produced with support from City of Gothenburg.

This episode is in english. Scroll down for tips and links.

In this episode of SAQMI Play we’re diving into the world of animation, satire and world building that bridges between the animated and physical realms. Together we’re going to explore animation and its power to bring new worlds that lie long beyond our horizons to life.

The following conversation with Jeuno JE Kim and Sam Message followed our 14th edition of Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings - Animating Beyond the Horizon.

Here we asked: What does it mean when we reach into the utopian, the dystopian, beyond the real and the actual? 

The screening took place in Saqmis headquarter Frigga in Gothenburg March 20, 2024 and featured an assortment of enticing films which tickled our animation fantasies.

First out was Twosome by Mette Hansen, followed by 902 by Ville Hulling, LAMINA by Kría Rán “Bibi” Söring, Who is Gunnar? En könslig historia by Tilda Lovell, Benjamin’s flowers by Malin Erixon  and last but not least Whaled Women by Jeuno JE Kim and Ewa Einhorn.

Like i said, this conversation was part of our series Nightfall. Nightfall is a night of queer talks and screenings. Inviting artists to share and talk about their work and their process. Nightfall is both a showcase for finished work and a queer peer review for work in progress.

This edition of Nightfall was curated by Kolbrún Inga Söring and Sam Message in collaboration with Anna Linder.

So lets get stuck in with Jeuno and dig into their project Krabstadt and the processes behind it. Krabstadt is a fictional arctic borderland where nordic countries send unwanted people created by Jeuno JE Kim and Ewa Einhorn.

Visit Krabstadt here.

Jeuno Kim is a visual artist with a background in religion and feminist theology. She holds a MA from Harvard University and MFA from University of Illinois at Chicago. From 2007-2009 she worked in the Critical Studies Program at the Malmö Art Academy while exhibiting in the US, Europe,and Asia, as for example solo shows at Overgaden Center for Contemporary ArtCopenhagen and Art Sonje Center in Seoul. She has been working together with Ewa Einhorn, developing a feminist animation project Krabstadt. 

Kim is currently a BFA study leader and prorector at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and previously been a professor at the Funen Art Academy, and Senior Lecturer at the Fine Art and Craft department at HDK-Valand

Filmography Jeuno JE KIM 

Filmography, Ewa EINHORN 

Credits SAQMI Play:

SAQMI Play is produced with support from City of Gothenburg.

This episode is in english. Scroll down for tips and links.

Welcome to SAQMI Play, the podcast that features queer film makers and film making.

This episode is a discussion about Tove Pils’ documentary Labor between me, Sam Message, and film maker Tove, as well as sex worker Ruby from Red Umbrella Sweden, an organization and community for sex workers. The conversation took place following a screening of Labor at LGBTQI+ film festival Film Out West, at Hagabion in Gothenburg 2023. 

In the film we follow Hannah as she leaves her family behind to go to the city of her dreams, San Francisco, where she hopes to explore her sexuality. At a party she meets the professional dominatrix Chloe and escort Cyd. 

Throughout the documentary we follow Hannah, Cyd and Chloes journeys to gain an intimate insight into their own experiences with sex work. By following these individuals over a period of ten years the film dives deep into the lives of queer sex workers on their own terms. Through this powerful lens the film exposes the profound impact of the intense stigma surrounding sex work, both in San Fransisco and even more so within the often heated debate within the Swedish context. 

Labor premiered in 2023 at the Gothenburg Film Festival in the Nordic Documentary Competition and has been screened around the world, and won the award for best documentary at Lovers Filmfest in Torino, Italy. In their filmmaking, Tove Pils tries to create structures to investigate what she and the communities they belong to strive for. Desire is a central concept for Tove. Labor deals with sexual, economic and social desires. In all of Tove’s films, there are representations of longing for queer spaces, both external and internal. Sugar Oil Pine Water (2021) is a dreamy hybrid about the desire for queer ritual spaces. PUSH ME (2014) is about finding spaces where you can challenge your own and society’s boundaries and norms and explore sexual desires.

Labor screened in SAQMIs serie Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings as part of Film Out West LGBTQI+ Filmfestival at Hagabion in Gothenburg December 2th 2023. Participants in the talk was Sam Message (moderator), Tove Pils and Ruby. Live recording by Silas Lilo Jensen. Curator Anna Linder.

About the participants in the panel:

Ruby, trans woman, sex worker and activist who is a member of Red Umbrella Sweden, an organization and community of and for sex workers and their rights and interests. Ruby has several years of experience in sex work in Sweden and has participated in panel talks and discussions at events such as Erotisk Afton, Pride, Småland’s nation, etc. She also helped organize the first Slut Walk in Malmö and spends time on political engagement at the grassroots level to influence and change society.

Sam Message (They/them) is an artist and community organiser based in Gothenburg. In their work they explore how art & culture can be used to weave new connections between people in order to build a more inclusive society and a more sustainable LGBTQ+ community.

Nedan följer ett urval av intervjuer, recensioner och artiklar om Labor:

"There is a lot of information and organisations out there doing good work to make the situation for sex workers better. Here are some of them, but there are so many more. The US organisations are recommendations from Chloe and Cyd, plus San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival, which also has an online archive with films and videos that is worth looking up. If you live in the nordic region please look up and learn more about the organizations here. There is also a link to all members in The European Sex Worker Alliance, which we think is a great way to see what organisations exists in Europe". Tove Pils

Bay area workers support (BAWS), is a peer-led resource organization, who works for the health, safety, and livelihoods of people in the sex trade. In the face of criminalization, stigma, and inadequate resources, BAWS mobilizes. BAWS harnesses community power and builds local partnerships to provide material resources, information, and support. BAWS creates space to increase strength, justice, and love for Bay Area workers. DONATE here.

Lysistrata Cooperative (NYC based). A 150 member co-op operating nationally in the United States run by and for current/former sex workers founded in 2016. Lysistrata is best know for their 6 year ongoing Sex Worker Emergency Fund and is currently able to assist individuals with sliding scale amounts of $50-$100 depending on the specific situation/individual, availability of funds, location, and volume of requests. DONATE here.

Women with a vision (New Orleans based). Women With A Vision, Inc (WWAV) is a community-based nonprofit organization, founded in 1989 by a grassroots collective of African-American women in response to the spread of HIV/AIDS in communities of color. The mission of Women With A Vision is to improve the lives of marginalized women, their families and communities by addressing the social conditions that impede their health and well-being. We accomplish this through relentless advocacy, health education, supportive services and community-based participatory research. Women with a vision - sex work decriminalization program. DONATE here.

Utopia Washington United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance Washington (UTOPIA Washington) is a queer and trans people of color, grassroots organization born out of the struggles, challenges, strength and resilience of Queer and Trans Pacific Islander (QTPI – “Q-T-pie”) communities. Utopia Washington - Sex Worker Empowerment Initiative. DONATE here.

San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival has provided a forum for sex worker filmmakers and video makers since 1999. The festival has since expanded to become a vibrant venue for performances, workshops, visual arts, political organizing, skill-sharing, and ever-expanding events for sex workers from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and from all over the world. We proudly support our Bay Area communities as we welcome sex workers, friends, families and allies, and showcase the work of sex worker artists. The Sex Worker Festival recognizes and honors prostitutes, dancers, porn artists and other sex workers from various communities, who have been dynamic and integral members of art communities since time immemorial. Archive here. DONATE here.

PION (Norway) was established in 1990, and is a member-based interest and rights organisation, contact center and political mouthpiece for women, men and trans people who sell sexual services in Norway regardless of residence status and affiliation.

SIO (Denmark) ”Nothing about us – without us”

The Red Van (Copenhagen) is a mobile harm reduction organization for street-based sex work in Copenhagen. Our mission is to make working conditions less precarious by providing a safer space for street-based sex workers and sellers. We believe in rights, not rescue. DONATE here.

Pro-tukipiste (Finland) is an organization founded in 1990 to promote the inclusion and human rights of people working in the sex and erotic industry. We provide low-threshold support, counselling and health services as well as community activities. Our services are for anyone who works in the sex or erotic industry, offers sex against payment or has become a victim of criminal trafficking in human beings.

The Red Umbrella Film Festival (RUFF) (Dublin) is organized by current and former sex workers. Our aim is to create conversation and community around the issues sex workers face in Ireland and internationally through film. We want the voices of sex workers to be heard – in the media, on screen, in research and on the street. We believe there should be nothing about us without us. Our four-day festival in October 2023 will feature feature and short films, panel discussions, workshops and a Saturday night performance and dance party. By creating space for sex workers' stories, we hope to challenge stigma and shame, fight for our safety and self-determination, and build towards a decriminalized future. All funds raised by the festival will go towards the launch of a street-based sex worker collective. DONATE here.

Nightfall is a night of queer talks and screenings. Inviting artists to share and talk about their work and their process. Nightfall is both a showcase for finished work and a queer peer review for work in progress.

Credits SAQMI Play:

SAQMI Play is produced with support from The Swedish Arts Council and City of Gothenburg.

Welcome to SAQMI Play, the podcast that features queer filmmakers and filmmaking. This episode is a talk between the Swedish based filmmaker and sometimes actor Alecio Araci and Saqmi's own hostee Sam Message. The conversation took place in a packed Saqmi’s headquarter in Majorna in Göteborg and followed the screening of Alecio Araci's trilogy consisting of the short films Chavo, Mami and Lil tuke – all of them focusing on queer Roma experiences and dealing with themes such as sorrow, forgiveness, oppression, coping and traditions. In this episode of SAQMI Play we are also digging into Alecio Araci’s love for splatter and horror movies, camp, the burlesque and bizarre with some clips from a work-in-progress gore splatter comedy/mockumentary, partly shot on Super 8. 

This episode is a recording of the event Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings #12 which took place at SAQMI May 17, 2023.

More about the films mentioned in the podcast:

Chavo (Swedish title: Tjena tjavo) is the opening film in a trilogy of short films in a Roma setting that deals with topics such as identity, sexuality, origin and the burden that can occur when these parameters do not match.

Short synopsis (eng/sve):

Tommys grill är en mötesplats för den romska gemenskapen. Här samlas en tajt sammansvuren men brokig skara människor för att äta och snacka gott. När en ensam ung man besöker restaurangen en kväll sätter ryktena igång och Tommy tvingas tillbaka till traumatiska minnen.

Tjena tjavo vill öppna upp en diskussion om identitet, sexualitet, ursprung och bördan som kan uppstå när dessa parametrar inte klaffar. Men Tjena tjavo är också en film med många allmänmänskliga teman - att misslyckas som förälder, försoning efter ett svek, att våga lämna sin invanda världsbild och bilda sin egen uppfattning, att ta ansvar för sina felsteg och våga återvända till livet efter en stor sorg.

Facts: Original title: Tjena tjavo. Film type: Short. Category: Fiction. Director: Alecio Araci. Producers: Alicia Hansen & Bitte Andersson. Screenplay: Alecio Araci. Production country: Sweden. Production company: French Quarter Film AB. Classification: Suitable for all audiences. Dialogue: Swedish & Romany. Cast: Michell Tatter Alfredsson, Ado Mehic Dzafic, Rosmari Kaldaras, Ardijan Bunjoshi, Paul Dandos, Philip Torres Örning.

Extra:

Jaj de sostar Dadeja, tu chi kames man?

Jaj le bare Devlestar, kasavo kerdjilem me

Pala mande chungaren, vi man kushen

Chira mesaljate majbut le Rom chi aven te beshen

Andi ushalin dud naj, o korkoripe but dukhal

Sovavtar, pale chi ushtav

Söndag morgon, min sol mörknade.

Pappa, varför älskar du inte mig?

Den stora Guden skapade mig såhär

De bespottar mig och även svär mig

Inga romer kommer längre och sitter vid ditt bord

I skuggan finns inget ljus. Ensamheten gör så ont

Jag somnar, jag vaknar inte igen

Mami which in Romany means grandmother is the second film in the trilogy and is told from the point of view of an elderly matriarch. The film is shown as a “work in progress”.

Mami betyder farmor eller mormor på romani och det är just kring denna personlighet som filmen kretsar.

Mami är överhuvudet i familjen. Matriarken. Hon är den som vakar över och månar om. Hon är den som bestämmer och den som skyddar. Den som oroar sig och innerligt bryr sig. Hennes ord väger starkast i en osämja och familjemedlemmar skulle aldrig drömma om att sätta sig upp mot hennes förhållningsregler.

Lil tuke means “A letter to you” in Romany and is the final film in the trilogy. In short, it is about secret relationships and being able to move on after an indescribably difficult loss.

Lil tuke betyder "Ett brev till dig" på romani och är den avslutande filmen i trilogin. Den handlar i korta drag om hemlighållna relationer och att orka gå vidare efter en obeskrivligt svår förlust.

ENGELSKA (from the dialogue)

SVENSKA (från dialogen)

ROMANI

During the evening, Alecio screened some archive material filmed on Super 8, which now forms the basis for the development of a feature length mockumentary.

Listen to Alecio in a radio interview for Radio Romano about Tjena tjavo. Published January 31 2023 by Margrethe Balok.

Nightfall is a night of queer talks and screenings. Inviting artists to share and talk about their work and their process. Nightfall is both a showcase for finished work and a queer peer review for work in progress.

Credits SAQMI Play:

SAQMI Play is produced with the support from The Swedish Arts Council and City of Gothenburg.

Äntligen är SAQMI Play tillbaka med ännu en episod om queer svensk filmhistoria. Denna gång får ni möta regissörerna Nina Bergström och Sander C. Neant Falk i ett generöst samtal kring arbetet med filmen som de gjorde tillsammans. Filmen blev legendarisk och var den första lesbiska dokumentären som gick upp på svenska biografer över hela landet. De var unga eldsjälar som stred för sin film, de åkte på världsturné, vann priser och de blev arbetströtta. Följ med in i ett härligt rum av skratt och glädje kring en snart 30 år gammal film som håller än i dag.

Den 3 maj 2022 bjöd SAQMI och Doc Lounge in till nypremiären av Sveriges första lesbiska dokumentärfilm - Väninnor - Berättelser från garderoben!

Om filmen Väninnor - berättelser från Garderoben:

De är fem kvinnor i åldrarna 60 till 85 år och de är lesbiska. De har levt med rädslan att vara annorlunda och med risken att förskjutas av vänner, släktingar och arbetskamrater.

I åratal har de smugit med sina känslor; dubbelliv har varit deras vardag. Någon av dem har aldrig tidigare talat om sin homosexualitet ens med sina närmaste. Med stark närvaro och sprängkraft berättar de fem kvinnorna om sina liv och om sin förbjudna kärlek. Tidstypisk musik, pressklipp, arkivbilder och privata fotografier illustrerar deras berättelser i denna varmt innerliga dokumentärfilm.

Väninnor hyllades av kritikerkåren när den fick sin premiär under mitten av 90-talet, men har sedan dess varit otillgänglig för publiken. Nu har filmen äntligen digitaliserats och får lov att återta den framskjutna plats i queerhistorien den så väl förtjänar. Filmen har digitaliserats med stöd av Svenska Filminstitutet.

Om de medverkande (English):

”I wasn’t homosexual. No, I was just an odd sort, always falling in love with girls, or women. That was all” 

KERSTIN was born in 1926 in Stockholm. She worked as a schoolteacher for almost 40 years, until 1981, when she changed career and was ordained priest in the Swedish Church. Almost all her life Kerstin has managed to keep her relationships with women secret from both friends and relatives.

”We belittle God when we think He forbids some people to love eachother. Love closeness and understanding is something we all need, and you shrink as a human being if you don’t have someone to love.

ELLEN was born in 1932 in Germany. She was brought up in a danish fosterhome during the war. Elen and her foster-sister, Ulla, fell in love with each other. Their relationship lasted for 40 years, even though Ellen had a child, got married and moved to Sweden.

”It wasn’t love in my case. He didn’t love me either, for that matter. What I wanted was to secure my child’s future; economically.”

BOEL was born in 1933 and brought up in an intellectual milieu in Stockholm. Early in life she married the man she loved. In the seventies Boel got involved with the women’s movement. It was during that time she met women who lived a lesbian life.

”People are inclined to see us as cousins or sisters, instead of lovers. That is probably because women generally don’t count as sexual beings, other than in relation to men.

ABBE was born in 1925 in the swedish countryside and brought up in a strictly religious fosterhome. Abbe always knew she was different. Loneliness, longing and self-loathing was part of her everyday life for years, until she finally met other women who was ”like that”.

”Then they were going to have a meeting… Women like that, only. In one place! And I thought – Oh my God, how will that look like? What on earth have I gotten myself into!?”

Fakta om filmen:

Biografier:

Filmografi: 1996 – Väninnor – berättelser från garderoben – dokumentärfilm, 2003 – Open Dance Company – videoverk,  2005 – Elias den lille redningsskøyta – tv serie, 2006 – Slipp jimmy fri – bio film, 2007 – Elias og Kongeskipet – bio film, 2007 – Knerten og Lillebror – bio film, 2008 – Elias – tv serie, 2009 – Alias Belle Gunnes  – videoverk, 2010 – Trolljegeren – bio film, 2012 – Blekkulf – tv serie, 2016 – Pappa – dokumentärfilm, 2019 – Tori Wrånes – videoverk, 2022 – Who Do We Think We Are – tv serie (in progress).

Extra tips för er som vill veta mer om lesbisk filmhistoria:

Filmen visades som en del av SAQMI:s serie Cherry Pic, nummer 4 i ordningen, och anordnades tillsammans med Doc Lounge Göteborg. Visningen presenterades i samarbete med Göteborgs Stad, Västra Götalandsregionen, Folkteatern, FilmCloud och ABF.

"Cherry Pic är kvällen som framhäver de lokala pärlorna och dammar av de nationella klassikerna. I denna serie visar vi er de svenska queerfilmerna ni absolut måste se.

Credits SAQMI Play:

I sin första dokumentärfilm; Väninnor – berättelser från garderoben som gjordes tillsammans med Nina Bergström 1996 porträtterade Sander C. Neant Falk lesbiska i åldrarna 60 till 85 år. Filmen blev den första lesbiska dokumentären som gick upp på svenska biografer. I nästa dokumentär satte Sander videokameror i händerna på queera tonåringar som filmade sina liv. Det blev guldbaggebelönade Du ska nog se att det går över. En pärla till film, som numera går att se via bibliotekens streamingsajt Cineasterna.

I det här avsnittet av SAQMI Play möter vi Sander C. Neant Falk, dokumentärfilmare, klippare, konstnär och pedagog verksam sedan 90-talet efter utbildning på filmskolan ESRA i Paris och dokumentärfilm på Biskops Arnö Nordens Folkhögskola i ett samtal med Malin Holgersson och Anna Linder.

Biografi:

Filmografi: 1996 – Väninnor - berättelser från garderoben - dokumentärfilm, 2003 - Du ska nog se att det går över, dokumentärfilm, 2010 - Your Mind is Bigger than All the Supermarkets in the World, dokumentärfilm, 2011 - Nine Speeches on Violence by Three Wise Men, konstfilm, The Cleansing Ceremony med Nya Konstnärsklubben, 2018-

Väninnor - berättelser från garderoben, 1996, 53 min

Awards:

"Finns du tjej som dras till både killar och tjejer?" Som fjortonåring satte regissören Cecilia Neant-Falk in en kontaktannons i tidningen OKEJ 1985. Det kom svar från hela landet. Femton år senare satte hon in samma annons igen. My, Joppe och Natalie var tre av de 80 tjejer som svarade...

"Du ska nog se att det går över" har spelats in under 4 år och är resultatet av ett unikt projekt med material direkt från tonårsgarderobens dunklaste vrår. My, Joppe och Natalie har låst dörren, slagit på kameran och berättat allt. Om mamma och pappa som inget vet, om NO-läraren som säger att det är fel i generna på homosexuella, om att bo i ett samhälle där alla vet allt om alla. Om Fucking Åmål, fast på riktigt! Om att växa upp som homoagent i en heterovärld.

Filmen är ett djärvt collage av tekniker och medier som DV-cam, gamla arkivbilder och Super 8 vilka ackompanjeras av ett digert soundtrack med artister som Stina Nordenstam, Ani Di Franco och Eva Dahlgren. Åskådaren bjuds in i ett brokigt tonårs-landskap av rädsla, ilska, utanförskap, men framförallt av mod och lust. Det handlar om att våga lita till sin egen vilja och känsla. Att ta den på allvar även när det betyder att trotsa omgivningen och dess konventioner.

Awards:

YOUR MIND IS BIGGER THAN ALL THE SUPERMARKETS IN THE WORLD - Some guidance for a lost Westerner, 2010, 73 min

2004 reser regissören och konstnären Cecilia Neant Falk till Nilambe Buddhist Meditation Centre på Sri Lanka, där hon möter meditationsläraren Upul Nishanta Gamage. Sedan dess har Cecilia återvänt till Nilambe varje år, alltid med kamera och mikrofon. Det pågående samtalet mellan Cecilia och Upul, som äger rum varje eftermiddag kl. 16.30 tar oss med på en existentiell resa. 

Här får Cecilias frågor – om rastlöshet, tid, minne, relationer, lycka, depression, Upuls jordnära svar från ett buddhistiskt filosofiskt perspektiv. Deras röster ackompanjeras av det tropiska landskapets fåglar och insekter i en rofylld filmsekvens med en skog, ett berg och en trädgård.

Your Mind is Bigger than all the Supermarkets in the World är en 73 minuters stillsam resa där den största dramatiken är de tankegångar som sätts igång inom betraktaren. En film som ger energi och öppnar sinnet för nya tankebanor.

 "Som i en själslig dusch kliver jag in i salongen där Neant Falks film visas, låter ögat vila mot den grönskande bergssluttningen. Jag hör vindens sus och ser ett grässtrå beröras av en pust, i fjärran en bil som letar sig fram längs bergets fot. Genom Upul Nishantas lugna ord hör jag snart också något mer: mina egna djupa andetag, påminns om min egen puls. Tillsammans med den övriga publiken delar jag en stunds vila och med ny höjd i tankarna möter jag världen utanför igen.” Joakim Rindå

Extra material:

Sveriges Radio - Människor och tro: Kvartsamtal med Cecilia Neant Falk. Publicerat fredag 5 februari 2010 kl 15.48.

Credits SAQMI Play:

This episode is in Swedish

I det här avsnittet av SAQMI Play möter vi BlatteQueers i en inspelning från den 17 november 2021 på Bio Valand i Göteborg. Samtalet ägde rum efter filmvisningen Queer Evidens och Bipoc Existens, som arrades av SAQMI under vinjetten Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings, SAQMIs plattform där queera filmskapare och konstnärer möts genom visningar och samtal kring processer och skapande. 

Under kvällen visades kortfilmer och panelen djupdök i ett samtal om att ta plats och existera som queera BIPOC personer i film och audiovisuella berättelser. Om hur filmaktivism uttrycks och visionen för ett inkluderande filmsverige.

Curator och moderator för urval och samtal är Tine Alavi och deltagarna i samtalet är Ese Ejodame, Lisa Nagano Holm, Lasmi Belmar och Jon Ely Xiuming Aagaard Gao.

Om BlatteQueers i film:

BlatteQueers i film också kallad BQ i film är ett projekt av Interfem som riktar sig till HBTQI+ personer med erfarenheter av rasism där film är ett centralt fokus i projektet. Målet med BlatteQueers i film är att skapa  bredare representation och inkludering i filmbranschen. 

Historia: 

2016 lanserade BlatteQueers i film ett skolfilmspaket bestående av tre kortfilmer som riktade sig till skolelever. Filmerna har använts av både Amphi produktion och Mix festivalen i Köpenhamn genom deras skolfilmsutbud. 

Under 2020-2021 har BQ i film hållit nätverksträffar och evenemang samt gjort fyra kampanjfilmer som riktar sig till aktörer i filmbranschen, filmbolag och bidragsgivare. Vidare handlar BQ i film om att HBTQI+ personer som har erfarenheter av rasism och som är verksamma i filmbranschen kan träffas, utbyta erfarenheter och kunskap, skapa nätverk – och samarbeta för att göra film. 

* Namnet BlatteQueers i film kan förkortas till ”BQ i film” för målgrupper som inte utsätts för rasism. Namnet BlatteQueers kan upplevas både provocerande och stärkande. Blatte är och har varit ett ord som använts för att förtrycka personer som blir eller riskerar att bli utsatta för rasism. Queer är ett begrepp som också har använts förtryckande mot homo- och bisexuella, trans- och queera personer. Det är också begrepp som personer själva valt att definiera sig med och använda för att ta makt över sina egna liv. Deltagare behöver inte definiera sig med begreppen blatte och queer för att vara med i projektet, så länge erfarenheterna passar in på beskrivningen ovan.

Om de medverkande i samtalet:

Ese Ejodame är en ickebinär queer filmregissör. Hen arbetar huvudsakligen med ämnen som är HBTQIA-relaterade, våld som utförs av andra än cis-män samt psykisk ohälsa. Ese har en kandidat i Filmisk Gestaltning på HDK-Valand i Göteborg.

Jon Ely Xiuming Aagaard Gao är poet och konstnär som arbetar med text på alla sätt och vis, foto, film, zines, performance, queera handlingar och interaktioner, typ? Enligt läsare skriver hen bland annat hyperintensivtinyourfacekärleks-dikter. Hen är också en del av transzinet drömsyskon och konst- och klubbkollektivet fake daughter.

Lisa Nagano Holm är regissör för dokumentärfilmen Rasuul.

Lasmi Belmar är utbildad på Ölands dokumentär filmskola och agerar främst regissör. Hon har deltagit i festivaler som stockmotion och Malmö Queer Filmfestival. Queerhet och etnicitet är ett ämne som hon tillsammans med lisa har bearbetat ett tag. Dessa tankar kommer att ta form och uttryck med filmen Rasuul.

Läs mer om alla filmerna som visades under Nightfall #8 här.

Nedan finns länkar till alla filmer som gjorts inom BlatteQueers i film mellan åren 2015-2022:

ALIKI, 2016, Längd 17:20 min.

Övriga filmer som visades under Nightfall #8:

Jon Ely Xiuming Aagaard Gao - A Letter to Myself or the Gender Clinic or White People

Credits SAQMI Play:

SAQMI Play produceras med stöd av Kulturrådet och Göteborgs stad.