DIVINE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL 2024
EIGHTH EDITION OF THE INDEPENDENT QUEER FILM FESTIVAL OF TURIN, DEDICATED TO PIPPA BACCA, ITALIAN ARTIST FAMOUS FOR ‘SPOSA IN VIAGGIO’ PERFORMANCE
MAY 17-18-19, 2024, VIA BALTEA 3 – TURIN
Torino, the city of culture, history, with incredible contradictions and long-standing hearth of Italian queer movements, once again hosts the Divine Queer Film Festival (DQFF). The independent and international festival, enriched with struggle for rights and stands against all discriminations, is ready this year as well to narrate stories of courage, determination, and resistance. DQFF has for years chosen to take place in the Barriera neighborhood of Torino, specifically in the location of the community hub at Via Baltea 3, to explore the fluctuating themes of gender identities, disabilities, and migrations. DQFF takes place in this less mainstream location, using by the cinematic language to break down all discriminations. Cinema thus becomes an opportunity for information, communication, and education on themes that still today (and especially today) become objects of prejudice and marginalization.
Admission to screenings is for free in a barrier-free place, and films are subtitled in Italian and for the deaf audience.
The 2024 edition’s opening will be with the performance of FILO SOTTILE and the movie RED SHOES – IL FIGLIO DEL BOSS
The opening night on Friday, May 17, coinciding not by chance, with the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Bi-phobia, will feature Filo Sottile on stage at 20:30, an artist who uses writing and theatre as a form of political activism by assembling words, reflections, perspectives, and songs in her performance titled Volano gli stracci.
Following this, at 21:15, the film Red Shoes – Il figlio del boss will be screened, the true story of Daniela Lourdes Falanga, a trans woman and the only child of a Camorra boss who, through countless obstacles, sufferings, and humiliations, manages to become the person she has always wanted to be since childhood. The protagonist will be present in the auditorium along with the director of the movie, Isabella Weiss.
The 2024 edition of DQFF is dedicated to Pippa Bacca
The pseudonym of Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, Pippa Bacca was an Italian artist who embarked on the path of performative arts in 1997. On March 8, 2008, on the occasion of International Women’s Rights Day, she set out with Silvia Moro for the performance “Bride on a Journey” hitch-hiking through 11 countries victims of conflicts, by wearing a wedding dress to promote peace and trust. The destination was Palestine: Pippa Bacca and Silvia Moro crossed Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria to reach Turkey on March 20, 2008. In Istanbul, the two artists separated: on that occasion, and unfortunately a few days after the world discovered that Pippa Bacca was raped and killed by a man who had given her a ride, and he was convicted four years later.
Pippa Bacca’s femicide shocked both Italy and Turkey, bringing attention back to the issue of male violence against women and war, brutally current themes that we aim to deconstruct through our commitment, the selected films, and related activities.
This year’s coordinated image, created by Vito Raimondi, illustrates a detail of Pippa Bacca washing the feet of a midwife in Belgrade, during the performance “Bride on a Journey” in March 2008, against a background that evokes connections, the journey between distant yet interconnected places by the horrors of wars, against a colourful background reminiscent of the green of hope. The documentary “I Fell in Love with Pippa Bacca” directed by Simone Marinetti will be screened on Saturday, May 18, at 21:00, offering a detailed reconstruction of the “Brides on a Journey” performance, emphasizing its pacifist, unifying, and communicative aspect among different people. Antonia Giuseppina Beatrice Pasqualino di Marineo, Pippa’s sister, will be in the theater and share with the public her ideas and memories.
The closing ceremony
The last evening of DQFF24 on Sunday, May 19, starting at 19:30, will feature the screening of the film Nicola – Cozze, Kebab & Coca-Cola directed by Antonio Palumbo, which tells the story of Antonio, a filmmaker running out of ideas until he has a vision of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of the city of Bari, who asks him to make a film about his true story, seizing the opportunity to embark on a long journey in the footsteps of the myth, wandering amidst a crucible of cultures and popular traditions, colours, and religious rigour, united together with the aim of delineating a sacred figure that has also become a consumerist model.
The Debate
The current Italian political situation, characterized by significant and continuous restrictions on freedoms, self-determination, and human rights, along with the increasing number of femicides and the increasingly substantial attack on abortion rights, not only inspired the choice of Pippa Bacca as the figure to dedicate this edition of the Divine Queer Film Festival to but also highlighted the need to confront and listen to the voices of those who personally experience discrimination and oppression. On Saturday, May 18, at 18:00, there will be a debate conducted by activists from Non Una di Meno Torino, who will delve into the aforementioned themes and address, with an intersectional perspective, the impact of language on gender violence and the role of violence and language in the press.
The Contest
The 17 films in competition, coming from Albania, Belgium, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Hungary, and the USA, will be screened in the afternoons of Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19.
The Awards
There will be four awards for the films in competition. The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 19, at 20:15.
Jury Award – composed of the Turin-based artist and director Monica Affatato, the set designer, costume designer, and protagonist of the film “The Fabulous Ones” Antonia Iaia, the activist and honorary President of Maurice GLBTQ Gigi Malaroda, the visual artist, photographer, and videomaker Deka Mohamed, and the Director of the Higher School for Language Mediators of Turin, Unicollege, Giosuè Prezioso.
Audience Award – voted on by the audience in the theatre hall.
Divine Award – conferred by the artistic direction of the Divine Queer Film Festival.
All the awards will be created by Artemista, a social centre for disabled people in Stranaidea.
In addition to the aforementioned awards, there is the Arci/Ucca Award, conferred both by the Torino section of Arci, to which the Taksim association (the festival organizer) is affiliated, and by UCCA – Union of Cinematographic Circles of Arci. The award will be presented on Friday, May 24, 2024, at the MalaErba space of Anomalia Teatro, at Via Verres 4 in Turin, in the presence of representatives of the associations, but the winning film will be announced during the award ceremony on Sunday, May 19.
CROWDFUNDING
The Festival, the result of voluntary work, aims to continue allowing all interested individuals to access screenings for free. With the crowdfunding campaign on Produzioni dal Basso, we aim to raise funds to ensure free access to all screenings, support the costs of Italian subtitling and for the deaf community, cover travel and accommodation expenses for guest directors, and cover SIAE-related (copyrights) fees. By contributing to the fundraising campaign, you will support the Divine Queer Film Festival, and in return for a donation, you can receive a reward such as the Divine bag produced by Maledicola, a unique piece of social craftsmanship made by Artemista, or a fabulous brunch on Via Baltea. To contribute to the crowdfunding campaign via bank transfer or PayPal, the details are available on the website at this link:
https://www.produzionidalbasso.com/project/divine-queer-film-festival-2024/