photos: Frank R. Schröder.
When I entered the main stage of the Sopiensaele theater on Wednesday evening and saw the three performers of Olympia Bukkakis’ new production “replay” twirling around in a set of silky white and translucent fabrics hanging from the ceiling like clouds I thought to myself: This must be a queer version of heaven.
The piece poses the question: What would happen if a drag queen and two non-binary performers would take charge? It would be a world where women like Breonna Taylor and Mahsa Amini would never be forgotten. A world where people from different backgrounds learn from each other in harmony. Where local drag queens get recognition before international pop stars. Where someone could break out in a Britney performance at any given moment. Where empathy, reflection, humor, and kindness are practiced with grace.
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by Frank | Theater
Just the other week, on July 22nd, we celebrated the Dyke* March in Berlin.
Yes, the parade is the ultimate paradise for lesbians but it’s also a demonstration to show the world that we exist and that we are here proudly celebrating who we are and the community that we have been building for decades from the shadow. “Look over here, look over there, lesbians are everywhere!”
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by Guest Author | Events, Stories
The last weekend was full of queer joy for us with several pride parades and queer parties going on. It felt a bit like Christmas for the LGBTQIA+ community and there was something going on for every sub-group. This year, we not only visited the main pride on Saturday but also the Dyke* March on Friday and the Internationalist Pride that happened on Saturday evening at Hermannplatz. Both of these were pretty much in contrast to the main Pride parade, but nonetheless what stood out was the smiling faces and happiness of all the queer people who joined. And that makes us very happy. Because queer joy matters so much – it’s the rebellion, the antidote, the protest against discrimination, hate, prejudice, prosecution, and inequality.
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by Frank | Events, Party, Photos
As some of you already know we are right in the middle of our new group exhibition Fantastic Playground Berlin that you can still visit until Saturday at the Marcell von Berlin Flagship Store on Friedrichstraße 172. We have been planning this show for a long time now and we still can’t believe that it finally materialized, and it looks so much more amazing than we ever could have wished for.
This exhibition is really special to us because for the first time we had a theme that allowed us to create something like a retrospective of our work for iHeartBerlin for the past 15 years. Berlin is a playground of ideas – this has always been an important theme for us as we featured all these wonderful and inspiring projects from different creative scenes that make up Berlin. It’s so diverse and fun and colorful. To us, it’s the essence of Berlin and why this city is so special. It feels like everyone can find their space on this wild playground.
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by Frank | Art, Events, Party, Photos
photos: Fruit Salat Films and Weisse Maus.
Step into a time machine of the senses and transport yourself back a century to the “Goldener Zwanziger” or the Golden Twenties, of Weimar Berlin. Let yourself be intoxicated by the decadence of the smoky and sweet Berliner Luft, and pay homage to the legendary Weisse Maus. From the creative minds behind The House of Red Doors and some of Berlin’s finest performance artists, chefs, musicians, and sommeliers, comes Die Weisse Maus 2022.
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by Adri | Events, Food
photo: Outsiders, directed by Hannah Cauhépé.
Berlin is known around the world for its big movie festival Berlinale, but there are other great initiatives that promote less mainstream movies and amplify important voices. One of such events is the Soura Film Festival, the third edition of which will happen at the end of this month. Taking place at Oyoun from the 21st until the 24th of October, Soura Film Festival presents a daring selection of films by queer artists from the SWANA (South West Asia & North Africa) region.
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by Michalina | Events, Movies
In Berlin leftist graffiti dominates the streets. Unless you venture far enough into Pankow, which I cannot recommend, you’ll likely only find posters, street art, stickers, and graffiti that match Berlin’s politics: left-wing, queer, and pro-reproductive rights. Less than a two-hour drive away in Poland, it’s an entirely different story. There’s a Polish joke that goes: “if you’re standing on the street and there’s an anti-abortion poster behind your back and you don’t see one in front of you, it means you’ve reached the border.”
Since 1993, abortion has been illegal in Poland except in cases of fetal abnormalities, a serious risk to the life or health of the pregnant person, or rape or incest. In October 2020, the country’s Constitutional Tribunal struck the first of those–fetal abnormalities–from the list of permitted cases. And although this law only came into effect in January 2021, hospitals began refusing people last fall. Contraception is available in Poland but can be refused on the grounds of a “consciousness clause,” meaning medical staff can deny access based on their beliefs.
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by Adri | Stories
photo: ARD Degeto/Andrea Hansen.
When I look around the TV landscape of recent years I feel quite happy that there are so many shows right now representing LGBTQIA+ people and issues, and that they are no longer just minor storylines of side characters but they’ve also become the center of attention. When I grew up the only show there was Queer As Folk and not much else in the decades after, so no matter if you liked it or not, it was a must-watch and highlight for gay guys at the time.
To see a fully gay show as the first thing on the main page of the ARD Mediathek (German’s major public TV channel) felt really good today, I have to say. I was half expecting they would hide it somewhere in the archive and you would have to search for it, but no, it’s pretty in your face. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think All You Need really is the first German TV show exclusively dealing with gay men as the main characters and getting such a prime spot. And I think the show really deserves to be put in the limelight – it’s a great-looking show, with likable characters and a solid story. A lot of the people involved have done a really good job and a warmly recommend watching.
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by Frank | TV
A new trailer for the highly anticipated queer movie Boy Meets Boy has been released before the film’s world premiere at BFI Flare: London LGBTQI+ Film Festival this month. Directed by Daniel Sánchez López, we embark on a love story that sparkles between two guys on a dance floor and turns into a one-day-adventure on the streets of Berlin.
“The contrasts in their lives and values force each one to confront their own truths. Boy Meets Boy is a feature-length mumblecore about the journey of a brief encounter: the mark left by a fleeting moment of joy.”, the official synopsis says.
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by Burak | Movies
Even though queer people are an integral part of the performing arts all around the world, their careers are in danger when it comes to coming out and they are advised to stay in the closet to keep their roles. We now embrace a new revolutionary move from 185 actors and actresses in Germany, who collectively came out as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, or nonbinary with their #actout Manifesto.
185 cultural workers came out in the SZ-Magazin to create a revolution. They want to fight against stereotyping, discrimination, and hiding. Even in today’s Germany, where being queer is widely tolerated, granted protection, and civil rights, certain groups still feel hesitant to come out for various reasons. As Markus Ulrich, the spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany (LSVD) reports, homosexual actors are often not trusted to play heterosexual roles authentically. The idea is that a heterosexual actor can pull up a queer character if he is feminine enough or she is butch enough, obeying anticipated stereotypical portrayals of LGBTQ+ people. But a queer person can only act in queer roles. Ulrike Folkers, known for her role in Tatort Ludwigshafen reports, “I was cast for a mother role, but when the director found out that I was a lesbian, she turned me down. That’s discrimination. Of course, I can play a mother.” She asks “How does it feel when you can’t show yourself off on the red carpet with the woman you love? What roles does a non-binary person dream of? And how does the television, film, and theater industry have to change?”.
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by Burak | People, Stories
