In 2005 there comes to our minds an idea of organizing a conference researching a phase which queer theory in Poland and Germany reaches in the moment. A co-author is Mirko Gust from Leipzig , Germany, who just finished his studies in Cracow, Poland. Since we come from Lodz and Leipzig, two cities from post-soviet areas, we’d like to prepare two simoultanous events in two countries, in order to compare the situation and consider functioning of queer theory. We entitle the conference “On the politics of body and desire in audiovisual culture”. We’ll figure it out later, that it means something different in Poland and Germany.
The conference is about to go together with screenings of few movies: we meditate on titles, cinemas, possibly we could just present a few features in any big room in the University of Lodz. Someone is eager to discuss the matter with cinemas. We think about side places and programmes. Me and Mirko meet with Colin de la Motte-Sherman from Berlin, who provides us with a priceless gift - a list of contact datas. We write an email to Paul Lee - a director, producer, distributor and curator from Canada. After a while we receive a reply - I know how the situation of LGBT people in Poland look like, I would be pleased to help you with preparing movie programmes. After two months we get 7 sets made of 21 films - the directors agreed for screening them for free. So out of a sudden we have over 10 hours of interesting material. We decide to extend our basic idea. We are establishing a festival!
Since then it is not that easy any more.
Every festival - as everybody knows - has a budget. If we want our festival to have it as well, we need to start writing applications. We seek among Polish and German cultural institutions. All of them remain silent. Polish branch of a Producer of Expensive Alcohol, which declares itself all around the world as gay-friendly, replies, that the festival “is contrary to the politics of the company”. Others write, that they are indeed interested, but “previous obigations do not allow them for this year cooperation”. In Germany the reactions are pretty much the same with one but significant difference - we are getting donated by Kulturstiftung des Bundes. Polish cultural institutions turn us away empty-handed - formal mistake or no explanation at all.
Every festival - as everybody knows - is supported by media patrons. We write applications. In order not to end up in a gay closet, we head to nation-wide medias, which we consider as interested. They react in different ways: some are anthusiastic from the beggining, some would even like to work together, but they can not because of limited space of a sheet of paper or air time, others, as one of an Important Movie Magazine, says openly (after two months of delaying the answer): “the editor-in-chief is not interested in this (here sublime but signigicant “haha”) matter”. We thought the magazine in most of all interested in good movies, but apparently we were wrong. One of a Big Nation-wide Radio Station claims, that it can not be a patron, but is eageer to mention about the festival “if there anything interesting happens”. No reason to explain what they mean by it. Apart from these few exeptions we are welcomed with fondness and will to cooperate.
Every festival - as everybody knows - has a name. We entitle our child the 1st International Queer Film Festival in Lodz and Leipzig “a million different loves!?”. We decide to use a word “queer” rather then “gay and lesbian”, not because we are not interested in the gay and lesbians issues (we are!). Firstly, the range of meaning of “queer” is much wider, it deals with a matter of strangeness and gender/sexual exclusion in society in wide context. Secondly, we don’t want to create stable and unchangable indentity based on strictly defined sexual orientation. We just want to show a million different loves.
And so the festival beggins…..
Paweł Sołodki & Dagmara Rode
