Saturday, June 15, 2024

Waves of Love (QWOCFF Centerpiece)

“Waves of Love” shorts program (QWOCFF 2024 Saturday Centerpiece Screening)
Saturday, June 15, 2024, 7:00 PM, Presidio; total run time: 90 minutes
all films are fully open captioned in English, with audio description available
⚠️Content Warning: several of the films have content warnings; see below
 Rachel and Raha by Nedda Sarshar, 2023 Canada, 16 min., in Spanish, Farsi and English πŸ‘

An Iranian woman lies opposite a Latinx woman with a shaved head, both gazing upwards with nostalgic expressions.
Rachel and Raha
Latinx and Iranian ex-best friends converge in a tidal wave of surprise.

Bio: Nedda Sarshar is an emerging Irani-Canadian filmmaker who centers queer women of color and immigrant families.

Rachel and Raha went to high school together, but then Raha moved away and didn’t keep in touch. Now she’s back for a visit. The sexual tension builds steadily: will they rekindle their friendship into something more? Highly recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker [note: https is not working; use http] • Twitter: @antoinedda • Instagram: @nedsjan • Facebook • preview • watch online [caution: unvetted website] •
La Lectura by Nova Duarte Martinez, 2024 USA, 10 min., in English and Spanish πŸ‘

Two young Latina teens share a sweet and tender kiss.
La Lectura
A Latina teen navigates a revealing tarot reading with her Abuela.

⚠️Content Warning: Coming out

Bio: Nova Duarte Martinez is a lesbian filmmaker from Alaska currently studying cinema at City College of San Francisco.

Abuela (grandmother) does a tarot reading for her teenage granddaughter, touching on something she’s been keeping a secret. She finally confides the truth in her abuela, who surprises her with her reaction. Highly recommended.

• IMDb • TMDB • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @NovaDuarteMartinez • Facebook • preview • watch on YouTube •
w(HO) by Candace Ho, 2022 USA, 5 min. πŸ‘

A hand holding a blue branding iron burns the word “HO” onto a plank of wood.
w(HO)
An Asian woman fords turbulent waters growing up with the last name Ho.

⚠️Content Warning: Bullying, Racism, Strong Language

Bio: Candace Ho is a Taiwanese American filmmaker based in Los Angeles who received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

Kids will make fun of almost any name, but some names just leap out in that regard. This film is a well-done exploration of the impact of having a name that kids incessantly ridicule. Highly recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @CandyHo • Facebook • preview • other •
Would You Be Down to Study Sometime? by Sofia Fabio Mendieta, 2024 USA, 4 min., no dialogue πŸ’–
A close up of two people of color leaning in for a kiss, with colorful rays of light radiating from the space between their lips.
Would You Be Down
to Study Sometime?

A shy Asian girl adrift in her studies finds an inspiration beyond books.

Bio: Sofia (Fabio) Mendieta is a Native artist from Chicago and dreams of a better world for QTBIPOC through art.

There is no dialogue at all, but sometimes a glance can speak volumes, especially in a library. It’s funny, sweet, and poignant, definitely a MUST SEE.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @Fine.Fab.Art • Facebook • preview • other •
Nice to See You by Caitlin Barlow, 2024 USA, 4 min. 🫀

A young Latina woman with a bun and nose ring laughs cheerfully with a friend.
Nice to See You
A Latina’s cafΓ© shift bubbles over into an uncomfortable walk home.

⚠️Content Warning: Unwanted attention

Bio: Caitlin Barlow is a Chicago based filmmaker with interest in cinematography and editing.

This one really didn’t make sense to me at all. We start with a repetitive series of scenes in the cafΓ©, with the main character taking orders, wiping down tables, and other ordinary tasks. Then there is a “blink and you miss it” encounter outside the cafΓ©, lacking any context. If I hadn’t read the program description, I wouldn’t have known that it was a walk home, much less an uncomfortable one. I’ll give this one a “recommended, I guess.”

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @BarlowVideo • Facebook • preview • YouTube channel @BarlowVideo11 •
Criss Cross by Zahira C., 2024 USA, 6 min. πŸ’–

Cuddling and smiling cheerfully, a Mexican person leans back and looks up at the Black person embracing them.
Criss Cross
Queer and trans people of color discuss the unique nature of their rich friendships and bonds, whether that be platonic life partnership, romantic friendship, or a sibling dynamic.

Bio: Zahira is a Pakistani documentary filmmaker from Ohlone Lands with a love of the ocean, cooking in the forest & crafting with friends.

Well-done exploration of the experience of “queer platonic partners,” an under-represented subject. MUST SEE.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
Falling in Love with the Feeling of Drowning by Freddie Segura Glavey, 2024 USA, 6 min. 🫀

Two friends lean toward each other and share a laugh in a car, their silhouettes backlit by brake lights and streetlights.
Falling in Love with
the Feeling of Drowning
Exploring the nostalgia in grief and the friends that offer safe harbor.

⚠️Content Warning: Grief and Flashing Images

Bio: Freddie is a choreographer and filmmaker interested in describing the hard to express onscreen or onstage.

This one left me saying, “Huh??” I can’t tell you what happened or what this film was about, because I was honestly left wondering. If I get the chance, maybe it will make more sense seeing it a second time, but I couldn’t find it on YouTube or Vimeo. Another “recommended, I guess.”

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @Freddie.Isnt.Here • Facebook • preview • other •
Two women of color lounge on a bed, gazing off into the distance with psychedelic lights playing around the room.
Lucid
Lucid by Tierra Frost, 2023 USA, 5 min. πŸ‘

A Vietnamese woman’s heartfelt revelation ebbs into a chilling ordeal.

⚠️Content Warning: Grief, Emotional pain

Bio: Tierra Frost is a Black queer female writer-director from Seattle, Washington.

At the heart of the story is a psychedelic mushroom trip, but is the trip itself even real? On the trip, the main character is talking with someone, struggling to tell her something important. There is plenty of humor with some poignant moments. Highly recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram / YouTube: @TTFrostCreates • Facebook • preview • watch on YouTube •
Love’s Lyric by Maria Celia Garcia, 2024 USA, 5 min. πŸ’–

A gray-haired Latina tenderly holds her wife’s hand against her cheek, embracing each other across a picnic table.
Love’s Lyric
An older Latina drifts through the memories of a love lost.

⚠️Content Warning: Grief

Bio: Maria is a Cuban-born lesbian in her 60s.

Four-plus years after losing her partner, a woman begins exploring dating sites specifically geared towards older lesbians, but she must come to terms with moving on from her grief. It’s beautiful and poignant, with a few laughs to lighten things up. Definitely a MUST SEE.

• IMDb [director?] • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
Handle with Care by Kelsey Dang, 2024 USA, 4 min., no dialogue πŸ™‚

An African American woman smooths her hand across the lid of a cardboard box labeled with the words “In Case You’re Lost.”
Handle with Care
A Black woman traverses the terrain of a broken heart.

⚠️Content Warning: Emotional pain

Bio: Kelsey is a Bay Area based artist and creative.

I never got any sense of the context of what was going into the box or why it occasionally came back out again, so it really didn’t make sense to me. Another “recommended, I guess.”

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram • Facebook • preview • other •
F**ked by Sara Harrak, 2023 United Kingdom, 6 min. πŸ’–

In a grocery aisle, a British-Ghanaian woman with a blue headscarf embraces her redheaded wife from behind.
F**KED

A biracial lesbian couple reach a crossroads in their open relationship.

Bio: Sara Harrak is a British-Moroccan director with over 10 years experience in the industry as an Assistant Director. When developing other projects, she also shoots music videos.

A married thirty-something lesbian couple have decided to open up their relationship, but one of them is shocked to hear how the other one wants to explore that. It’s funny, particularly the interaction with other shoppers in the small grocery store where the discussion takes place, but also thought-provoking. MUST SEE.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @SaraHarrak • Facebook • preview • watch on UK Channel 4 • Iris Prize • YouTube channel: @SaraHarrak2810 •
A close-up of two Black people’s smiling lips leaning in for a kiss.
Kiss + Tell
Kiss + Tell by Jazleen “JLEAN” Senshi, 2023 USA, 2 min. πŸ‘

A Black woman’s day starts with a toothpaste tablet and ends with love.

Bio: Jazleen “JLEAN” Senshi was born and raised in Chicago, IL who began their career directing adult film. They are now getting into more narratives in Los Angeles.

This film is only just over two minutes, but it’s very well done. Highly recommended.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @jlea.n • Facebook • preview • YouTube channel: @JLean3362 •
Can I Have Her Number? by Keely Liles, 2023 USA, 4 min. πŸ’–

Two East Asian women nestle their foreheads together in a romantic embrace, silhouetted against warm white curtains.
Can I Have Her Number?
An Asian woman is entranced when a gorgeous woman storms the party.

Bio: Keely Liles is an LGBTQ, multi-disciplinary artist with an emphasis in media and film production.

This film is a music video for the song “Can I Have Her Number” by Nobody’s Girl. It’s a fun, sexy homage to lesbian desire, and also was the clear audience favorite of this program. MUST SEE.

• IMDb • Official website • Filmmaker • Instagram: @Lovelight.Media • Facebook • preview • the song on YouTube • Artist Nobody’s Girl on YouTube •
Prendas Delicadas (Delicate Clothes) by Ana Lucia Ramirez Mateus, 2023 Argentina/Chile/Colombia, 14 min., in Spanish πŸ’–
Embracing beneath lace covers, a Colombian woman kisses the cheek of a Chilean nonbinary trans person.
Delicate Clothes

A Latinx trans person wades through love in a laundry backroom.

⚠️Content Warning: Nudity

Bio: Ana is a pansexual activist and community filmmaker who focuses on autobiographical narratives and transfeminist queer cinema in Latin America.

Miguel and Lu flirt over washing clothes, something to the effect of “I’ll wash your clothes. Go ahead and take them off.” [not a quote] It’s sexy and very much genderqueer-affirming. MUST SEE.

• IMDb [director?] • Official website [es] • Filmmaker • Instagram: @AnaLuchx • Facebook • preview • YouTube channel: @AlBordeProducciones •
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