June’s Pride Month calls us to recognise the voices and stories of the lesbian, gay,bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA) members of our communities alongside the struggle for equality and acceptance within our wider societies.
Year-round we are truly honoured to be able to host the work of filmmakers across the spectrums of gender and sexuality, sharing original stories from unique perspectives.
We reached out to some of T-Port’s LGBTQIA+ filmmakers to ask their views on how the film industry is doing from their individual perspectives. We were lucky enough to talk to :
- Nguyễn Hồng Anh – director of SAIGON KISS (2024, Filmfest Max Ophüls Preis / AG Kurzfilm)
- Hélène Dereppe, director of FLIGHTLESS BIRDS (2022, Wallonie Bruxelles)
- Ben Galster, Director of THE HIDDEN DIMENSION (2023, Next Generation Short Tiger)
- Ivona Homicianu, director of SIN (2022, Wallonie Bruxelles)
While these filmmakers are just a few from a huge and diverse group, their responses give us some unique and valuable views of where the industry stands now for LGBTQIA+ people and what the next generation of filmmakers think the future might hold.
Nguyễn Hồng Anh, Director of SAIGON KISS
©Thy-Nguyen
(2024, Filmfest Max Ophüls Preis / AG Kurzfilm)
Nguyễn Hồng Anh (HAN) is a queer German-Vietnamese writer, director, and editor currently based in Frankfurt am Main and Ho Chi Minh City. Her work focuses on exploring the tension, tenderness and intimacy inherent in encounters between people, often strangers.
©Nguyen
T-Port: Are you happy with how the film industry treats LGBTQIA filmmakers? What provisions could be made to ensure that said filmmakers are supported?
HAN: I see both progress and significant challenges in how the film industry treats LGBTQIA filmmakers. While strides have been made toward greater inclusivity and representation, more nuanced portrayals of LGBTQIA+ stories, especially from diverse cultural backgrounds, are still needed. Also practices and policies of diversity, inclusion and equity take time to implement for them to be truly sustainable and become part of the default setting of the industry. In many ways, we have just started this process and there is no shortcut to this long road.
An indicator that we’re still at chapter one is that when diverse filmmakers are hired to bring authenticity, we often get pigeonholed into only those areas. Real inclusion means being considered for a wide range of projects, not just called to consult for the authenticity of an Asian queer character but also invited to pitch for original work.
While it’s great to see more grants specifically for LGBTQIA+ filmmakers, financial support and opportunities shouldn’t be limited to those grants alone. True equity involves having access to larger opportunities that enable a financially sustainable career in the industry.
Decision-makers need to be confident in hiring queer folks for Head of Departments and other leadership positions and consider that they might have to look for different kinds of credentials or track records because the road to the same meeting room has a lot more hurdles and barriers for us.
I also hope to see producers and crew not being afraid to make mistakes but instead taking responsibility and remaining open to learning and trying again. That can be as simple as learning how to ask for pronouns. There are more and more resources out there. For example, Equity UK provides excellent guidelines for professionals working with LGBTQIA+ performers. The more knowledge and understanding leaders have, the more comfortable and inclusive the set will be for everyone.
T-Port: In an ideal world, how would you like LGBTQIA human beings to be represented in film and television?
TAN: In an ideal world, we would get to a point where this question would no longer be relevant because what is seen on screen is an authentic reflection of how diverse, nuanced and complex life is and that includes the lives of queer people.
We don’t ask Leonardo DiCaprio how straight men should be portrayed because their representation is already complex and dynamic with a wide spectrum of possibilities.
But where are the queer heroines that time travel or fix the oxygen supply of a spaceship? Because we can do and be all that and everything in between. Representation is powerful because if you don’t see yourself, how can you know what’s possible? And when others see you, they know you exist.
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T-Port: Do you think that Queer Cinema should be a separate genre? Could you explain your answer?
HAN: I think it’s a common misconception to think of queer cinema as a genre that only caters to queer audiences.
While curating LGBTQIA+ films together can help queer viewers find relevant stories, or to highlight queer films, this wouldn’t be necessary if mainstream media offered more diverse representation and we wouldn’t have to look in the bottom shelf to find those stories. A genre follows specific tropes, conventions, and storyline expectations. Queer characters can and have appeared in any genre, from sci-fi and road movies to biopics and psychological thrillers. Like all filmmakers, we tell stories across a wide range of genres or may specialise in one.
Hélène Dereppe, director of FLIGHTLESS BIRDS
I am a Belgian queer director based in Brussels, and I graduated from INSAS last year. My graduation film has been showcased at multiple festivals around the world. I have a deep passion for comedy, which I believe is a universally accessible art form. I am also convinced about the importance of representation in cinema, as it plays a crucial role in fostering awareness and acceptance. I did write a thesis on the subject of “queer representation”.
T-Port: Are you happy with how the film industry treats LGBTQIA filmmakers? What provisions could be made to ensure that said filmmakers are supported?
I believe that the situation is better than it has ever been before. There are more films than ever depicting the stories of LGBTQIA+ characters. However, it must be said that we started from a very low point. Even growing up in Belgium, I personally felt the lack of images showing women loving other women. This would have undoubtedly helped me understand myself a bit better. Until recently, these images were very difficult to find.
But the film industry still reflects a patriarchal, white, heteronormative society. There are still too few films directed by women, even fewer by queer women, and even fewer by queer women of colour.
When MeToo happened, it seemed like things were going to change, but unfortunately, progress is still very slow.
For real change to happen, there needs to be a true awareness of this disparity at all stages of film creation: from writing, to production, to filming, and distribution. We saw this recently with the release of the film ‘Love Lies Bleeding.’ These films suffer from lesbophobia.
Watch FLIGHTLESS BIRDS, no registration required, as part of our Pride Month film selection.
T-Port: In an ideal world, how would you like LGBTQIA human beings to be represented in film and television?
In an ideal world, LGBTQIA+ people would be represented just like anyone else, without relying on the usual tropes. We are so accustomed to seeing queer characters suffer, die, or be portrayed as villains that we barely notice it anymore. I wish for queerness to not be a source of suffering for a change, but a source of joy, of love, of happy endings.
I want it to not even be a focal point, but rather to have the chance to simply experience life through the character’s eyes. This way, anyone could identify with them.
T-Port: Do you think that Queer Cinema should be a separate genre? Could you explain your answer?
I don’t think that Queer Cinema should be a separated subgenre just like I don’t think movies made by women should be considered a separated genre either or put in a different category. By separating them it risks marginalising them. This supports the idea that queerness is not the norm and we all know where this leads.
Ivona Homicianu, director of SIN
Ivona Homicianu was born in Romania on September 26, 1999. At the age of 12, she moved with her mother to Belgium to join her father who worked in Charleroi. She studied Plastic Arts in high school, then went to university in Brussels to study audiovisual arts. She is passionate about poetry, reading and cinema. As a lesbian herself, her written and visual work focuses on the representation of LGBTQ+ voices.
T-Port: Are you happy with how the film industry treats LGBTQIA filmmakers? What provisions could be made to ensure that said filmmakers are supported?
IH: From my experience, I am happy with how I was treated — though there were some unfortunate remarks, I don’t believe they came from a place of hate.
It’s important for people in the industry to treat us like normal human beings while also acknowledging that we’re more prone to being hated and invalidated, so educating themselves on the LGBTQIA+ community should be the standard.
T-Port: In an ideal world, how would you like LGBTQIA human beings to be represented in film and television?
IH: I’m a lesbian so I’d like lesbians to be represented more and better in general. There is a lot of sexualising, films that are not made for us but for men, and a lot of the times the ending we get is unfair. When there’s a lesbian couple, one of them either ends up dead or with a man. As if it was a punishment for being a lesbian.
I think in general we should have more media representation where tragedy and violence aren’t the main themes. We deserve happy endings as well.
T-Port: Do you think that Queer Cinema should be a separate genre? Could you explain your answer?
I don’t think it should be a separate genre in the general sense, it should be included into the norm because there’s nothing wrong about us or our stories. However, it’s important to keep in mind that we are severely under-represented, so having a film be categorised in “queer cinema” is helpful to find more media about our specific experiences, which are different from the heteronormative and cisgender ones.
Ben Galster, Director of THE HIDDEN DIMENSION
(2023, Next Generation Short Tiger)
BEN GALSTER is a German director based in Berlin and London with a BA degree from the Chelsea College of Art & Design. His work is known for its striking cinematography and authentic storytelling, often focusing on marginalised communities and drawing influences from contemporary cinema and culture. He is part of the queer studio Container Love.
T-Port: Are you happy with how the film industry treats LGBTQIA filmmakers? What provisions could be made to ensure that said filmmakers are supported?
BG: There have always been outstanding queer filmmakers who don’t care about labels or fitting into boxes. People with a vision and the will to push boundaries, do everything they can just to make that vision a reality. I’m thinking of people like Rainer Werner Fassbinder; his films transcended any genre back then, and today they are cult classics for a reason.
The best films are created when we allow ourselves to do whatever we want. When filmmakers are free from restrictions and prejudices, they can produce work that truly comes from the heart and authentically reflects the diversity of the human experience.
And yes, In recent years, the film industry has made progress when it comes to LGBTQIA filmmakers: there are more opportunities now than a decade ago and segments of queer culture have now made it to the mainstream. Amazing stories are being told, but we still have a long way to go.
T-Port: In an ideal world, how would you like LGBTQIA human beings to be represented in film and television?
BG: I think portraying the queer community is all about acknowledging and celebrating its differences, the colourfulness of its characters. Many people still don’t understand that the storylines of queer characters don’t necessarily have to revolve around their sexuality or gender identity. After all, all stories are human stories, about people finding themselves on screen in all their diversity, complexity, and humanity.
T-Port: Do you think that Queer Cinema should be a separate genre? Could you explain your answer?
BG: Having queer cinema as a separate genre has its pros and cons. On the plus side, it highlights LGBTQIA stories, providing visibility and recognition. However, it can also isolate these stories, making them seem niche and not part of the broader conversation.
Cinema should stand for creativity and freedom of expression, allowing filmmakers to build bridges, promote empathy, and change the world for the better. In my view, LGBTQIA stories have always been part of the bigger picture, and in an ideal world there should be no more “us” and “them.”
To quote the great Audre Lorde, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Let’s work towards a film industry that embraces and celebrates all stories, making our shared human experience richer and more inclusive.
This year, for the first time, we are excited to bring you a collection of short films – available to everyone to stream for free – that represent some unique and beautiful LGBTQIA voices in cinema. You are invited to enjoy them throughout the whole month of June and to share them with your communities too.
If you are a film industry professional and would like access to the catalogue and more, find out here how to sign up.
Filmmaker? Upload your short film to T-Port or sign up for our newsletter to get regular updates on the current trends and exciting innovations in the short film universe.