Zinegoak, the International GayLesbiTrans Cinema and Stage Arts Festival of Bilbao

This edition, the fifteenth, includes the documentaries “Au-delà de l’ombre” (Tunisia) and “Mr. Gay Syria,” about the LGTBI community becoming refugees. From February 19 to March 4, 2018.

Monday, February 19 is the beginning of the fifteenth edition of Zinegoak, the International GayLesbiTrans Cinema and Stage Arts Festival of Bilbao. At this year’s edition, which will last until Sunday, March 4, women play the starring roles. In the official section, over two-thirds of the fictional feature films and documentaries were directed by women.

Video summary of the festival

This time around, Zinegoak is also placing a special focus on the LGTBI community in Muslim majority countries. Two LGTBI documentaries will be shown, “Au-delà de l’ombre” (“Upon the Shadow”), which shows the situation in Tunisia, and “Mr. Gay Syria,” about the complex situation of the LGTBI community when becoming refugees.
 
Amina Sboui is a Tunisian activist who became famous around the world for publishing a nude photo of herself from the waist up in her social networks, with the phrase “My body is mine” painted on her in Arabic. The documentary film  “Au-delà de l’ombre” (“Upon the Shadow”), a work by Nada Mezni Hafaiedh, shows the daily life of Amina’s gay and transgender friends, both men and women, who are rejected by their families, leading her to take them into her home. Amina, who was a member of the activist group Femen, heavily covered in the media, will be in Bilbao from February 28 to March 3 to present this work.

Movie preview
    
As for “Mr. Gay Syria,” it is an award-winning documentary by Turkish director Ayşe Toprak, telling the story of several gay Syrians who are living as refugees in Istanbul and become contestants in the “Mr. Gay Syria” pageant (an idea by an activist who works with refugees) so that they can vie to participate in “Gay World 2016.” The documentary shows the difficulties of being a gay Arab refugee. “Mr. Gay Syria” has received awards at the international festivals of Seville, Sarajevo and Chicago, as well as other competitions.

Preview

Further information about Zinegoak