Best Documentary Film
The winner of this year’s Best Documentary takes us to Chueca – Madrid’s legendary LGBT and queer neighborhood, once an oasis of freedom and visibility. In “When Chueca Dies”, director Ramon Gieling captures both its spirit and its struggle – as politicians and reactionary forces try to reclaim the spaces we’ve built, to silence the voices that refuse to disappear. Through powerful storytelling and unforgettable imagery, the film shows a community that keeps dancing, creating, and resisting, even as the world around it grows darker. Because what’s happening in Chueca is happening everywhere, where those in power try to push us out of the places we’ve made our own. This documentary is not just an incredible work of film; it’s a reminder that we need to remain in solidarity with each other now more than ever.
Best Feature Film
Janine Zieht auf’s Land (Janine Moves to the Country)
“Janine Zieht auf’s Land” contains little sex, but where it appears, it’s fundamental – part of the characters’ emotional logic. It’s not ornamental or expendable; it makes sense. It takes the ordinariness and everydayness, characters and setting to subvert the gaze. Sex/sex drive becomes means towards queer awakening and liberation. The 10 minute sex scene that creeps in half way into the film is awkward and intense, screaming in silence, I WANT IT. I REALLY WANT IT, a tour de force that serves as a guideline for “how to make
porn”. As jurors, we ask what is the current state of porno featurefilm making, can the model of pizza delivery, sequence by sequence of sexual encounters makes up a porno feature? Is there ever the need of
a plot/story? or the pursuit of a cause? be it political? or pure pleasure? Between glossy porn aesthetics and sex as gimmick, “Janine Zieht auf’s Land” brings sexual tension into the ever intensified conflict of gender politics.
Special mention
Special Mention to Fucktoys for its contribution to sex worker and queer filmmaking, its attention to survival and love in the face of structural oppressions, and its subversive and joyful neocamp.
Clips4Sale – Best Fetish/BDSM Film
From a unique perspective, this film dives into the core of role play. This delicate portrait is powerful and raw, as deeply personal, while reflecting own’s desire, relationships and discipline. The simplicity of the its images accompanied with a strong language and captivating tension, is a fascinating storytelling about bananas and submission. The award for Best Fetish Film goes to “Breakfast Time” by Peter Cage.
Special mention
Because of its striking imagery for a rare fetish, discovering and recognizing new play tools for ongoing sexual exploration. The Special Mention goes to “alt.sex.fetish.robots” by Zed Sheng.
