QUEER Session - In Bloom

When the friendship between two young fathers becomes a powerful, fragile romance, the men

take refuge in a desolate car park night after night. By day, the love for their families beckons.

As Aaron grapples with split loyalties, he wonders how – or indeed if – he can keep hold of it

all... before he loses everything.

Between 2021 and 2025, the city was under massive construction to prepare for a new streetcar

line. As the works finally come to an end, I grapple with the ending of a construction of my own.

Half-Naked is a light-hearted comedy about a trans man who must summon his courage when

undertaking his first experience shirtless in public.

Held in the Shadows is a stop-motion short film that explores LGBTQ+ themes. Set in Budapest

in March 2025, it follows an older lesbian couple, Róza and Berta, as they experience a reversal

of rights and freedoms they once believed were secure. Pride events were banned by the

Hungarian Parliament on the grounds of child protection, resulting in the couple’s increasing

marginalisation and exclusion from society. Through powerful symbolism, the film explores their loss of visibility, identity, and belonging, highlighting the wider social impact of discrimination and the suppression of LGBTQ+ communities.

The documentary takes an in depth, searing dive into the colorful community of queer senior

citizens who congregate at the Tool Shed, a long-standing gay bar and sanctuary for queer

people in Palm Springs, CA. Many of its denizens are the oldest survivors of the AIDS epidemic.

El Film is a self-directed conceptual musical short film by Moroccan-Canadian artist and

filmmaker El Mehdi, conceived as a cinematic entry point into the universe of his debut EP,

SALAM. Neither a traditional music video nor a conventional short film, it unfolds as a visual

ritual where pop, poetry, fashion, performance and cinema become one immersive language.

Theo has a secret he's never shared with his laddish football mates. On his way to their party,

he steps into a lift wearing a dress and heels. As the floors rise, the journey becomes a battle

between who he's been and who he truly is.

At the end of summer, by a secluded lakeside, two young women slowly drift toward each other

as desire quietly becomes inevitable.

Matéo, a versatile seasonal worker at the municipal pool, has a crush on one of the water polo

players who trains with his club. But it’s hard to take the plunge when you don’t know how to

swim.