The new edition of MiX, the festival of LGBT+ cinema and Queer culture, has arrived in Milan.
From 27 September to 1 October, 46 titles on the bill enrich the program of the 2023 edition. Among the guests there are Paolo Camilli, Big Mama, Marta Pizzigallo, Ethan, La Diamond, Roberta Torre, Francesca Vecchioni, Mina Kavani , Chiara Sfregola, Milad Alami, Sacha Polak and Vicky Knight, just to name some of the names present.
The appointment is with cinema, as well as many meetings, performances and concerts.
There are 46 titles, of which 32 are Italian premieres, at the Piccolo Teatro Strehler and at the Piccolo Teatro Studio Melato in Milan. The MiX International Festival of LGBTQ+ Cinema and Queer Culture has reached its 37th edition.
This year, the Queer Music Video Competition is added to the three international competitions – Feature Films, Documentaries and Short Films – created in collaboration with the creative hub Futuro Solido. The objective of this competition is to discover, promote and intercept new queer talents, with also new and original ways of telling LGTBQ+ identities through other media. Judging these works will be a jury composed of the costume designer Sabrina Polh, the performer La B. Fujiko and the artist Dogyorke.
To inaugurate the program, this evening (Thursday 28 September at 8 pm) at the Piccolo Teatro Strehler there will be the Italian preview of Mutt by the debut Chilean-Serbian director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, the surprise of the latest Sundance Film Festival 2023. It made its world premiere at the US film festival. The leading actor, Lio Mehiel, won the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Acting and was awarded the Special Mention of the Generation 14plus International Jury at the 73rd Berlinale. The film by the Chilean-Serbian director tells a plot that takes place over just 24 hours in New York. It will also be presented on the morning of September 29th to high school students.
“For 37 years the MiX has been bringing the best national and international LGBTQ+ cinematography to its audience,” states the new artistic direction composed of Paolo Armelli, Pierpaolo Astolfi and Priscilla Robledo. “I am very happy to return to present a festival that is a central cultural moment in the life of our city” declared councilor Sacchi during the festival press conference. “The dialogue between the Piccolo and Mix continues in the name of the search for what escapes the label and opens up to what is new and other” explains the theater director Claudio Longhi. The Piccolo has hosted the festival for 18 years.
“From 1986 to today, while not losing its original roots of political commitment and territorial roots, the festival continues to transform and propose a transversal and multidisciplinary approach that touches all aspects of queer culture, from dance to music, from books to theater and much more,” we read on the official MiX website.
The Feature Film Competition
As regards the Feature Film Competition, it will be evaluated by the jury chaired by the director and screenwriter Roberta Torre which includes the costume designer, twice nominated for an Oscar, Massimo Cantini Parrini, the President of the Diversity Foundation and the writer Francesca Vecchioni, the actress Vittoria Schisano and the artistic director of the Bilbao LGBTQ+ film festival Zine Goak Alaitz Arenzana Letamendi.
Some of the unmissable goodies include Conann by Bertrand Mandico, a queer reinterpretation of the heroic fantasy character Conan the Barbarian; Silver Haze, a feature film that delves into the lonely and desolate lives of British working-class women, by Dutch filmmaker Sacha Polak.
Also Opponent by the Swede of Iranian origin Milad Alami is very interesting. It stars Payman Maadi, here in the role of an Iranian fighter who tries to keep his family together and in the meantime applies for asylum to stay in Sweden. Out of competition, there is Rotting in the Sun by the Chilean author Sebastián Silva.
The festival will close on Sunday 1st October at the Piccolo Teatro Strehler Four Little Adults by Finnish director Selma Vilhunen, a funny comedy that tells the story of four adults who face the challenges that a polyamorous relationship presents them with. Four Little Adults at the Göteborg Film Festival he won the award for Best Performance.
Preceding the last screening will be the closing ceremony in which the winners will be announced, hosted by the activist, influencer and radio presenter Florencia Di Stefano-Abichain and the winner of Drag Race Italia La Diamond.
For the grand finale, the Italian-Brazilian queer artist Ethan is also expected to perform live.
The program is rich and offers space for current affairs and independent cinema
The MiX is a very dense program that offers space for current affairs and independent cinema. There is also no shortage of live musical shows and performances.
The MiX International Festival of LGBTQ+ Cinema and Queer Culture is the most followed and important queer event in Italy, one of the most important at a European level. For this year, the event has decided to change the period (moving the dates from June to September). The claim is “Stay open”, meaning openness, which is the objective and also the underlying theme of the event.
A four-day event spread across 3 different locations, with 45 films in competition and one out, 13 feature films and 26 short films, documentaries… A truly unmissable program.
There are panels on Iranian women and LGBT rights in Russia, meetings dedicated to schools.
The program, day by day
Below you will find the extended programme, divided by each day of the event. Starting from the Feature Films and then moving on to the other sections.
Feature films
THURSDAY 09/28 8.00 pm – Strehler TheatreMutt by Vuk Lungulov-Klotz, USA, 2023, 87′
FRIDAY 29/09 18:00 – Strehler Theatre
All the Colors of the World Are Between Black and White by Babatunde Apalowo, Nigeria, 2023, 92′
FRIDAY 09/29 8.00pm – Strehler Theatre
Polarized – Italian premiere by Shamim Sharif, UK, 2023, 104′
FRIDAY 09/29 10.15pm – Strehler Theatre
Conannn – Italian premiere by Bertrand Mandico, France/Belgium/Luxembourg, 2023, 105′
FRIDAY 29/09 8.00pm – Teatro Studio Melato
Rotting in the Sun – out of competition, presented in collaboration with MUBI ITALIA by Sebastián Silva, USA, 2023, 109′
SATURDAY 30/09 3.45pm – Strehler Theatre
A Place of Our Own (Ek Jagah Apni) – Italian premiere of Ektara Collective, India, 2022, 88′
SATURDAY 30/09 8.00pm – Strehler Theatre
Opponent (Motståndaren) – Italian premiere by Milad Alami, Sweden, 2023, 119′
SATURDAY 30/09 10.30pm – Strehler Theatre
The Chambermaid (Slúžka) – Italian premiere by Mariana Cengel-Solcanská, Slovakia/Czech Republic, 2022, 110′
SATURDAY 30/09 16:30 – Teatro Studio Melato
Before I Change My Mind by Trevor Anderson, Canada, 2022, 89′
SUNDAY 01/10 19:00 – Strehler Theatre
Silver Haze – Italian premiere by Sacha Polak, Holland/Great Britain, 2023, 103′
SUNDAY 01/10 9.15pm – Strehler Theatre
Four little adults (Neljä pientä aikuista) – Italian premiere by Selma Vilhunen, Finland, 2023, 121′
SUNDAY 01/10 5.15pm – Teatro Studio Melato
Green Night – Italian premiere of Han Shuai, China, 2023, 92′
SUNDAY 01/10 7.15pm – Teatro Studio Melato
Old Narcissus – Italian premiere of Tsuyoshi Shôji, Japan, 2023, 110′
Documentaries
FRIDAY 09/29 6.15pm – Teatro Studio Melato Playland – Italian preview of Georden West, USA, 2023, 72′
FRIDAY 29/09 10.30pm – Teatro Studio Melato
How to Tell a Secret by Anna Rodgers, Shaun Dunne, Ireland, 2022, 99′
SATURDAY 30/09 5.50pm – Strehler Theatre
Seven Winters in Tehran (Sieben Winter in Tehran) by Steffi Niederzoll, Germany/France, 2023, 97′
SATURDAY 30/09 3.00pm – Teatro Studio Melato
Out of Uganda – Italian premiere by Rolando Colla, Joseph Burri, Switzerland, 2022, 65′
SATURDAY 30/09 10.15pm – Teatro Studio Melato
Queendom – Italian premiere of Agniia Galdanova, France / USA, 2023, 98′
SUNDAY 01/10 16:45 – Strehler Theatre
Mother Saigon (Má Sài Gòn) – Italian premiere of Khoa Lê, Quebec/Canada, 2023, 100′
SUNDAY 01/10 3.45pm – Teatro Studio Melato
Lesbiennes. Those stories – Italian premiere of Marie Labory, France, 2023, 52′
Short films
Below you will find dates and times of appointments regarding the screenings of the many short films planned. You can find all the titles of the shorts and the complete and detailed program on the official website of the MiX festival.
SATURDAY 30/09 11:00 – Lab Space *entry with reservation required
(In)Quiet places
Short film programme
SATURDAY 30/09 1.00pm – Lab Space *entrance with reservation required
Wavelengths Program of short films curated by Imaginaria Film Festival
SUNDAY 01/10 11:00 – Teatro Studio Melato
Around the corner Program of short films curated by Imaginaria Film Festival
SUNDAY 01/10 12.30 – Teatro Studio Melato
Beyond the Border Program of short films
Source-tg24.sky.it