Queer & Here
Shorts Block
69 mins
A staple every BAAFF season, Queer and Here is self-expression and complexities of dentity beyond orientation.
1. Cousins
Directed by Karina Dandashi
13 mins | English
The lyrics in the nursery rhyme “Al Asfoura” sung by the two cousins asks, “Where is your house, little bird? I only see you flying.” Growing up in America, I often felt untethered from my roots in Syria. COUSINS explores cultural disconnect between family members and identity within oneself. What does it mean to belong somewhere, and how do we find our way back?
2. Fish
Directed by Jeremy Hsing
14 mins | English
Content warning: Sexual situations, Conversations on death
Tiger never received the love he desired from his estranged late mother; however, when his mother is reincarnated as his pet goldfish, Tiger must set aside his grievances for one last chance at maternal love.
3. Gianna
Directed by Kait Schuster
11 mins | English
Content warning: Self harm, violence, strong language
Gianna is a queer horror comedy following Gina, a Filipina Gemini doing her best, as she takes the advice of her sliding scale therapist to spend a day with her INNER SABOTEUR. Enter Gianna. Will they make peace, or does Gianna, like, literally want Gina dead?
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4. After Sunset, Dawn Arrives
Directed by Andy Yi Li
17 mins | Cantoniese/Mandarin/English with subtitles
Content warning: Nudity, Mature content
In the early 2000s, old China Town, Los Angeles, when introverted and unsociable sixty-five-year-old Chinese man, Wan falls in love with a man who is nearly 30 years younger than him, Wan struggles to embrace his homosexual identity which he has been suppressed for his entire life and simultaneously confronts his guilt towards his long deceased Chinese wife.
5. Aikāne
Directed by Daniel Sousa
14 mins | Ages 13+ | No Dialogue
Content warning: Violence
A valiant island warrior, wounded in battle against foreign invaders, falls into a mysterious underwater world. When the octopus who rescues him transforms into a handsome young man, they become aikāne, intimate friends bound by love and trust, and an epic adventure begins.
