TV & Movies/Movies

Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival

May 21–30 / $100 all access, $9.99 per film
fairytalesfilmfest.com/home

Screening the boundary-pushing work of nearly 40 queer filmmakers worldwide, the Calgary Queer Arts Society’s 23rd annual film festival offers a cornucopia of perspectives over its 10 days of programming. This year’s theme is Perspectives: No Two People See The Same Film. Viewers will see queerness through another’s eyes, and each unique viewer will experience the same film differently. Here are some of our best festival bets.

Forgotten Roads

71 minutes
Director: Nicol Ruiz Benavides / Country: Chile
Available on demand from May 30–June 2

Isolated on a turkey farm and grieving her husband’s death, 70-year-old Claudina moves in with her daughter and grandson despite a strained relationship. Sparks fly when she meets their next-door-neighbour, a confident and independent married woman. They begin a secret romantic relationship, but when word gets out, things begin to unravel.

Love, Spells, and All That

96 minutes
Director: Ümit Ünal / Country: Turkey
Available on demand from May 28–31

Two women, who had a love affair as teenagers, were forced to separate by their families when their relationship was revealed—sending each girl to different places far from the summer island on which they met. Twenty years on, the women reconnect—but one believes it’s because of a superstitious spell. Over the course of a sun-drenched day, they embark on a journey around their nostalgic island while trying to lift the black magic.

God’s Daughter Dances

24 minutes
Director: Sungbin Byun
Country: South Korea
Available on demand from May 25–28

Finally comfortable in her own skin, Shin-mi has built a happy life for herself as a dancer in a nightclub surrounded by fans and friends. A transgender woman, Shin-mi is unable to escape the examination for mandatory military service. Forced to prove her identity, she becomes mired in a web of accusations and humiliations.