The 21st edition of Queer Lisbon will begin on 15 September with a vast and diversified line-up and a special attention to the Taiwanese artist Shu Lea Cheang who will be honored in this edition, with special screenings and exhibitions at Cinema de São Jorge and MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado. (The next publication of Umbigo magazine will feature a special interview with the artist about gender identities, the Internet and digital art.)

As for the film program, there will be some unmissable movies such as God’s Own Country (2017), by Francis Lee, about the life of a farmer that will see his life changed with the arrival of a Romanian immigrant, and Fluidø (2017), from the artist already mentioned Shu Lea Cheang, a dystopian and hallucinogenic vision about drugs and sexual pleasure.

The documentary Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures (2016) is another must see since it helps to reveal the complexity of one of the most polarizing and revolutionary photographers of our time. The documentary from the American television channel HBO shows Mapplethorpe in his most sexual intricacy, whose photos shook the art world through his explicit lens, while revealing the gay sexuality and the phallic bewilderment, without painting it in pink and appealing colors.

In Oporto, from 4 to 8 October, the 3rd edition of Queer will feature a different line-up of films and special presentations. Silverlake Life: The View From Here (1993) is another documentary, this one directed by Peter Friedman, that reflects upon the implications of the HIV/AIDS in American politics and society. Closing the festival, the movie 1:54, by Yan England, about bullying in schools.

Don’t miss it: Queer Lisbon, from 15 to 23 September, between the MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado and the usual Cinema de São Jorge and; Queer Oporto, from 4 to 8 October, at the Teatro Rivoli.

For more information, please, click here.