Queer Amsterdam will take place for the first time from July 22nd until July 28th and Humans of Film Festival is participating! During the Queer Amsterdam Film program, the go-to festival for socio-cultural and social films, in both Melkweg and Studio/K, shows films that give stage to transgender people. These films were handpicked by writer and trans activist, Alejandra Ortiz. After the films, she will moderate several panel discussions with transgender key figures from the queer community.

Humans of Film Festival is proud to announce our collaboration with the new Queer Pride by Queer Amsterdam this year. Queer Pride centers queer people of color, transgender and non-binary people, and queer people with disabilities. We have chosen Alejandra Ortiz, writer (her book: “The Truth will set me Free“), grassroots activist and guest curator Queer Currents 2023, to select two films (that will be screened at Melkweg and Studio/K) and to decide the topics that she wants to discuss during the panel discussions after the films. Through our other projects (including LGBTQ Humans of Amsterdam) you will find more programs (for example in collaboration with Pride and Sports) and even an exhibition about the Gay Games 1998 in the Amsterdam Museum.

24 july 2023 | Network event and Panel, Pride & Sports x LGBTQ Humans of Amsterdam

In collaboration with Pride and Sports, who actively participate in the Queer Amsterdam program, we are holding a networking drink and a panel discussion in the American Hotel on Leidseplein, about the exclusion of transgender athletes in the sports world, but also LGBTI+ sports clubs. We look back at the Gay Games 1998, which actually mainly focused on gays and lesbians, and not so much transgender people. We look at the discrimination and exclusion in the present. Even exclusion in LGBTI+ sports clubs is being discussed. With the aim of bringing about awareness and change, but we also look for possible solutions.

26 july 2023 | Film screening Studio/K: Cada vez que Muero (2022) + after talk with Alejandra Ortiz 

During the Queer Amsterdam film program we screen Cada vez que Muero (2022), a film by Raúl Vidales Bohórquez, at Studio/K. Cada vez que Muero, meaning Every Time I Die, is a hybrid feature film that combines documentary with fiction. The feature film approaches cinema as a ritual of symbolic transformation in the death experiences of seven trans women. After the film, Alejandra Ortiz will moderate a panel discussion with panelists and trans activists Alexandra R. Ruiz (México) and Alma Betancur (Colombia). The conversation will be about the artistic world that often serves as the only space of acceptance, where transgender people can empower themselves and the community.

*disclaimer: some pornographic images*

27 july 2023 | Film screening Melkweg: Queen of Lapa (2019) + after talk with Alejandra Ortiz 

The next day we show another beautiful film, Queen of Lapa (2019), a film by Theodore Collatos and Carolina Monnerat, at Melkweg. Queen of Lapa is about the amazing Luana Muniz, actress, activist and proud sex professional. She created a new reality in her hostel by providing a safe working environment for several generations of young transgender women and girls in the neighborhood of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro. Alejandra Ortiz also moderates a panel discussion after this film. This time with panelists and trans activists Ana Paula Lima (Brazil) and Anancy (Portugal). During this conversation, topics such as family rejection, sex work, differences between the West and the global south, but also migration are discussed.

22 june ‘23 — 7 january ‘24 | Expo; Gay Games ‘98: A Queer Retrospective @ Amsterdam Museum

In the Amsterdam Museum you can already visit the exhibition about Gay Games 1998: A Queer Retrospective. The exhibition is an initiative of our photo and exhibition project LGBTQ Humans of Amsterdam and various parties involved. The Gay Games of 1998 placed Amsterdam on the world map as the Gay capital of the world. LGBTIQ+ people from all corners of the world participated in the sporting, social and cultural events. However, people of color, transgender, non-binary and intersex people were less visible in Dutch society than they are today. They experienced this event in a different way. That is why we set out to search for these missing stories. Keep a close eye on the website because during Queer & Pride times, but also afterwards there are various events and (Queer gaze-) tours.

Stichting Humans of Film Foundation and her projects and collaborations

The stichting Humans of Film Foundation (Projects: Humans of Film Festival | LGBTQ Humans of Amsterdam) aims as a socio-cultural organization to give a stage to important stories by and about queer people, but also other people in general. By showing and discussing such stories, we can make people think about all these different topics. We do this in collaborating with various parties, such as Queer Amsterdam, Stichting ART.1, Gay Games initiative group, Amsterdam Museum, IHLIA LGBTI Heritage, Imagine IC, Pride and Sports, Melkweg, Studio/K, etc.