Habibi, song for my friends by Florent Gouëlou (Yukunkun Productions, Les Films des Tournelles), 2024
The LGBTQI+ Chéries-Chéris film festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is setting the stage alight with a great line-up. From November 15 to 26, 2024, the dark rooms of MK2 Beaubourg (as well as Bibliothèque and Quai de Seine) will take us from Lithuania to Japan, via the alleys of Hong Kong and the glittery backstage of the Parisian drag scene.
With 17 entries last year, Chéries-Chéris is counting on this year to blow up the counter. On the menu: 74 feature films and 77 short films from the four corners of the queer planet.
"More than ever turned towards the future and new territories to explore", says Grégory Tilhac, its artistic director, the festival opens its arms wide to the Lithuanian scene, echoing the Lithuanian Season in France.
Selfish by Daishi Matsunaga, 2022, Japan
Asexuality joins the party with Marija Kavtaradze's "Slow," while lesbians on Harley Davidsons kick things off with "Mika ex machina," a cinematic cross between Thelma and Louise and Sherlock Holmes.
From laughter to tears, including moans, Chéries-Chéris promises a roller coaster of emotions. "Egoïst" by Japanese artist Daishi Matsunaga will make us sweat with its muscular love story, while "Baby" by Brazilian artist Marcelo Caetano will explore forbidden love. For the more naughty, "Amusement Park" by Ricardo Alves Jr will immerse us in the twists and turns of gay cruising.
Romantics won't be left out with Ray Yeung's "Everything Will Be Fine," a lesbian love story.. For late adolescents, "Young Hearts" by Belgian Anthony Schatteman will delight the emotions of the first crush.
The Queens of Drama by Alexis Langlois, 2024
On the French side, Alexis Langlois releases "Les Reines du drame", an explosive cocktail of lesbian pop stars and hysterical fans, with a guest star Bilal Hassani in groupie mode. And to end on a high note, Florent Gouëlou offers us "Habibi, chanson pour mes amies", a documentary that sends good foundation and XXL wigs.
So, are you ready to dive into 30 years of queer cinema? Chéries-Chéris awaits you for a journey to the end of the night, laughter and tears. Be careful, it's going to be a shock!
Fiction competition programming
• OPPONENT by Milad Alami (Sweden, Norway) AMUSEMENT PARK by Ricardo Alves Jr. (Brazil)
• BABY by Marcelo Caetano (Brazil)
• CIDADE; CAMPO by Juliana Rojas (Brazil)
• AS I CLOSE MY EYES by Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria, France, Switzerland)
• CONCERNING MY DAUGHTER by Lee Mi-Rang (South Korea)
• CROSSING ISTANBUL by Levan Akin (Sweden, Türkiye, Georgia)
• THE QUEENS OF DRAMA by Alexis Langlois (France)
• SAD JOKES by Fabian Stumm (Germany)
• SEBASTIAN by Mikko Makela (UK, Finland, Belgium)
• SLOW by Marija Kavtaradze (Lithuania)
• EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE by Ray Yeung (Hong Kong)
• YOUNG HEARTS by Anthony Schatteman (Belgium, Netherlands)
The documentary competition programming
• PRE-DRAG! by Fil Ieropoulos (Greece)
• BLACK AS UR by Micheal Rice (USA)
• WHAT BINDS US by Sonam Larcin (Belgium)
• EL POLVO by Nicolás Torchinsky (Argentina)
• FRAGMENTS OF A LOVE JOURNEY by Chloé Barreau (Italy)
• HABIBI, SONG FOR MY FRIENDS by Florent Gouëlou (France)
• THE FOUND PHOTO of Pierre Primetens (France)
• THE MADELEINES by Arthur Dreyfus (France)
• LESVIA by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou (Greece)
• PEACHES GOES BANANAS by Marie Losier (France, Belgium)
• TRANS MEMORIA by Victoria Aquarius (Sweden)
• WITH MY OPEN LUNGS by Yana Sad (Germany)
Event session
• CABO NEGRO by Abdellah Taïa (France, Morocco)
• CLOSE TO YOU by Dominic Savage (Canada)
• FOTOGENICO by Marcia Romano & Benoît Sabatier (France)
• THE ASTRONAUT LOVERS by Marco Berger (Argentina)
• HAPPY DAYS by Chloé Robichaud (Canada)
• MY SUNSHINE by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan)
• THE VISITOR by Bruce LaBruce (UK)
▼ MK2 Beaubourg
50, rue Rambuteau 75003 Paris
Text: Katia Barillot
05.11.24