Now in it’s 18th year, the annual Mezipatra Queer Film Festival is the Czech Republic’s largest and longest-running festival celebrating the world of LGBTQ film. The theme of this year’s festival is “Be Your Own Champion.”
In Prague from November 2 through 9, cinemas Lucerna and Světozor will host the majority of the festival’s films, with additional screenings taking place in the French Institute’s Kino 35 and Kino Pilotů in Prague 10.
The festivities kick off tonight, November 2, with a screening of the opening night film Tom of Finland (pictured above) at Kino Lucerna at 20:00.
A biography about the famed Finnish fetish artist dubbed the “most influential creator of gay pornographic images,” the film opened to largely positive reviews in Finland earlier this year and was recently chosen as the country’s official submission to the 2018 Academy Awards.
If you miss Tom of Finland during the Mezipatra festival, it will see official release in Czech cinemas from November 9.
Another highlight at this year’s Mezipatra festival will be the Norwegian drama Thelma, a supernatural thriller from acclaimed director Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st) that is also Norway’s official submission to next year’s Oscars. Thelma will screen in Prague on Saturday, November 4 at Kino Světozor.
Also on Saturday, the Mezipatra Festival’s main party, PG-18, will take place at Prague 10 club Ankali.
Other noteworthy films screening at this year’s Mezipatra festival include Bruce La Bruce’s The Misandrists and the British drama God’s Own Country, which was recently nominated for Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA). Both films had their Czech premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival earlier this year.
A retrospective includes classic LGBTQ-themed films like Pedro Almodovar’s All About My Mother and Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.
Tickets run 110 CZK per film; a special festival pass (540 CZK) grants access to seven screenings for the price of five.
All films at the Mezipatra Queer Film Festival in Prague will be screened in their native language with English and Czech subtitles.
Immediately following the Prague festival, Mezipatra will move to Brno from November 10-17, with a selection of films also screening in Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Český Krumlov.
More information can be found via the Mezipatra Queer Film Festival official website and Facebook page.
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