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Playplace
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Do you remember those indoor play parks from when you were a kid, where climbing through a child-sized tube granted you a brief reprieve from the watching eyes of your parents?
This collection of shorts invites you to climb into an imaginary playplace, where us queers, both young and old, seek and carve out a space for ourselves. From moments of self expression while parents sleep, to a dance with a long gone lover before the landlord comes knocking, come watch and play, even if just for a short while.
Content Warning: Ballroom Night features flashing lights.
Please note that Double Chesticle Extraction will only be available to watch in-person.
Films
Caught between his estranged parents’ silence, a young boy embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Through a series of mysterious phone calls, he adopts new personas, exploring the identity of who he dreams of becoming.
Tara discovers a solitary hair on Val’s coccyx. Could it turn into a tail? The characters embark on an existential and physical quest to rediscover a form of animality and connection with their surroundings and with each other.
A documentary that immerses the audience in the world of Brazilian Ballroom Culture through visual and sound experimentation, alongside personal stories from members of the community who bring this scene to life.
A lonely queer soul in their early sixties, long devoted to their family’s well-being, is stirred to face the love they once turned away from after a chance encounter at a cemetery.
Today, the Doctor of Ass presents a new tutorial: double chesticle extraction, performed using a simple Swiss Army knife.
Through double exposures and intimate dialogue, filmmaker Salem Zurch Smith uses a self portrait to explore the myth of death.
Biographies
Shahin Gorgani is an Iranian filmmaker, actor, musician, and educator whose work moves across cinema, performance, and installation art. His films have premiered at festivals such as the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Outfest Los Angeles. Originally trained in Clinical Nutrition at UC Davis, Shahin left a career in Silicon Valley to pursue filmmaking. He later earned an MFA in Film Directing from CalArts. He is assistant professor in filmmaking at UNCSA and is currently writing his first memoir.
Sofia Cecere was born in Avellino, Italy, and grew up in Rome. Her film journey began at the age of 19, shortly before joining the Belgian film school INSAS (Brussels) in 2020. She is currently graduating with a master’s degree in cinema directing.
Bruny Derotzi is a screenwriter, director, and producer. A graduate in Audiovisual Studies from the Escola Livre de Cinema de Santo André, Bruny is currently studying Cultural Production at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). Bruny wrote, produced, and directed the experimental short film Closet Monster (2024) and the documentary short film Ballroom Night (2025).
Vahn Leinard C. Pascual is a young and talented Filipino film director, writer, and actor. Pascual’s passion for filmmaking started at a young age, and he has been honing his craft ever since. He studied at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Filmmaking. While he was a student, Pascual had already made more than twenty short films that were officially selected and won numerous awards in different film festivals worldwide. He is known for his unique style and artistic approach, which often explores political and queer themes.
Ciel Sourdeau (b. 1997) is a French filmmaker and performer based in Geneva. His practice explores the boundaries between cinema and performance, examining the intersections of transmasculinity, gender and genre subversion, and the speculative potential of fantasy cinema. His films have been presented in both contemporary art institutions and international film festivals, including the Locarno Film Festival, Oberhausen, Rencontres d’Arles, and Fringe! London. Alongside his filmmaking, he develops performance art based on drag king practices and self-hypnosis.
Salem Zurch Smith is a multimedia story-teller working in photography, film, and printmaking. Through ritual, astrology, and long walks, Smith continually finds new ways of bridging his spiritual and artistic practice. Salem lives in amiskwacîwâskahikan with his beloved and his two cats, Truck and Alfie. He dreams of one day being an absolutely shredded grandpa with 3 to 12 grandbabies.
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