GenderFest

1st Gender Fest by Outview Film Festival

In collaboration with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – Greek Office
27-29 January 2017
Booze Cooperative – Kolokotroni 57, Athens (subway station «Monastiraki»)
Free Entrance

“‘Are you a boy or a girl’, a phrase I haven’t been able to disconnect from my life, from the day I remember myself. Before I even discovered that my voice was too deep for the gender assigned to me at birth, before I even discovered ‘the wasteland between the sexes’, as Radcliffe Hall beautifully described it, at the age of five I found myself trapped in the hands of a straight couple trying to take off my swimsuit so they could see if I was a boy or a girl!” Maria Cyber

Western societies have finally reached the point of greatest visibility to date on the issue of gender identity. Not the one that is imposed on you and written on your birth certificate based on your biological sex, but the one that we should define ourselves and society should simply accept! Considering that there are not only two biological sexes, the range of gender is self-evidently much wider! And how could we talk about various sexes and genders if we did not primarily demand absolute equality between them but also social equality on the basis of gender, religion, class, race!

From Friday, 27 to Sunday, 29 January 2017, the Outview Film Festival, with the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation – Greek Office, presents three themes within the framework of the first Gender Fest in Greece.

The Gender Fest is presented by Drag Queen Melita Scampo.
Using stand up comedy, live singing and improvisations, she will present the three days of the Gender Fest.

FRIDAY, 27 JANUARY
The Bo(d)y in their Eyes

An in-depth look at the history of Trans and Female Masculinity; how the visibility of some girls trapped in the lesbian scene began, girls wishing to be boys, dressing in a masculine style, defining themselves as boys, as well as a first look at intersex subjectivities. From pioneering photographer Del LaGrace Volcano, whose lens captured the first drag kings in the early 90s, to contemporary photographer Amos Mac.
Lectures – film screenings – meet-and-greets.

SATURDAY, 28 JANUARY
A Woman Like Me

On the occasion of the Swedish TV series “Girls Like Us”, in which five trans girls talk about spiritual life, relationships, parties and simple everyday life, we dedicate this day to female artists and personalities from the world of film, music and performance art. The first episode of the series will be screened before “Something Must Break”, the special story about a friendship that turns into intense love and romance between androgynous Sebastian and Andreas who in no way considers himself gay.
Guests will include Vanessa Lopez, model and star of “Girls Like Us,” Tami T, whose song was featured in “Something Must Break” and who will make a live appearance at the Gender Fest party, and Ms. Vaginal Davis, one of Bruce LaBruce’s muses, who is a performer, film producer, musician, and proponent of the riotous performance aesthetic better known as “terrorist drag,” and who will be giving us a special audio-visual performance.

The event will be opened by a representative from the Transgender Support Association.
The film screenings and discussions will be followed by a concert by Tami T, who, as a songwriter and music producer, is distinguished for her “catchy” pop sound and for the honest lyrics of her songs that fearlessly intertwine stories about sex and love.

SUNDAY, 29 JANUARY
Voices of Muslim Women: Freedom and Empowerment

In this section we give the floor to women from the Muslim world, from a Western and non-Western perspective. The women speak through film screenings, performances and discussions. Special guests are the artistic duo Samania, who through their performances address issues of gender and sexuality, combined with other categories of identity. The video of their “Cloth” performance deals with the concept of freedom and offers food for thought, especially regarding the way we perceive freedom in the Western, as opposed to the non-Western, world.
Finally, there will be a screening of the film “Casablanca Calling”, which follows three women “Morchidat” – spiritual guides – in their efforts to teach the values of tolerance, compassion and equality in Morocco’s transitional society.

The music of Gender Fest will be covered by The Beatches, four female DJs who excel with their parties in the nightlife of Athens.

Gender Fest will host the subversive glitter “dragtivist” Zackie Oh!