announce

Teddy Award Berlinale queer-award winners, Queer Lion Venice Film Festival nominees, participants of Rotterdam, Cottbus, Austin, Cleveland, and other festivals: SUNNY BUNNY announces International Competition Program.

The international full-length competition program of the second festival of queer-cinema SUNNY BUNNY is ready to present fresh European and American cinema hits.

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Starting with All Shall Be Well and its Ukrainian premiere. The movie received the Teddy Award during the Berlinale International Film Festival, one of the world's oldest queer awards. The film follows a Hong Kong couple, Angie and Pat, who have been together for over four decades. After Pat’s unexpected death, Angie finds herself at the mercy of Pat's family as she struggles to retain her dignity and the home that both had shared for over thirty years.

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Another winner of the Teddy Awards is the film by Georgian director Levan Akin, Crossing. Berlinale hosted its world premiere within the Panorama program in February this year, where the movie received the jury’s award. Ukrainians know Levan Akin for his movie And Then We Danced, which received the 10th Odesa International Film Festival Grand Prize in 2019. Levan Akin’s new film follows the retired teacher, who arrives in Istanbul to find her long-lost niece, Tekla.

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The Summer with Carmen received a Queer Lion nomination during Venice Film Festival last year. At home, in Greece, the movie got two awards at Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Carmen is the name of the dog, whom the protagonist's ex-partner has adopted. Together with his friend, he spends a day at the queer beach of Athens, trying to transform life events into the film script.

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The Mexican film, All the Silence, tells us the story of lesbian couple Miriam and Lola. In the morning, Miriam teaches sign language. During the day, she participates in theatrical production, while maintaining a secure and passionate connection with her lover Lola. Although her life is interconnected with deaf people, her life goes on a downward spiral when she learns she will become fully deaf.

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The Finnish movie Light Light Light participated in the Cottbus Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and received several nominations from the Finnish National Jussi Awards. The movie begins in the spring of 1986, in a Finnish village affected by the Chornobyl disaster. Just as unexpectedly, a girl Mimi appears in the life of a local Mariia. 20 years later, Mariia returns home to take care of her sick mother, and memories of that summer start rising to the surface.

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Egghead and Twinkie was recognized as the best comedy film at Austin Film Festival and the best film at Cinequest San Jose Film Festival. Sarah Kambe Holland’s feature debut, made possible by a crowdfunding campaign on TikTok, tells us about a road trip of a girl Twinkie and her best friend Egghead. After an awkward coming out to her parents, she decides to meet her online crush at a big lesbian dance party, Lez Dance.

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For the first time, SUNNY BUNNY will introduce the short film competition program with works of Berlinale, Locarno, and Venice Critics Week participants. I Don't Want to Be Just a Memory will have its international world premiere at the festival.

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Learn more about the films presented in the program:

www.sunnybunnyqiff.com

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International Competition:

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Full Length Features:

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All the Silence, Diego del Rio, Mexico, 2023, 95’

The Summer with Carmen, Zacharias Mavroeidis, Greece, 2023, 106’

Crossing, Levan Akin, Sweden Denmark France Turkey Georgia, 2024, 105’

We Are On Air, Diogo Costa Amarante, Portugal, 2024, 91’

All Shall Be Well, Ray Yeung, Hong Kong, China, 2024, 93’

Throuple, Greyson Horst, USA, 2024, 89’

Light Light Light, Inari Niemi, Finland, 2023, 91’

Egghead and Twinkie, Sarah Kambe Holland, USA, 2023, 87’

Amal, Jawad Rhalib, Belgium, 2023, 107’

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Short Films:

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Du bist so wunderbar, Leandro Godinho, Paulo Menezes, Brazil, Germany, 2023, 17’

Nothing Special, Mikko Makela, United Kingdom, 2024, 14’

Ticker, Thom Petty, United Kingdom, 2023, 9’

Dildotectonics, Tomas Paula Marques, Portugal, 2023, 15’

Apocalypse Yesterday, Bohdan Kolesnyk, Ukraine, 2023, 18’

I Don't Want to Be Just a Memory, Sarnt Utamachote, Germany, 2024, 20’

Bolero, Nans Laborde-Jourdaa, France, 2023, 17’

Bold Eagle, Whammy Alcazaren, Philippines, 2024, 16’

Catorce, Daniel Sanchez-Lopez, Spain, 2023, 12’

Metamorfosi, Pietro Porporati, Italy, 2023, 11’

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Additionally, the festival program will include 6 Ukrainian short films from industry newcomers and well-known directors. Including the first queer movie of Mariupol native director Zoya Laktionova.

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Ukrainian Short Films:

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The Return, Vadym Mochalov, Ukraine, 2023, 32’

Lines, Hanna Trofimova, Ukraine, 2023, 40’

Qirim, Kateryna Khramtsova, Czech Republic, 2023, 10’

With Love Koptev, Yelyzaveta Sherstnyova, Ukraine, 2024, 8’

Apocalypse Yesterday, Bohdan Kolesnyk, Ukraine, 2023, 18’

We Have Never Met, Zoya Laktionova, Ukraine, 2023, 5’

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The queer-cinema festival SUNNY BUNNY will run from 19 to 26 April.

You can buy a Festival Pass