Fringe! festival returns with special emphasis on Brazil

Rodrigo Felha’s Favela Gay, Genesis Cinema, 26 November

Queer film and arts festival Fringe! returns this month, with screenings, talks, panels, workshops, performances and parties taking place in 14 venues across East London from 24–29 November.

This year sees the festival branch out to the Barbican and Genesis Cinema, and there’s a distinctly international flavour to programme, with representation from more than 20 countries and a special focus on Brazil.

Documentary Favela Gay, directed by Rodrigo Felha, looks at queer life in the slums of Rio de Janeiro (26 November), while Gustavo Vinagre’s hybrid documentary Nova Dubai explores sex, urban spaces and gentrification (28 November).

Other highlights include Eisenstein in Guanajuato, Peter Greenway’s camp and provocative biopic of filmmaker Segei Eisenstein’s trip to Mexico in 1931 (24 November), the Lithuanian Oscar-nominated Summer of Sangaile, a coming-of-age story of two young girls (25 November), and the documentary The New Black, which follows activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Maryland, USA (27 November).

From its humble beginnings five years ago, Fringe! has blossomed into one of London’s premier queer arts festivals.

Organisers are promising a packed programme of thought-provoking new work from across the globe, and to complement the films expect a series of talks on issues such as LGBT immigration, workshops about spanking and shibari, and live performances from the likes of Portuguese ‘post-porn’ collective Quimera Rosa.

For the full programme see fringefilmfest.com