Talking hamsters? Magic plants? Romance even? Yes, it must be time to POUT again, like you did last summer…
So says the Filmhouse, which this month welcomes back POUTfest, the annual tour of international LGBTQI films. This year there are screenings from Canada, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Germany and France, exploring everything from the early 17th century life of Queen Kristina of Sweden to a modern day relationship threatened by tragedy – and a rather unusual teen body swap.
The first film in this series is Neil Armfield’s Holding the Man (15); Tim and John fell in love as teenagers at Xavier College in Melbourne; their romance endures for 15 years – through distance, discrimination, temptations, jealousies and losses – until an insurmountable problem tragically rears its head. Based on the best-selling memoir (winner of the 1995 United Nations Human Rights Award for Non-Fiction) of the late Australian writer, actor and activist Timothy Conigrave, this film is a deeply affecting tale that sidesteps melodrama in favour of a more human telling. Showing at 3.30pm on Saturday 6th August and 5.45pm on Sunday 7th August.
Next weekend the biographical The Girl King (15) tells a very different story. In 1632, at the age of 6, Kristina Vasa became the first native female sovereign of Sweden. Raised as a prince under a conservative Lutheran court, the androgynous Kristina grows up with ideas for modernising Sweden and bringing an end to war – but upon her ascent to the Swedish throne, Kristina is thrust into a labyrinth of power in a court dominated by men who have no tolerance for her awakening sexuality. Showing at 3.35pm on Saturday 13th August and 5.40pm on Sunday 14th August.
Girls Lost (unrated) follows one week later. When Kim, Momo and Bella find themselves wondering if life would be easier if they were boys, the nectar of a strange black flower makes their wish come true. Avoiding many of the usual tropes, Girls Lost instead takes a route through supernatural fantasy and revenge on its way to exploring questions of gender and sexuality, as one of the trio begins to embrace this transition rather more than the other two…. Girls Lost will screen at 3.40pm on Saturday 20th August and 6.05pm on Sunday 21st August.
The season’s final film is Closet Monster (unrated); set in St John’s, Newfoundland, it tells the story of Oscar Madly, a creative and driven teenager who hovers on the brink of adulthood. Affected by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality, and haunted by horrific images of a tragic gay-bashing he witnessed as a child, Oscar dreams of escaping the town he feels is suffocating him; so begins a journey of self-discovery which, with the beloved help of his talking pet hamster 
Buffy, his imagination and the prospect of love, will ultimately bring him closer to confronting his inner monster. Closet Monster won Best Canadian Feature Film at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Showing at 3.50pm on Saturday 27th August and 6pm on Sunday 28th August.
All films will be shown at the Filmhouse, 88 Lothian Road. Tickets are available from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. Ticket deals are available for this season.
