Pink Apple fans out …

This year’s run of the gay and lesbian Pink Apple film festival presents several novelties. The festival is expanding to new venues: along with Arthouse Movie and Le Paris, Arthouse Piccadilly and Cabaret Voltaire will also serve as venues for chosen events.

As well, this year’s festival programme offers more room to and a greater range of debates about film. In addition to the Q&As following most of the screenings, there will be a panel debate on gay and lesbian characters in television series; and in honour of the 10th anniversary of «Venus Boyz», a panel will take a look at the gender discourse over the last 10 years and today.

This year’s festival has decided to put the illustrious Anne Lister in the limelight. Anne Lister lived in 19th century England exhibiting a lesbian awareness that is stunning up to this day. The festival also devotes itself to the enfant terrible Jean Genet, and welcomes gay icon Rosa von Praunheim and his latest film. Moreover, Wieland Speck, film maker, curator of the Berlinale film festival and co-founder of the world’s most prestigious gay and lesbian film award, the Teddy Award is also a welcomed special guest at this year’s festival.

The present day world is another focal point of this Pink Apple festival. In Frauenfeld a panel discussion on rainbow families will accompany the film «Mama Mama, Papa Papa». The racy feature film «Fit» about homophobia among pupils demonstrates how schools can prevent discrimination by explicitly addressing homophobia rather than turning a blind eye to it. The film will be shown in the presence of director and leading actor Rikki Beadle-Blair.

The Pink Apple 2011 programme encompasses 90 films from 20 countries. Not only are a record-breaking number of international and national guests attending the festival, but this festival will be featuring numerous world and international premieres. Both the range of special guests and screening premieres are witness to the fact that the Pink Apple festival is a highly valued venue for the launching of films, and a tribute to the festival’s far reaching network beyond Switzerland.

We are looking forward to a rousing and stimulating festival and anticipate welcoming a high attendance of film buffs from near and far.  

Your Pink Apple team