Location: Multiple Locations

Time: May 30 - June 7, 2024

8th Edition of qFEST: Challenging Festival Program at Split's Cultural Hotspots

The eighth edition of qFEST, the only festival in the Split area providing LGBTIQ individuals with an affirmative atmosphere and a safe space for creative expression and cultural consumption tailored to their needs, begins on Thursday, May 30.

Over the course of nine festival days, a diverse and challenging program of exhibitions, performances, film screenings, workshops, and parties awaits us.

From films featured at international festivals to the world premiere of local productions, from the artistic works of young queer artists to community participation in creative processes, from socializing at familiar places to partying with new DJs and sounds – all of this at important and indispensable cultural and social venues in the city, such as Klub Kocka, MKC Gallery, Croatian National Theatre, and the LGBT Center Split.

qFEST PROGRAM

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Thursday, 30.05.2024, 18:00 - 24:00 - Courtyard of Klub Kocka, Dom mladih  

qSOCIALIZING - MALI ZVJERINJAK - OPENING OF QFEST

We kick off the 8th edition of qFEST with a gentle warm-up, raising the temperature just below feverish levels… Just enough to draw back dusty curtains, shed all social masks, and - careless as we usually aren't - showcase ourselves in the larger pot of beasts at Mali Zvjerinjak.

The Underworld collective will handle the sound magic, starting with some vibey stuff, then ramping up as much as your bodies can endure. For those who love discovering the secrets of surviving artistic crafts, we've prepared a screen-printing close-up, so you can check out how to “grease” an unfinished T-shirt or canvas bag. But you can also get your hands dirty yourself. At hand, there will also be the q+ security zine titled "On Dance Floor Politics," as well as a variety of other items produced by the queerANarchive collective.

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Thursday, 30.05.2024, 20:00  - Gallery of Klub Kocka, Dom mladih   

qEXHIBITION / PERFORMANCE - KRIS KOMLJENOVIĆ - GALAPAGO: HOMUNCUL

Galapagos:Homuncul is a gallery spatial installation with a performance inspired by the early works and films of Meredith Monk, especially the film Book of Days. The work addresses the theme of mourning, specifically the personal experience of mourning by a queer person for the loss of another queer person. The author places mourning in a context inspired by the aesthetics of Christianity and medieval folk theater, emphasizing the merging of Christianity's inherent theatricality with the amateurism of folk theater.

The work consists of scenography, costumes, and performance, which together provide insight into the imaginary world inhabited by Homuncul, a character embodying mourning.

The exhibition is open until Friday, June 7, and can be viewed on weekdays from 18:00 to 21:00.

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Friday, 31.05.2024, 20:00 - LGBT Center Split  

qFILM - GLAD - WORLD PREMIERE

The film Glad is based on the dreams and daydreams of a quirky and cheerful group, their utopian visions of reality reflecting an everyday life that isn't so cheerful. The hunger for Indian figs, watermelon, and excess has led to a series of illogical plots and even less expected outcomes, questioning usual film narratives but always leading us to unconditional acceptance and community.

Participants: Berime Shortall, Damiana Dildo, Petra, Rama, Tihana Forever, Tonči, Usaftana Sapfa, Zemanuel van Zoek… 

The film was created through a participatory workshop in co-production with the queerANarchive collective and Kino Klub Split in collaboration with Drag Kokošinjac.

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Saturday, 01.06.2024, 20:00  - MKC Gallery, Dom mladih  

qPERFORMANCE - SINDRI UČU - DINA PUSTINJSKA

An excess of solitude, over-contemplation, and many, many inappropriate emotions roughly construct the character of Dina the Desert, whose ideals have crumbled while hatred and resentment flourish. The emotions the author conveys in this installation performance, through movement and video text projection, are, as she says, like a speck that flies into your eye just as you're about to start a presentation. Or as if you swallowed a pill without enough saliva and spent the next hour wondering if it’s still there or if your throat is just irritated. Or simply - like a cold room.

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Monday - Thursday, 03. - 06.06.2024, 17:00 - 20:00   - LGBT Center Split  

qWORKSHOP - PETAR VRANJKOVIĆ - MONSTROUS BODIES

A three-day photography workshop conceptually focuses on modern monsters, hybrid creations, monstrous co-creations. Exploring identity through the form of Polaroid photography gives us the opportunity to manipulate our own identity through co-creating community ideas. Investigating “flaws” in our bodies and identities through the subversive perspectives of the community allows us to create new paradigms of existence. In the workshop, we deal with jointly creating tools of resistance as opposition to socially imposed norms and identities, questioning and deconstructing what is “wrong” with us and which of these “flaws” are indispensable today.

The workshop is led by Petar Vranjković, an artist and researcher who uses archival items, photographs, graphics, and design in his work. He is interested in shaping memories and storytelling ideas through artistic narratives. He earned a master's degree in Animation and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.

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Tuesday, 04.06.2024, 19:00 - 21:00 - Jakov Gotovac Music Salon, Concert hall Hrv

qSCREENINGS   - LOVE LETTERS

A program of short films paying tribute to pioneering artists who paved the way for future generations with their creative expressions. Like treasured queer family albums, these films use photographic archives to connect diverse spaces and times. By discovering photographs reflecting aspects of ourselves, we travel to new places and activate a range of emotions.

These films, as love letters, are dedicated to and inspired by Nazario Luque, the author of the first openly gay comics in Spain; inspiring Arab women who embraced cross-dressing in the 1920s; talented Black queer photographer Ajamu; and the enchanting Valery Taccarelli. With much love to them all.

The program is realized in collaboration with the Xposed Queer Film Festival, with film selection by Pol Merchan.

El jardín de los faunos (Pol Merchan, Germany/Spain, 2022, 24’) & talk with the author  

Nazario, the founder of the Spanish underground comic movement and a pioneer of the gay graphic novel, reflects on his eventful life and his brilliant and explicit works.

Neo Nahda (May Ziadé, UK, 2023, 12’)  

Mona, a young woman in London, discovers archived photos of Arab women cross-dressing in the 1920s. Somewhere between her fantasies and reality, she embarks on a feverish journey of discovering lost history and her own identity.

The Homecoming: A short film about Ajamu (Topher Campbell, UK, 1985, 17’)  

It's 1995. Ajamu, a Black queer photographer, is organizing his first solo exhibition in his hometown of Huddersfield. He’s out of money and soon his electricity will be cut off. How can he get there from London? Along the way, he meets some friends and foes, including his best friend Michael and a handsome homophobe prowling the streets. There are also insightful comments from Stuart Hall and artist Sonia Boyce, as well as images of Brixton transformed by gentrification and an influx of white people. Ultimately, a handsome chauffeur takes Ajamu, allowing him to finally declare who he is and where his place in the world is.

Valery Alexanderplatz (Silvia Maggi, Germany/Italy, 2023, 28’)  

An experimental short film about the life of Italian trans-activist Valérie Taccarelli, shot in central Berlin - Mitte, around the famous Alexanderplatz. The story begins with Milva, a popular Italian diva, and her most famous song Alexanderplatz. However, only a few know that this song is actually an adaptation of the song Valery by Alfredo Cohen, released in 1978. Valery was a 15-year-old trans teenager, now known as Valérie Taccarelli.

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Friday, 07.06.2024, 22:00 - 04:00 - Klub Kocka, Dom mladih  

qPARTY - ZVJERINJAK

We'll conclude the festival week with another unforgettable ZVJERINJAK at Klub Kocka. The eclectic music chaos and sweating on the dance floor will be ensured by tnxpech (prednjačenje, ST), whose small talk includes: perreo, juke, jungle, reggaeton, trap; followed by top1gurman (TheHub) with experimental and unexpected genre combinations within gay aesthetics and queer pop, and Giljo (ST) with a set of tribal, bass, UK techno, and jungle; and finally, returning to the club is gabybabydoll (zvjerinjak, EU), a lover of eclectic and unexpected rhythms of Latino core, club edits, FDL, dembow romantico, fast and sudden trans techno.