Queer Wave 2022 launches at Rialto Theatre

With a special screening at the Rialto Theatre on November 21, Queer Wave, the Cyprus LGBT+ Film Festival makes its first appearance in Limassol. As a prelude to this year’s edition, Queer Wave will be sharing three-time Oscar nominee film Flee with a Limassol audience for the first time. An introduction will be given by Queer Wave founder and artistic director Diego Armando Aparicio, and the screening will be followed by an online discussion with Flee director Jonas Poher Rasmussen.

In 2022, Flee became the first film in the history of cinema to be nominated for Academy Awards in the categories Best International Feature, Documentary Feature and Animated Feature. The film was part of the official selection for Cannes in 2020, it swept important awards at festivals such as Sundance in 2021, and was lauded by critics and audiences worldwide. The film went on to win three European Film Awards in 2021 and was among the three finalists for the 2022 LUX Audience Award.

The animated documentary follows Amin, a man who left Afghanistan at a young age. Now 36 years old, a Danish citizen, and an accomplished academic, he is making life plans with his soon-to-be husband. For the first time in 20 years he is confronted with his painful past and recounts his story as a child refugee. Flee tells an unforgettable story of self-discovery, reminding audiences that only by confronting the past is it possible to carve out a future. It is only when we stop fleeing from who we are that we can find the true meaning of home.

Screened in its original languages, which include Danish, English, Russian, Swedish and Dari, the film will include subtitles in Greek and English. Following the event at Rialto, the third edition of Queer Wave will take place between November 25 and December 4 in Nicosia.

Queer Wave 2022 Launch Event

Film screening and discussion. Launch event of Queer Wave in Limassol. November 21. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8.30pm. €5. www.rialto.com.cy