The queer-feminist film series has held regular screenings at Rotondes since it was launched in 2015. Be it a German documentary portraying the daily life of transgender people, a Dutch “feminist fairy tale” about female empowerment, or a French coming-out drama, the films (often with English subtitles) attract a mixed audience, including a core of regulars.
“It is an open event, and anyone can attend. That also nourishes the debate,” says Hélène Walland, who has been helping select the films and publicise screenings since joining the collective in 2017. The five-strong team at queer loox choses films that audiences would usually not otherwise be able to see on the big screen in Luxembourg. “And, of course, the film has to have an LGBT or a queer aspect or a feminist aspect, or all of them together. But we don’t really have an editorial line. We want to provide a platform for different topics related to LGBT culture and feminism, which you don’t see that much otherwise in Luxembourg.”
Audiences usually stay behind after the screening to discuss the film informally over a drink, but sometimes queer loox will also organise a more formal talk. “Last year, around Intersex Day [26 October], we had a discussion with different associations. We would like to do that more often,” Hélène explains. She cites Geena Davis’s “if she can’t see it, she can’t be it” quest to improve the representation of women and LGBT people in film as one of the ideas behind the queer loox screenings.
“Luxembourg is very progressive, even compared to France. It is important that those questions are raised in a more mainstream way,” says Hélène. “Women can be superheroes. There is transgender representation in films, and it is much more diverse than before. In the 70s or 80s, homosexuals in film were always represented in a very negative way. They committed suicide or were rejected by their family. And lesbians were hardly represented at all.”
The organisation also participated in the very first multi-discipline Queer Little Lies festival, which took place over three days at the Esch municipal theatre at the beginning of December. So progress is being made, with venues like Neimënster having a very interesting programme in its focus on feminist subjects. But in the face of wider global trends, Hélène is aware that this may not be permanent. “When you advance somewhere, there is always a backlash, and that is not just limited to LGBT rights.”
queer loox
Founded in 2015, queer loox is run by five associates--Hélène Walland, Constanze Weth, Alice Neusiedler, Katrien Deroey and Mari Väli. It hosts film screenings regularly at Rotondes.
The next dates in 2019 are 9 March--Dutch feminist drama “Antonia’s Line”--and 7 May--German coming out film “Von Mädchen und Pferde”.
This article was first published in the Winter 2019 edition of Delano Magazine.