Series of events and screenings to amplify the voices and visibility of LGBTQ+ people
10 June 2024
Short film screening: “Transistence” (2023), 19:00–19:30
On 10 July 2023, Ana, a transgender woman and migrant from Cuba, was brutally murdered in her home in central Athens. A transphobic hate crime in a country that provides very few rights to transgender people. That same year, Spain passed the most progressive legal framework for trans rights in Europe. How does this law affect the lives of members of this community?
Journalists from Popaganda, Anastasia Vaitsopoulou and Ioannis Tsioulis, travel from Athens to Madrid to explore trans experiences. On 4 October 2023, the cross-border documentary had its European premiere between Greece and Spain at the Athens International Film Festival “Athens Premiere Nights,” shedding light on one of the most invisible communities.
Documentary screening: “Lesvia” (2024) by Zeli Chatzidimitriou, 20:00–21:30
In the 1970s, lesbians from all over the world arrived in a small village in Lesvos. While tensions with local residents grew, director Zeli Chatzidimitriou tells a story spanning 40+ years about love, community, conflicts, and what it means to feel accepted. Through her first feature-length film, she provides a valuable account of Eressos from the 1970s to today, preserving an important piece of LGBTQ+ history. Using rare archival material, diaries, photographs, videos, and interviews with key figures, the film unfolds the captivating story of a place and an entire community that fought for inclusion and equal treatment, even when it was far from guaranteed.
12 June 2024
Panel discussion: “The Role of Gender Performance in the Formation of Lesbian Identity,” 18:00
The way we perform our gender constitutes an ongoing dialogue between ourselves and the world. Our understanding of gender is shaped by how society treats us, and conversely, society’s perception is influenced by how we perform gender. This relationship is not always direct, clear, conscious, or predictable, but it is formative for identity, desire, and social behavior. This panel will explore, beyond the surface, the foundational elements that shape lesbian identity, in a deeply experiential yet political discussion.
Discussion moderated by: Eva Xevgeni (she/her), editor-in-chief of Womanlandia
Participants: Savvoula Oikonomou (she/her), comedian, member of Queer Space Athens
Lee (she/her), member of the coordinating team of Queer Space Athens
Anda Pana, entrepreneur
Hybrid performance / book presentation: “Dad, I Want You to Be Ashamed of Me,” Sam Albatros, 20:00–21:00
Centered on the experiences and multiple identities of the performer/author, this performance focuses on queer shame. Alternating between comedy and tragedy, it demonstrates the multiplicity of identities that characterize queer (and non-queer) individuals. Traumatic experiences may be transformed into comedy or tragedy, yet as tragedies, they are often more valued. Similarly, queer individuals may be accepted differently depending on the identity they display.
Sam Albatros is the pseudonym of a Greek artist known in the queer artistic scene for his literary work and translations of poetry. He wears masks and has never publicly revealed his face. Born and raised in provincial Greece, he holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London. His first novel, Faulty Boy, and stage adaptations focusing on a gender-nonconforming child, have attracted attention in Greek media. As an artist, he has presented video-art performances in Greece, Cyprus, the UK, and Berlin, and he lectures in psychology and neuroscience at a university in London.