ECHT (Queer Film Award)

Through the ECHT Queer Film Award, the BIFF, in cooperation with the Association for Sexual Emancipation (Verein für sexuelle Emanzipation e.V.), honors lesbian,
bisexual, gay, trans*, intersex, and queer filmmaking.

The prize money of 2,500 euros is sponsored by the Hotel Deutsches Haus, and the winning film will be selected by a jury.

Director: Alice Douard, France 2025, 97 min, color, OmdU, trailer

Jury Statement:

This year’s ECHT Film Award for Best Queer Film goes to a work that finds the political in the personal. To a film that offers insight into the lives and love of two people, in all their everydayness and ordinariness, yet never loses sight of the very real difficulties and obstacles that queer relationships in particular face time and again. In her debut film—inspired by her own experiences—the director explores inequality within equality without overdramatizing, but rather with tremendous authenticity, plenty of charm and wit, and above all, remarkable tenderness, without ever slipping into kitsch or superficiality. Excellent lead actresses and perfectly cast supporting roles do the rest, and in the end, this film is also about our social reality today—not just about France in 2014.

The 2025 ECHT Film Award goes to “15 Proofs of Love” by Alice Douard.

Jury Statement:
Wir vergeben den queeren Filmpreis ECHT an den Film TOLL von Carolina Markowicz. 
Ein leider noch (weltweit) aktuelles Thema - Konversionstherapie - wird hier mutig, bildgewaltig und erstaunlich leicht erzählt. Die Regisseurin schafft es stilsicher, allen Figuren und Beziehungen eine Ambivalenz und Komplexität zu geben, die allzu leichtfertige Be- und Verurteilungen unmöglich machen und zwingt die Zuschauenden, sich auf einer tiefen Ebenen mit den Nöten, Zwängen und der Lebenswirklichkeit einer alleinerziehenden Mutter und ihres queeren Sohnes im prekären Milieu auseinander zu setzen. Besonders herauszuheben ist die mutige Entscheidung der Regie, der Perspektive der Mutter einen grossen Raum & emotionale Nachvollziehbarkeit zu geben. Ein Film, der fernab von Simplifikation und einfachen Antworten, tief berührt und lange nachklingt.

Director: Tünde Skovrán, Romania/Canada 2023, 102 min.

JURY STATEMENT

The documentary WHO I AM NOT, by Tünde Skovrán, left a lasting impression on us. With great sensitivity, the director introduces us to the lives of the two protagonists, Sharon-Rose and Dimakatso, two intersex South Africans. In everyday moments—such as looking for a job or going on dates—it becomes strikingly and unflinchingly clear just how oppressive the binary gender system is for people. Sharon-Rose and Dimakatso refuse to be silenced; they are living proof that it is society that is sick, not them. Sharon-Rose competes as a beauty queen, while Dimakatso works as an activist to raise awareness and meets with medical students, among others. Time and again, they are forced to muster the strength to find themselves, even as their environment—through its ignorance and fear of deviating from a supposed norm—denies them a place in society. The question Dimakatso asks her partner—“Where do I belong?”—lingers long after the credits roll, forcing the audience to reflect on the rigid concepts of belonging and identity. Finally, we were particularly moved by the loving portrayal of the protagonists, which gives them the space that is often denied to them. “Who I Am Not” is not only emotionally moving but also thought-provoking. The film is a clear indictment of the binary system and reminds us that life exists in all its diversity

Honorable Mention: ALONG CAME LOVE

The feature film ALONG CAME LOVE, originally titled Le Temps d’aimer [lə tã d(e)me], receives an enthusiastic Honorable Mention in the ECHT category.
This narrative drama by French director Katell Quillévéré [katɛl kiléveʁe] is worth watching in many respects. Yes, very much worth watching, in fact. We on the jury are deeply impressed by the film’s artistic ambition and visual aesthetics. We were also impressed by its historical accuracy.
We’re talking about a story that unfolds over three consecutive decades. The opening credits are also a prelude—a montage of monochrome images that stir our emotions. A striking prologue in which black-and-white ways of thinking suddenly collide with the colorful nuances between joy and anger.
It’s about love—and war. What is love, if not war? If not a war-like struggle with the peace we feel in solitude, and with the frustration we encounter in a relationship.
Madeleine, a waitress and single mother, and François, an intellectual and scion of a wealthy family, meet in the early 1950s. On a picturesque shore in Brittany, not far from the once fiercely contested beaches of Normandy, they fall in love. They tie the knot, but each keeps their grave personal secrets hidden.
But what about the queer element? Where is it? Where isn’t it? It simmers explosively beneath the surface—and beneath the covers. In a surprising way, bisexual and homosexual desires take on color and form, so to speak. At the same time, moral conventions bear down on the characters with crushing force—a development the director symbolically foreshadows as she follows the couple through a narrow, dark tunnel between dream and trauma.

Sweden, Norway 2022, 87 min, color, Director: Christoffer Sandler

Everything is going wrong in 18-year-old Joanna’s life right now: She’s run out of ADHD medication and is desperately trying to get money for more. She’s being bullied at school, and her depressed father can’t bring himself to get off the couch—not even to visit her mother’s grave. To escape the growing storm in her head, she goes swimming—even without paying the admission fee. There she meets Audrey—and everything changes. The film follows Joanna through her complicated life, showcasing situational comedy as well as depth, without ever becoming maudlin. This is largely thanks to Niki Hanseblad, the charismatic actress playing Joanna, who radiates a fighting spirit and optimism.

Biography Director: Christoffer Sandler is a Swedish writer, producer, and director. He has previously worked on various “coming-of-age” TV series. His first feature film, *SO DAMN EASY GOING*, was, among other things, the opening film of the Göteborg Film Festival and was nominated for several awards.

JURY STATEMENT

“Lesbian love as a safe haven for a troubled protagonist. How rarely have we seen this portrayed in this way? In ‘So Damn Easy Going,’ teenager Joanna isn’t just struggling with growing up—she also has to cope with her ADHD. When her depressed father is temporarily unable to pay for her medication and the daily necessities of life, she finds herself in trouble. This is also because she doesn’t want anyone to know about her precarious situation—least of all her love interest, Audrey.
Screenwriters Lina Åström, Jessika Jankert, and Linda-Maria Birbeck, along with co-writer and director Christoffer Sandler, didn’t turn this into an arthouse drama with their wonderful young cast, but rather a fresh, mainstream arthouse dramedy. By honoring this film, we want to send a message in support of casual storytelling about
multifaceted, queer characters who are not defined EXCLUSIVELY by their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Honorable Mention for MY EMPTINESS AND I

“While a growing number of films now tell stories about trans* people, trans* lead actress Raphaëlle Pérez was directly involved in writing the screenplay for *My Emptiness and I*, thereby helping to shape the narrative of her own story from the very beginning. The result is a film that avoids the classic narrative tropes about trans* people, yet simultaneously addresses themes familiar to many who live outside gender norms. Raphi, in particular, grapples with the question of how far she wants to—or must—conform her body to the norm in order to, for example, have a fulfilling relationship. Underlying this is the ever-present question of what makes a woman
a woman. We’re giving “My Emptiness and I” a special mention because the film follows the main character, Raphi, through a process that isn’t primarily about gender transition, but rather critically reflects on the journey from a seemingly apolitical life to public visibility in society.”

Directed by Lara Aerts, Netherlands 2020, 7 min

Why is it so important to be a boy or a girl? Wen Long explains, quite naturally and openly, that he was born an intersex child. The nine-year-old wears both “boys’” and “girls’” clothes and plays with toys associated with both genders. The only problem is that others don’t know what to make of it. People say, “If you’re both a boy and a girl at the same time, you’re basically nothing.” Wen Long isn’t interested in making a decision; they just want to be Wen Long. This insightful, playful documentary shows just how absurd the imposed binary gender division really is. Clothing, toys, restrooms—everything is strictly separated. The social taboo surrounding intersexuality leads to problems. A typical example is the fact that Wen Long’s teacher considers the topic unsuitable for children, even though it is a completely natural phenomenon that also occurs in the animal kingdom. So why is it considered strange in humans?

Directed by Levin Akin, Georgia, Sweden (2019), 105 min.

Since his early youth, Merab has devoted his life to Georgian dance and trains with his partner Mary in the Tbilisi National Ensemble. Between daily ballet classes and occasional dates with Mary, he has hardly any time for himself—especially when he has to look after his chaotic brother. However, his world is turned upside down when the charismatic Irakli joins the ensemble. Not only does Irakli become Merab’s greatest rival for a spot in the starting lineup, but he also awakens Merab’s sexual desire. Levan Akin unfolds the story against a backdrop of a society marked by homophobia, navigating the tension between harshness and devotion, passion and ruthlessness.

Jury’s Statement:

“There is no sexuality in Georgian dance!” This is the guiding principle of training at the National Ensemble in the film *When We Danced*, in which the preservation of tradition is linked to ideas of purity and the renunciation of individual expression.

Merab, a young aspiring dancer, is a student at the Georgian National Ballet Academy in Tbilisi. His greatest dream is to become a professional dancer. When the handsome and charismatic Irakli joins the class, Merab initially sees him as a rival for the coveted permanent spot in an ensemble. But Merab’s world is slowly turned upside down as the rivalry very soon turns into admiration and an ever-growing desire. His dancing transforms into a choreography of unexpected zest for life and into a struggle for success and recognition. He begins to rebel against the traditional Georgian values of ballet, as he—as a man—is expected to dance in a certain way, which he finds increasingly difficult to accept.

With a precise and sensitive eye, filmmaker Levan Akin shows us beauties worth admiring and structures that need to be changed. In Levan Gelbakhiani, he has found a lead actor who, through his dance, wonderfully conveys the visual metaphor for the pain and ecstasy of someone who finally wants to fully live his own truth.

The film asks whether a tradition that provides people with stability and identity can afford to turn its back on opportunities for individuals, the LGBTQ+ community, and young people. And people in Tbilisi—who, exactly two weeks ago, tried to prevent sold-out movie screenings with violent protests—are currently asking whether a film with a gay lead character is allowed to compete as an international entry in the race for the Oscars. In times of division and simplistic answers, we would like to honor a film that neither condemns cultural traditions nor rejects individual happiness.

“Als wir tanzten” celebrates love, dance, and life—and thus also the culture and traditions of Georgia—but ultimately also the protagonist’s rebellion and resistance against these traditions. The jury congratulates Levan Akin’s team on this cinematic achievement; “And Then We Danced” is a worthy winner of the 3rd Queer Film Award of the State of Lower Saxony. Thank you very much!

Regie: Olga Chajdas, Polen 2018, 130 Min.

Nina und Wojtek sind ein ungleiches Paar auf der Suche nach einer passenden Leihmutter für das Kind, das ihre Beziehung retten soll. Beide treffen eines Tages auf Magda und scheinen die ideale Kandidatin gefunden zu haben. Die Dinge werden komplizierter, als Nina sich plötzlich von Magda angezogen fühlt. NINA ist eine Geschichte über eine unerwartete, schwierige Liebe und komplizierte Entscheidungen, in der Verlierer und Gewinner auf der gleichen Seite stehen und in der die Welt nicht (ein-)geteilt ist in Gut und Böse oder Hetero- und Homosexuell. Dieses vollendete Debüt malt ein sensibles Porträt einer starken, aber verwirrten Frau, gefangen in ihrer Rolle als Ehefrau und Tochter.