“Wegen Hegel" at ENNESIMO FILM FESTIVAL 2024 C
“Wegen Hegel” is going to have its Italian premiere at ENNESIMO FILM FESTIVAL 2024
https://www.ennesimofilmfestival.com/film/wegen-hegel-colpa-di-hegel/
"Wegen Hegel" @Queer East
My short film “Wegen Hegel” is showing at the lovely Queer East festival. See the info below and this link: https://queereast.org.uk/film/welcome-to-neverland/
Rio Cinema
28 April
Sunday
2:00pm
Vampiric schoolgirls, crocodilian men, and spectral lovers populate this eerie programme, in which myths, the supernatural, and alternative universes spark the queer imagination. Blurring boundaries between reality and fantasy, the filmmakers delve into weird and wonderful experiences that ignite the possibility of change: personal, political, and philosophical. To be queer is, literally, to be strange or odd, which here serves as a means of challenging cultural understandings of gender and sexuality. Through blood, fish scales, and sexy copies of Hegel’s oeuvre, the films in this collection make otherworldliness a point of pride.
Total Running Time: 84 min
Chomp It!
Two crocodilian men go to a swimming pool to cool off. One of them is seemingly of a different and special kind; the other is unable to control his desire.
Mark Chua, Lam Li Shuen | Singapore | 2023 | 12min
Still Life
Following a car accident, three friends find themselves in a limbo between life and death, but only one of them will return to life on Earth.
Sarah Kim | US | 2023 | 15min
Mom, if I were a Vampire
Wen, an insecure teenage girl, dislikes her disapproving mother, and vows to be nothing like her. After meeting a cool girl with a couldn’t-give-a-damn attitude, Wen becomes infatuated and follows her down a rabbit hole.
Deborah Devyn Chuang | Taiwan | 2022 | 17min
Wegen Hegel
Philosophy student Ping has recently moved to Germany when he is caught in a Covid lockdown. Through online dating he meets Max, who invites him on a ‘socially-distanced hookup’. But just as things are about to get spicy, a certain philosophy book ruins their plans.
Popo Fan | Germany | 2023 | 13min
Fish Boy
Fish Boy is a lyrical meditation on faith, love, and polyamory, explored through the eyes of an Asian American teenager. When 16-year-old Patrick is forced to choose between his love for God and his fluid sexuality, his self-discovery manifests itself in his skin.
Christopher Yip | Canada | 2023 | 11min
Their Universe
Jun, who passed away in an accident a year ago, returns to Earth as a ghost to say goodbye to his lover, Hyun, while his parents mourn their son’s passing.
Han Jeong-gil | South Korea | 2023 | 16min
"Mama Rainbow" Chinese Queer Feminist Film Screening + Dialogue Series #2
Date and time
Sat, Feb 3, 2024 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM PST
Location
254 East Georgia St
254 East Georgia St Vancouver, BC V6A 1Z7 Canada
Show map
Refund Policy
Contact the organizer to request a refund.
Eventbrite's fee is nonrefundable.
About this event
Featuring documentaries and independent films created by Chinese queer feminists, this screening+dialogue series speaks about marginalized individuals' journeys of resistance and empowerment in the past decades where we witnessed increasing crackdowns on China’s queers and feminists communities. We invite you to join as we hope this series can gather Chinese diasporas and queer allies as a community in solidarity despite state surveillance wanting to break us into isolated fragments.
Our second movie focuses on mothers of LGBTQ+ individuals in China and how love connects us all. The screening will be followed by a pre-recorded Q&A from the director Fan Popo (who's currently residing in Berlin), and a facilitated discussion among participants.
LOCATION: atelier254 Chinatown (the venue is located on the second floor and can only be accessed through the stairs, we apologize that it is not wheelchair friendly)
DONATION: suggested donation $5 - $10 at door
DATE & TIME: Saturday, 2PM sharp, February 3, 2024.
ABOUT THE FILM:
Mama Rainbow 彩虹伴我心
Documentary, China, 2012, 80mins
Directed by Popo Fan
Subtitles in Simplified Chinese and English
Synopsis: “What if your son or daughter told you they were gay?” Six Chinese mothers share openly and freely about their experiences as parents of gay and lesbian children with the camera, in a culture where queer identity and sexual outness is strictly unaccepted. Though the specifics of their stories are all different, each mother shares their own version of a “coming out” tale — recognizing, acknowledging, and accepting their children’s sexualities. Mama Rainbow paints a hopeful portrait of the slowly changing mindset of a culture where the fear of persecution and rejection still makes coming out and living openly a great challenge. With their love, they are giving a whole new definition to Chinese-style family bonds.
故事梗概: “如果你的兒子或女兒告訴你他們是同性戀，你會怎麼辦？” 在這個多元性別和性取向常常不被接受的文化裏，六位中國母親通過鏡頭暢言她們和同性戀子女相處的經驗。 儘管故事的具體細節各不相同，但每位母親都經歷了自己版本的「出櫃」故事——從發現、認可，到接納孩子的性取向。 《 彩虹伴我心 》讓我們看到中國社會對待性少數團體的心態正在緩慢變化的希望，儘管被迫害和拒絕的恐懼仍然令酷兒們出櫃和公開生活成為一項巨大的挑戰。她們用愛，給中國式親情賦予了全新的定義。
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Popo Fan is a queer filmmaker, writer, and activist from China, where his queer documentary films have made a notable impact. Since 2016, he has concentrated on writing and directing scripted, sex-positive shorts. He is the co-founder of the Queer University Video Training Camp and has been an organizer of the Beijing Queer Film Festival for more than a decade. Popo was invited to sit on the jury of the Teddy Award of the Berlinale in 2019. He is currently based in Berlin developing his fictional feature debut.
范坡坡是一位酷兒導演、作者和活動家。 作品中影響力最大的莫過於“彩虹家庭三部曲”，包括《櫃族》、《彩虹伴我心》、《彩虹伴我行》三部作品關注於同志出櫃議題，引起巨大社會反響。 除此之外他參與組織北京酷兒影展十餘年，也是酷兒大學視訊訓練營的發起者之一。 2012年，香港同志影展授予他「玲瓏大獎」以表彰其在同志影像、平權的不懈努力。 2017年，他獲選參與柏林影展「天才訓練營」。 2019，他更擔任柏林影展泰迪熊獎評審。 目前他居住柏林正著力發展自己的劇情長片首作。
This event is open to public.
Chinese Queer Feminist Film Screening + Dialogue Series is a Vancouver-based, non-profit project. All donations collected in this event will be sent towards the filmmake and PFLAG China.
We welcome queers, feminists and allies. Please be reminded that this space requires participants to respect others’ identities and experiences as LGBTQ+, and feminists, their willingness of disclosing their identities in any ways, and to respect their pronouns use, name and gender expression. We are against any kinds of misogyny, any phobia (e.g., homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and aphobia), ableism, racism, sexism, mansplain and any other discriminatory ideology.
The Mouth Wide Opens and Shuts: Queer Foodism and Identity
My humble essay about “queer foodism” is published in “Contemporary Queer Chinese Art”, thanks to the publishers, editors, and co-authors! To buy this book you can visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/contemporary-queer-chinese-art-9781350333536/ Or you can simply download the pdf of my article here.
COMRADES I LOVE YOU
The screening series “Comrades I Love You” will soon comes to the second half. Basically, I’ll be there every screening Dec 14-16th.
Thursday 14.12.2023 20:00
Some Like it Sweet and Hot - Films by habakari-cinema+records
すべすべの秘法 (The Secret to My Silky Skin)
Imaizumi Koichi, Japan 2014, 81 min. Japanese with English subtitles, HD
犬漏 (Solid)
Iwasa Hiroki, Japan 2020, 14 min. Japanese with English subtitles, HD
The screening is followed by a talk with Imaizumi Koichi and Iwasa Hiroki
habakari-cinema+records was founded in 1999 by two gay filmmaker-artists in Japan. Their works often tell explicit stories of gay love and sex. The Secret to My Silky Skin, an adaption of manga, features Ryota, a boy who lives with his parents in Kyoto and when visiting Tokyo for a business trip stays with his fuck buddy, Issei. The film traces the “extremely mundane” daily life of gay men in Japan including sex which unfolds on screen. Solid tells the story of two men; during their first meeting, their sex is constantly interrupted by an earthquake. Romance fills the air in both films as does an electric sexual tension. (PF)
Imaizumi Koichi has acted in over 100 films since 1990, primarily "pink" (Japanese romantic porn) films. In 1999, he co-founded 'habakari-cinema+records' with Iwasa Hiroki and started independent filmmaking.
Iwasa Hiroki has been making music since 1995. He also directs films and writes reviews on music and film.
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Friday 15.12.2023 20:00
梁山伯與祝英台 (The Love Eterne)
Li Han-Hsiang, Hong Kong 1963, 122 min. Mandarin with English subtitles, DCP
The screening is followed by a workshop by Xinghan Ren
In this sumptuous musical adaptation of one of China’s most famous folk tales, Betty Loh Ti plays a fourth–century maiden (Chu Ying-Tai) who yearns for an education. Disguised as a boy in order to attend school, she meets the dashing Liang Shan-Po, with whom she falls passionately in love. Six decades after its release, this retrospective screening offers audiences the chance to reconsider how the gender-bending role-play traditional in Huangmei opera also features in this classic film. The decision to cast a female actress (Ivy Ling Po) in the male role further complicates the onscreen sexual dynamics. Desire is presented as both fluid and uninhibited by gender in this playful, hugely popular and award-winning musical that made Ling Po an icon. (QE)
Xinghan Ren, born and raised in Xi'an, China, is a percussionist. He moved to Hamburg in 2017 and studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Now he is a percussion teacher at this school.
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Saturday 16.12.2023 15:00
誌同志 (Queer China, “Comrade” China)
Cui Zi’en, China 2008, 120 min. Mandarin with English subtitles, HD
Directed by Cui Zi’en, China's pioneering queer filmmaker, this documentary features interviews with over 30 people including activists, scholars, artists, and filmmakers who have contributed to and experienced changes related to Tongzhi / 同志 (homosexuality/LGBT) over the past 30 years, up until 2008. Archival footage, including the first-ever appearance of gays and lesbians on state television and documention of challenging moments, such as the shutdown of the second edition of the Beijing Queer Film Festival, result in a film that preserves a significant part of queer history; by investigating the present and exploring the future, Cui Zi'en created a historical milestone that is still relevant today. (PF)
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Saturday 16.12.2023 17:15
Hello Tongzhi! Queer Dongxi: Panel discussion about queer diaspora comrades
The screening is followed by a talk with Hongwei Bao (online) and Yi Wang
Tongzhi (同志), which originally means “comrades", is now used in Chinese speaking communities worldwide for homosexuality, gayness, queerness. Dongxi (东西) is a double entendre that can mean both “East and West” and “something”. In this panel, Tongzhi and Dongxi becomes points of departure for scholar Hongwei Bao and curator Yi Wang to talk about their experiences involving/observing LGBTQ+ rights and art in China and Taiwan. During this session, we will also discuss how to build and maintain modes of solidarity that aim to promote queer East Asian film, counter colonialism and Western-centric narratives. (PF)
Hongwei Bao (he/him) is an Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham.
Yi Wang is the founder, director and programmer of Queer East, a London-based festival that showcases LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts, and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and diasporas.
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Saturday 16.12.2023 20:00
UKI
Shu Lea Cheang, Germany, USA 2023, 80 min. English with German subtitles, DCP
THIS IS NOT SEX. THIS IS LOVE: Shu Lea Cheang earned a reputation as being a badass cyberpunk filmmaker with her 2000 cult smash I.K.U. in which sensual cyborgs fuck for information and pleasure. 23 years later, UKI takes us on a journey with replicant REIKO, defunct and dumped on vast tech dump Etrashville, as they try to pull themselves back together with the help of Etrashville's transgenic inhabitants. Parallel to REIKO’s trajectory is that of an infected city where we are made aware of reckless scheming as part of a biotech enterprise known as GENOM Co. Through her own brand of alt-reality cinema, Cheang has created a genre of her own: Scifi New Queer Cinema. (SLC/JB)
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Saturday 16.12.2023 21:30
Karaoke Relay
FREE Entry
This is karaoke, this is love! In this Karaoke session, everybody will become the host. Via a group chat that anyone can join by scanning a QR code, you will be able to share the link to the song you want to sing. The person who sings first will call out the name for the next song. With this method, we will create a Karaoke relay, passing the microphone like handing off a baton. The primary language will be English, everyone is welcome. A community-based, unnamed Chinese Karaoke group will emerge. Attention: there might be multiple melancholic Chinese pop songs! Let's sing to turn the cinema into a field of joy (and perhaps some sadness), to the gray December sky of Berlin, for the upcoming Christmas, Silvester, and Lunar New Year. Let’s sing away the bad luck of 2023 and welcome in 2024!
COMRADES I LOVE YOU
Curated by Popo Fan and Sarnt Utamachote in collaboration with Yi Wang and Queer East Film Festival UK
Focusing on the aspects of sound, embodiment and musicality in queer Asian cinema, this series showcases historical and contemporary films in transnational dialogue with each other. The program borrows its title from “Comrades: Almost A Love Story” (1998, Peter Chan), a classic Chinese film which became extremely popular in Asia and especially in countries with large Chinese diasporic communities. Its soundtrack (Teresa Teng) and the intertwined motifs of labor migration, destiny, and desire was a format that influenced many filmmakers that followed. “Comrades I Love You” thematizes how the practices of voicing/singing or embodying certain roles (“drag”) has the power to create a form of cinematic comradeship and to subvert conventional family structures and desires. Each of the films in this series have been part of screenings hosted by Queer East, a cross-disciplinary festival based in London that showcases boundary-pushing LGBTQ+ cinema, live arts, and moving image work from East and Southeast Asia and its diasporic communities, exploring notions of what it means to be queer and Asian today.
Yi Wang is the director and programmer of Queer East. Outside this role, Yi works as a creative producer for performing arts and cross-cultural events.
Sarnt Utamachote is a nonbinary filmmaker and curator based in Berlin. They are a co-founder of un.thai.tled, an artist collective from the German-Thai diaspora, through which they have organized un.thai.tled Film Festival at Sinema Transtopia since 2020.
Popo Fan is a Berlin-based Chinese diaspora filmmaker, curator and writer. His films include queer activism documentaries and scripted, sex-positive shorts. For more than a decade, he has been an organizer of Beijing Queer Film Festival.
Talking about mental health...
Berlin | 13th of December - 19:00h | IAC - International Alumni Center, Linienstraße 65A, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Currently, there are millions of things happening all over the world and a lot of these things are damaging our mental health. Adding to that, LGBTIQA+ individuals may experience what is known as minority stress, which stems from the social, economic, and political challenges associated with being part of a marginalized group. This stress can manifest as chronic anxiety, fear of discrimination, and a sense of alienation, all of which can have profound effects on mental health.
We hereby invite you all, as the LGBT Impact Field of BAN, to attend physically and also online our amazing panel discussion consisting of: Cat Jugravu, Jehonë Jahaj, Popo Fan and Lou Drago.
Arbër Selmani from the LGBT Impact Field will be moderating. Event is public and can be attended either physically or online.
Rebels with a Cause – Voices from Queer China
STARDUST CINEMA
Rebels with a Cause – Voices from Queer China
Zu Gast: Popo Fan (Kurator/Filmemacher)
Do / 30.11.2023 / 19:00 Uhr Kurzfilmprogramm
Diese Filmauswahl erzählt vom Leben und den Existenzbedingungen queerer Menschen in China in den letzten 20 Jahren. OUR STORY: THE BEIJING QUEER FILM FESTIVAL'S 10 YEARS OF 'GUERRILLA WARFARE' (CN 2012, 46 Min., Regie: Yang Yang) dokumentiert den schwierigen Weg des Festivals angesichts des Drucks der chinesischen Behörden. THE DRUM TOWER (CN 2019, 18 Min., Regie: Popo Fan) ist ein fiktionaler Film, der die Perspektive eines Jungen auf eine trans* Frau und ihre Bemühungen um eine Beziehung in der rauen Umgebung Pekings beleuchtet. LIKE WAVE LIKE CLOUD (CN 2023, 17 Min., Regie: Yulin Yang) ist ein romantisches Drama, das ein lesbisches Paar dabei begleitet, wie es die Herausforderungen von Familie und Gesellschaft meistert und gleichzeitig seine Liebe pflegt. Die Filme zeigen die Widerstandsfähigkeit der Menschen in China, die nach der Freiheit streben, nach ihren eigenen Bedingungen zu leben und zu lieben.
Alle Filme werden in der Originalfassung mit englischen Untertiteln gezeigt.
Ermöglicht durch die Unterstützung von Love Queer Cinema Week.
"Beer! Beer!" and "Wegen Hegel" at Interfilm Berlin
I’m thrilled to have two films in this year’s Interfilm Festival.
”Beer! Beer!” as part of FOCUS ON : Das *andere* deutsche Kino curated by Canan Turan❤️
FO 01 Asian Diasporic Queer Self/Love
Being on a spontaneous date with a white German dude who is more interest in beer than you; finding out how gender fluidity has always been a part of your cultural heritage and making peace with it; opening up, becoming vulnerable and letting go: The four documentary and fiction shorts in this program explore friendship, kinship/(chosen) family, love, gender and sexual identity in the Asian-Diasporic queer community, made by directors who belong to it themselves.
15.11.23, 18:00h, SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA
17.11.23, 18:00h, Pfefferberg Haus 13
Ticketing LINK
“Wegen Hegel” in German Competition.
Popo Fan // Deutschland // 2022 // 14:19 min
Synopsis:
Hegel spoils a hook-up. Philosophy student Ping moved to Germany in the middle of the Covid-19 lockdown. He meets someone online and pays them a visit. An epiphany and an unknown liquid add up to a special evening.
15.11.23, 20:00h, Cinestar Kino in der KulturBrauerei
17.11.23, 20:30h, Zeiss-Großplanetarium Kino
18.11.23, 14:30h, Pfefferberg Theater
Ticketing LINK
Taipei, Copenhagen, Berlin and more to announce, "Wegen Hegel" is coming to your town!
My new short film “Wegen Hegel” is showing soon in some cities, see if it comes to your town ;)
https://www.70steps.de/fiction
Wegen Hegel
2023 Germany/Taiwan Fiction 15min
Writer, Director: Popo Fan
Cast: Zenghao Yang, Julian Moritz
DoP: Till Beckert
Editor: Sam Handel
Production Company: 70Steps www.70steps.de
Philosophy student Ping just moved to Germany, when caught in the lockdown. Through online dating he matches Max, who invites him on a “social distance hookup”. But when it’s about to get spicy, a certain philosophy book ruins their plans.
——————-MixCopenhagen:
Program: From Struggle To Slay
*24/10 [19.00]
@Cinemateket
*29/10 [21.30]
@Cinemateket
——————-台湾国际酷儿影展Taiwan International Queer Film Festival
Program: 台灣／華人徵選單元－酷兒敢曝
Taiwan & Sinophone Film Selection－Queer Camp
Oct 28th 7pm 台北長春國賓影城9廳
购票链接：https://www.opentix.life/event/1694557552457113601
——————-Interfilm, Berlin
German Competition (date to be announced)
Talk at Uppsala Short Film Festival. Artist in residence: Popo Fan
Artist in residence: Popo Fan
Entrance free of charge!
THU 26/10 17:00 SLOTTS
In 2021 Region Uppsala, in collaboration with Uppsala Short Film Festival, launched the Uppsala International Film Residency. This residency programme enables a professional filmmaker working in Europe to reside in the county of Uppsala for a four week period. The aim of the residency is to offer the filmmaker time for the creative development of an ongoing project as well as teaching opportunities and exchanges with regional filmmakers and students.
During October 2023, the filmmaker and artist Popo Fan will participate in Region Uppsala’s Film Residency programme. At Uppsala Short Film Festival Popo’s talk will be about his work and his experiences of being a filmmaker in the diaspora.
Since 2009, Popo Fan’s queer documentary films have made a notable impact on Chinese society. In 2017, he relocated from Beijing to Berlin, where he has concentrated on writing and directing scripted shorts. His films are usually inspired by real experience and feature intersectional topics of LGBTQI, migrants and sex.
PorYes Weekend!
Hey I’m nominated for PorYes award 2023! Come and celebrate a whole weekend of events! Life is short, be s3x positive!
Sa. 21.10.23 8 pm
Ceremony with the nominated filmmakers,
sexy filmclips and show acts.
In cooperation with HAU Hebbel am Ufer
Location: Hebbel Theater am Ufer
Stresemannstr. 29, 10963 Berlin
Sa, 21.10. 10.30 pm
PorYes PorTy
Legendary After-Show-Party,
Public Award, Showacts, Performances,
Burlesque and and andLocation: Forum Factory
Besselstr., 13-14, 10969 BerlinTickets
& at the venue
15-9 €
S0. 22.10.23 7 pm
Slow down & Pleasure Up?
Discussion with Awarded Eri Sarmet, Popo Fan, Jamal Phoenix. Talk in english mit dt. Üs.,
Location: Sonntagsclub,
Greifenhagener Str. 28, 10437 Berlin Prenzlberg.
Tickets& at the venue
10-6€
Mo. 23.10.23 7 pm
Consciousness Raising in Feminist Porn –
How to de-colonialising bodies
with Prof. Mari Mikkola and filmmakers
Location: Humboldt University, Hörsaal 7
Invalidenstrasse 42, 10115 Berlin
free entry
Anti-Romantic A Performative Interactive Script Reading
What the f*ck is 'Anti-Romantic'? It is a script written by Berlin-based Chinese indie filmmaker Popo Fan范坡坡. The story is about Chinese filmmaker Tao’s failure in both his career and romantic relationships, and how someone can date while holding an 'anti-romantic' value. Yes, you can say it is auto-biographical, and the filmmaker invites you to come and judge him. In this session, Popo Fan and two other performers are going to read out a scene from his work-in-progress script 'Anti-Romantic' based on his own dating experiences. A related film is going to be screened alongside. After the reading, you’re welcome to give your comments or bring up questions.
SHORT FILM PROGRAM: IT DOESN'T HURT MUCH CURATED BY SARNT UTAMACHOTE AND POPO FAN
FRIDAY, 15.09., 18:00
+
START OF THE EVENTSATURDAY, 16.09., 14:00
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START OF THE EVENTSUNDAY, 17.09., 16:00
The screening on 15 September will be followed by a live Q&A with filmmaker Joseph Wilson.
I CAN SEE THE SUN BUT I CAN’T FEEL IT YET, Joseph Wilson, UK 2023, 20 min., English with English subtitles
ALL THE THINGS YOU LEAVE BEHIND, Chanasorn Chaikitiporn, Thailand 2022, 18 min., Thai with English subtitles
THE DRUM TOWER, Popo Fan, China 2019, 18 min., Chinese with Einglish subtitles
Touching on issues of mental health, coming out, political massacre and collective resistance, the short film program It Doesn't Hurt Much curated by Sarnt Utamachote and Popo Fan offers audiences a place to be, feel and resolve some of the tensions of contemporary society. Slipping through a landscape of homo-transphobic violence, these bodies persist by creating spaces for healing and justice, for love and growth. (SU)
SİNEMATON: A CATALYST FOR TRANSTOPIAN SPACE
Basically, we’re gonna turn Sinema Transtopia into a Karaoke Space!! Come and sing with us!!
Free entry🎵 Free entry 🎵 Free entry 🎵 Free entry
🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄🎤👄
Invented in France as a film jukebox, the Scopitone was popular in Parisian cafés of the 1960’s where it delighted audiences with chansons by well known stars of the era. As color TV increasingly dominated daily life, the Scopitone gradually disappeared from city centers and migrated to the cafés of the Maghreb diaspora. Films now featured songs in Arabic and Kabyle that addressed significant moments of migrant life, making the Scopitone not merely a gadget for entertainment but a beloved medium of expression for migrant communities. Inspired by the historical Scopitone and designed by artist Jan Kulka, the SİNEMATON is a hybrid karaoke-film-jukebox for analog and digital formats that will be installed in the foyer of SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA. In this spirit, the SİNEMATON will turn the foyer into a convivial space of song and dance, taking the audience on a collective, audiovisual journey. The changing program, conceived of by invited curators, will offer a range of insights into transnational forms of film and music.
The project launches on 18th June at 18:00 with an event that pays homage to the Scopitone’s legacy. The line-up features:
Scopitone Arabes
Curator, researcher and Scopitone expert Hajer Ben Boubaker will begin the evening with a presentation about the Scopitone’s importance as a form of cultural expression for the Maghreb diaspora, including a preview of some of the Arabic and Kabyle language songs it once played which addressed significant moments of migrant life.
Comrades I Love You
Selected by Popo Fan and Sarnt Utamachote, Comrades I Love You will include a music video by artist Ming Wong and, as an homage to the Scopitone’s role as a collective, audiovisual jukebox, a karaoke live-act engaging the audience.
Hasen Pavillon @ Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg
My Humble 3-min video Hasen Pavillon will play at Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg of two screenings curated by the very Mara Marxsen under title: OH PLEASURE UP YOURS!
Thanks to POLIGONAL for their support on the video🙏
June 8th Thu 21:30
June 10th Sat 21:30
Sleaze Party
My video of Erika Lust production “Hey, Siro” will be part of the Sleaze Party on May 12th at Schwuz Queer Club! See you then!
Scandal! Because a felt of the perverted covers SchwuZ and lets it shine in a toxic glow.
Welcome to SLEAZE.
Sweaty house music, upbeat disco groove and pounding techno beats meet non-binary beings, wild demons and passionate seducers. The winding path leads into the inner world of a large darkroom. Pierre Emö will treat you there with his QueerPornCinema.
On the SchwuZ stage, too, a chapter full of scandalous stories opens at SLEAZE. Open the curtain for the “Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret”. Dubious performers present themselves there inappropriately and slyly. On this evening SchwuZ turns out to be shabby, vulgar and loudmouthed.
“For perversion is the only medicine that frees us from heterosexuality,” says head of the project Michael von Fischbach.
Line-Up:
House/Techno/Disco hosted by Duma Collective: Luigi di Venere, sciarada, Solco privato*, Tom Dragebo
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret: Nomai & Queer Falafel, hosted by Bishop Black
QueerPornCinema curated by Pierre Emö with Ediyporn, Popo Fan, George Pedrosa
Access adults only 18+
10.30pm: doors & cash desk
11pm program starts
"Beer! Beer!" @ Ennesimo Film Festival
“Beer! Beer! will be screened with in the Sinofonie programme during the festival. More information:
https://www.ennesimofilmfestival.com/film/beer-beer-birra-birra/
https://www.ennesimofilmfestival.com/programma-ennesimo-film-festival-2023/
https://www.instagram.com/ennesimofilmfestival/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Crao1hitUxB/
Friday Salon with Dr. Laura Méritt
This Friday! During the salon I'll share some clips/trailers of my films. See you!! photo©Popo Fan, Erika Lust
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrdC6oTI6u0/
https://www.sexclusivitaeten.de/english/salon.php
Constellations Festival: AKT 6: CRUISING AT HASENHEIDE
NO BOUNCERS, NO WAITING LINES, AND NO TICKETS
12.03.2023, 16:00 Uhr
Hasenheide, Hasenschenke, Columbiadamm 160,
10965 Berlin
performance by Liz Rosenfeld and R.Justin Hunt with an audio portrait by Popo Fan and Ahmed Awadalla
The cruising grove next to the nudist lawn in Volkspark Hasenheide: under the protection of the bushes, sex seekers met there for years. Then came the pandemic and the hidden cruising ground became a popular meeting place for queers at a time when clubs and community spaces were closed. The protective undergrowth has since been cleared. The cruising grove is no more. In their outdoor performance Liz Rosenfeld and R.Justin Hunt conduct a dialogue addressing private community and intimate publics. An audio portrait by filmmaker Popo Fan and author and activist Ahmed Awadalla portrays cruising as an urban practice that produces a counter-public of queer desire.
language: English
full programme: https://constellations-archive.net/
TEDDY TALK: FROM SURVIVING TO THRIVING!
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2:30 pm
Martin Gropius Bau Kino, Niederkirchnerstraße 7, 10963 Berlin
In an effort to strengthen the Queer Film Market we must first look at its many fragile entities. The Queer Film Festivals, made mostly on shoestring budgets, the Queer Films with little to no development funding and the distribution network, heavily dependent on the screening fees from the festivals that in turn struggle with little to no budgets. How has this survived up until now and is this sustainable in the face of a changing cinema landscape? In taking an in depth look at existing structures, we aim to examine the balance between surviving and thriving.
Moderator: Skadi Loist
Panelists: Maren Kroymann (Managing Director at m-appeal), Allegra Madsen (Director of Programming at Frameline), Popo Fan (Filmmaker and Committee Member of the Beijing Queer Film Festival), Melissa Lindgren (Producer), Sigal Yehuda (Founder & Executive Director of Close Up)
Free entry without accreditation
Skadi Loist, Allegra Madsen, Maren Kroymann, Sigal Yehuda, Popo Fan, Melissa Lindgren
Moderator
Skadi Loist
Skadi Loist is Assistant Professor for Production Cultures in Audiovisual Media Industries at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam, Germany. Skadi’s research and publications focus on film festivals, global cinema & film circulation, sustainability and equity, diversity and inclusion in screen industries. Skadi has long been actively involved in queer film cultures in various institutional settings, in festivals, networks and has written a PhD thesis on the topic.
Panelists
Maren Kroymann
Maren Kroymann studied Law in Paris and finished her studies with a D.E.A. -postgraduate Law degree from the University Paris XIV. She worked with the German subsidiary of the French documentary channel Planet for seven years as director of on-air promotion and marketing, later becoming head of programming/acquisitions. In 2004, Maren began working in international sales for mdc int. before founding m-appeal, a World Sales company based in Berlin, in January 2008, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. M-appeal is a female driven boutique sales outfit, handling general audience films with a strong theatrical potential, as well as LGBTQ* and feminist films.
Allegra Madsen
Allegra Madsen is the Director of Programming at Frameline San Francisco LGBTQ+ Film Festival, the largest and longest running queer film festival in the world. In addition to Frameline’s year-round programming, Allegra curates the annual film festival with the goal of celebrating queer cinema, creating shared experiences and shaping the world through storytelling.
Popo Fan
Popo Fan is a filmmaker, writer and curator from China. His queer documentaries “Chinese Closet” “Mama Rainbow” “Papa Rainbow” on family issues in China have made a notable impact on Chinese society. In 2017 he relocated from Beijing to Berlin, from then he has concentrated on writing and directing scripted shorts featuring intersectional topics of LGBTQ+, migrants and sex. He has served as an organizer for the Beijing Queer Film Festival for more than a decade, and is also the founder of Queer University Video Training Camp. He participated in Berlinale Talents 2017 and was a jury member of the Teddy Award in 2019. Currently he is developing his fiction debut feature in Germany.
Melissa Lindgren
Melissa Lindgren is a curator and film producer based in Stockholm, Sweden. She was born in 1986 and graduated from the Uni¬versity of Gothenburg with a Master in Fine Arts focusing on curatorial practices. Since 2019 she is a partner and producer at Story, one of the leading production companies in the Nordics focusing on creative documentaries and arthouse features. She is also the co-founder and festival director of Cinema Queer International Film Festival, the largest lgbtq+ film festival in Sweden.
Sigal Yehuda
Sigal Yehuda is the Founder & Executive Director of Close Up, an independent international NGO based in Brussels Belgium that provides training and mentorship to emerging documentary filmmakers and journalists coming from Southwest Asia & North Africa, artists from diverse ethnic, cultural and political backgrounds including Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Qatar, Yemen, and UAE.
You can find an overview and schedule of all our talks here.
Pitch_It@Berlinale
Hey Berlinale visitors, on 16th my feature project GRAMMATIK will be part of Pitch_It@Berlinale Goethe Institute Berlin 2-5pm
My producer Julia Cöllen will be there in person and me via videohttps://www.goethe.de/ins/hu/de/kul/sup/pib.html
RSVP until Feb 9th☺️
Affirming Queer Intimacies in Sinophone Cinema
Hello New York! Hello Columbian University!! I'm coming for some screenings with two other greatly respectful filmmakers!! Hope to see you there!!
Full Programme https://library.columbia.edu/libraries/eastasian/chinese/queer_sinophone_cinema.html
February 16, 2023 Affirming Queer Intimacies in Sinophone Cinema: Popo Fan Films
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Butler Library, 535 W. 114 St., New York, NY 10027 203
As part of CUL ADEI programs, the event features the screening of "New Beijing New Marriage" and "The Drum Tower " by Popo Fan, an activist and one of China’s leading queer filmmakers, 6:00pm-7:30pm, followed by Q&A panel discussion with the director, 7:30pm-8:15pm, facilitated by Prof. Ying Qian, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Prof. Ron Gregg, Director of MA Program in Film/Media Studies and moderated by Jim Cheng, Director of C.V. Starr East Asian Library.
Contact Information
Chengzhi Wang
212 854-3721
February 17, 2023 Final day of Affirming Queer Intimacies in Sinophone Cinema conference.
4–5:40 pm: Film screening of Spider Lilies 刺青 (2007)
Dir. Zero Chou 周美玲
Run time 97 minutes
Languages: In Mandarin Chinese; with English subtitle
5:50–6:35 pm: Q&A panel discussion with the director Zero Chou 周美玲
6:45–8 pm: Final Conference Roundtable Discussion
Directors Zi'en Cui 崔子恩 (Enter the Clowns 丑角登場, 2002), Popo Fan 范坡坡 (New Beijing New Marriage 新前门大街; The Drum Tower 鼓楼西), and Zero Chou 周美玲 (Spider Lilies 刺青, 2007), in conversation with Columbia professors Ying Qian and Ron Gregg, along with Jim Cheng, Director, C. V. Starr East Asian Library.
8–9:30 pm: Catered Dinner
The events are jointly sponsored by the Columbia University Libraries, the School of the Arts, the Film and Media Studies Program, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Global Center Beijing, the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, and the Starr Library Dragon Summit Culture Endowment Fund.
Encountering Queer China through Film and Fieldwork
Film Screening with Director (Fan Popo, independent filmmaker)
Thursday, February 09, 2023, 04:30pm – 06:00pm
Contact Louisa Schein (louisaschein@gmail.com)
This is the second part of a two-day event, “Encountering Queer China Through Film and Fieldwork.” The first part, a presentation by Wei Wei, “Family Matters: Chinese Queer Politics around the Rise of a Family-State,” takes place the day before. Click here for info about Wei Wei’s presentation. Both events are open to the public.
Films
1. “Mama Rainbow” (Fan Popo director, 2012, 28 mins.): 6 Mothers from all over China step up and speak out on their love for their gay kids
2. “Beer! Beer!” (Fan Popo director, 2019, 18 mins.): set in Berlin, Tao, a Chinese guy, meets Sebastian, a local German in this “anti-romantic comedy”
Respondent: Wei Wei
Bios
Popo Fan is a Berlin-based filmmaker, writer, and activist from China, where his queer documentary films have made a notable impact. Since 2016, he has concentrated on writing and directing scripted, sex-positive shorts. He is the founder of the Queer University Video Training Camp and has been an organizer of the Beijing Queer Film Festival for more than a decade. Popo was invited to sit on the jury of the Teddy Award of the Berlinale in 2019.
"Days" Norweigain premiere
FORESTILLINGER
Fotogalleriet and Vega Scene invite you to the Norwegian cinema premiere of "Days" by Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard and Zayne Armstrong. The screening will be followed by a conversation with the artists moderated by filmmaker and artist Knut Åsdam..
A number of gig economy labourers' lives intersect one evening in a bar. A property investor and her assistant allow a possessed GPS to guide them to new exploitative deals. Finding out that her studio sublet might be prematurely coming to an end, Alexandra is launched into an existential crisis about how abstract her role is in her own artistic practice.
The gallerist Stefanie so badly wants Alexandra to start doing performances in a storefront space, that she’s getting her ex-girlfriend Hortense evicted, and has tricked a hacktivist to cover her paper trail under the guise of abolishing capitalism. Newcomer Beni tries to confront her social anxiety so she can get out of listening to crass zodiac advice at Marlie’s hostel.
Aspiring journalist Charli has not only overstayed her welcome on Nan’s sofa, but she’s also leading on Phillip while fishing for a story about his failed handball career, but personal trainer Nuran is concerned that her exposé might expose his double life. But what did Hortense promise to Hans last night while high and why is it messing up everyone’s bank accounts?
CREATORS’ NOTE:
"Days" is a film in the form of an experimental ‘soap opera’, inspired by long-running soaps and how they have inadvertently produced multi-layered communities which live in between fiction and reality. "Days" is a way to search for intersectional solidarity, rethinking the failing structures of melodramatic soap operas as a format for sharing the absurd stories that define the lifestyles of so-called second families common amongst marginalised communities in urban centres, and to represent the various illusive forms of labour that these transitory lives are built upon.
BIO:
Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard (b. 1991, NO) & Zayne Armstrong (b. 1986, US/UK) have been working together since 2018. Their work has been shown internationally, most recently at Kling & Bang (IS), Oslo Kunstforening (NO), SOX (DE) and Sundy (UK). Upcoming exhibitions and presentations include Agder Kunstsenter (NO), NKR - Neuer Kunstraum (DE), Pogo Bar - KW Institute for Contemporary Art (DE) and The Vigeland Museum (NO). In 2023 they will be residents at the contemporary art centre Triangle - Astérides in Marseille. The film “Days” was initially presented at Fotogalleriet in 2020, and the single channel version premiered in Berlin at the Porn Film Festival 17, 2022.
The screening is part of a collaboration between Fotogalleriet and Vega Scene that will feature films by artists curated by Fotogalleriet. The film is screened with English subtitles.
Spilletid
1 t. 10 min.
OriginalTittel
Days
Språk
Hebraisk, Engelsk, Fransk, Tysk, Arabisk, Koreansk, Norsk, Spansk, Polsk
Regi
Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard, Zayne Armstrong
Skuespillere
Alaa Abdullatif, Anahita Alebouyeh, Amir Asgharnejad, Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard, Andrea Birmingham, Jens Bluemlein, Julie Chance, Juan Carlos Cuadrado, Murat Dikenci, Seán Gallen, Ana Kavalis, Meri Koivisto, Ottokar Lehrner, Marie Noël, Fan Popo, Ruth Rosenfeld, Robin Schick, Elena Schmidt, Kotti Yun
Manus
Ellinor Aurora Aasgaard, Seán Gallen, Zayne Armstrong, Lene Berg, Jan-Peter Horstmann, Zain Saleh
Nasjonalitet
Norge, Tyskland
Produksjonsår
2022
Aldersgrense
Food, Faith and Feelings
Feb 1st I’ll be part of an art talk along with two dear artist friends as part of discursive programme of exhibition “Forming Communities: Berliner Wege – 道法柏林， 而游于外 (Dào fǎ bólín, ér yóu yú wài)“
1.2., 19:00
Food, Faith and Feelings
Conversation with Young- jun Tak (Artist, Berlin) Isaac Chong Wai (Artist, Berlin), and Fan Popo (Filmmaker, Berlin)
Short Film Programme: Xiaopei’s Camera
I curated a short film screening at Opening Program of the new SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA in Berlin-Wedding, will bring a conversation with director He Xiaopei after the screening.
Facebook event
Monday 16.01.2023 20:00
Short Film Programme: Xiaopei’s Camera
After the screening talk with Popo Fan and He Xiaopei
Short Film Programme: Xiaopei’s Camera
The Lucky One
He Xiaopei, China 2011, 36 min.
Gay Cats
He Xiaopei, China 2010, 3 min.
Our Marriages - When Lesbians Marry Gay Men
He Xiaopei, China 2013, 42 min.
Happily Ever After
He Xiaopei, China 2019, 37 min.
“In 2021, we showed He Xiaopei’s Polyamorous Family as part of the series of Imaging Queer Bandung, and ever since I dreamt of bringing her and her films to SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA. In this two-hour session you can witness the diversity of her filmmaking. The Lucky One is about an HIV-positive Chinese woman, who, confronted with dying, is revealing her hidden desires. Gay Cats, a two male cats’ love story went viral on YouTube with over 500,000 hits. Our Marriages - When Lesbians Marry Gay Men and its sequel Happily Ever After follow the life stories of four Chinese lesbians who seek contract marriages with gay men in North Eastern China. In Our Marriages you can see the director’s ironic observation about weddings and married life, while Happily Ever After shows the protagonists’ same sex partners, their gay husbands, their parents, as well as their parents in law. These formations invite the viewer to reflect upon mainstream ideas of what makes a family.” - Popo Fan
He Xiaopei is an indie film director and the executive director of Pink Space, a NGO focusing on films representing invisibilised desires and lives. After graduating from the university, she joined the Chinese Mountaineering Team, and eventually entered the State Council as an economist, conducting economic reforms research for 14 years. From the 1990s, she devoted herself to the feminist and lesbian movement in China, and took part in the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. Later she went to the UK to study sexuality and cultural studies, graduating with a Ph.D.
Spacial Thanks to Beijing Queer Film Festival!
VIDEOART AT MIDNIGHT #126: Fan Popo 范坡坡
On the occasion of the exhibition Forming Communities: Berliner Wege – 道法柏林，而游于外 (Dào fǎ bólín, ér yóu yú wài) at KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art (curated by Thomas Eller 艾墨思 and Li Zhenhua 李振华), Videoart at Midnight is delighted to welcome Fan Popo 范坡坡, showing a bright selection of his filmic work:
New Beijing, New Marriage, 2009, 18 min
“Umm, two husbands, two wives. Perfect match!”
One of the first works of the director, documented a same-sex marriage street campaign in Beijing by taking wedding photos. The interviews with witnesses show a complex attitude of Chinese society on the topic.
The Drum Tower, 2018, 18 min
“Does it hurt?”
An introverted senior school student is fascinated by a transgender vintage shop owner. Can they break through the walls in this lonely and catastrophic city?
Lerne Deutsch in meiner Küche, 2020, 2 min
”Nein, ich habe nie eine Fledermaus gegessen.”
A DIY video combining cooking and language learning, and includes the director’s racist encounter due to COVID-19.
Hotpot 3-Way, 2022, 22 min
“Why can’t you try something new?”
A straight couple goes for a hotpot dinner where the boyfriend tries spicy food for the first time which leads to some extra hot sexual experience. *Explicit contents included.
Fan Popo 范坡坡 was born in China, his queer documentaries have made a notable impact in Chinese society. Later he concentrated on writing and directing scripted films with elements of comedy and sex. He is based in Berlin from 2017, has made a few shorts here, and is now developing his feature debut script. He aims to use humor as a way of empowering, and he believes that the future is porn! In this 60-minute slot, you’ll see Popo Fan’s works from his earlier activism documentaries to later queer intersectional experiments. Together they showcase an artist’s diverse creativities and complex perspective.
a cooperation with
KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art
Am Sudhaus 3, 12053 Berlin
Special thanks to ERIKA LUST, BASIS BERLIN
Wir freuen uns Euch zu sehen | we are looking forward to seeing you
Herzliche Grüße | best regards
Ivo Wessel, Olaf Stüber
Days @ PFFB
“Days” which I’m part of is going to premiere at PFFB (please see the link about this festival, it’s simply amazing!!) I’m going to attend the screening on 27th at Babylon Kino Kreuzberg, hope to see you there!
https://pornfilmfestivalberlin.de/film-2022/days/
Popo Fan at 11. Pembe Hayat KuirFest
I’m showing my films, giving a workshop, and participant in a panel in Istanbul during 11th Pembe Hayat KuirFest. More information please see their website, please come or spread the link to your friends there:
https://www.pembehayatkuirfest.org/11-pembe-hayat-kuirfest-yasaksa-yasak-diyerek-geliyor-a122
Beer! Beer! @ YIKES! a celebration of awkward performance
“Beer! Beer!” showing at YIKES! festival: a celebration of awkward performance
Ticketing Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/yikes-a-celebration-of-awkward-performance-tickets-424973415927
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2337132499772084/
What makes you squirm at a performance? What if that is done on purpose? YIKES! digs into these possibilities in a full-on awkward-art extravaganza on Sunday, Oct 9, at the Forum Factory in Mitte (Besselstr 13-14). Tickets are €15-20 sliding scale, and cover the entire day of events, including a panel discussion, public reception, and showcase performance.
At the heart of YIKES! is the exploration of so-called "awkwardness” in performance, where more than a dozen or so artists skillfully and deliberately play with the expectations, feelings, and reactions of the audience, using various art forms such as drag, music, physical theater, video art, and dance. The focus is on absurdity, vulnerability and "discomfort" as an artistic strategy.
“There is that part of the saying that I always think about: ‘art should disturb the comfortable,’ “ says YIKES! director Cameryn Moore. “Art that shakes us out of complacency, disrupts our collective status quo, has truly radical potential in these times.”
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
5pm: Panel discussion with selected artists and the hosts Jo Sordini and Cameryn Moore
6 pm: Short film screening with films by Anali Goldberg, Louise Ashcroft, Popo Fan, Rosie Gibbens, Ty Wardwell and Ethan Folk
7 pm: Reception with food installation by Chris Paxton, awkwardly served by Duckie L‘Orange
8 pm: Performance show with Anali Goldberg, Cikacé Lestine, Dom Engel and sub, Liad Hussein Kantorowicz, Michaela Maxi Schulz, Nympho-Ménage, Sasha Kills, Uli Pilwax
COVID PROTOCOLS: YIKES! is simultaneously being live-streamed for home viewers. For in-person audiences, YIKES! is a 2G+ event. All attendees must either bring in a test-center result or take a Schnelltest at the door. Please bring a mask.
YIKES! is sponsored by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. // Gefördert durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.
Oh, Berlin! You spice me up and down.
Ever since moving to Berlin, I have struggled with the city’s food culture.
We have a saying in my hometown that links spicy food to strength, leadership and resilience. Eating spicy food in Berlin has been my resistance to the “German Scharf” even though my tolerance to spiciness has substantially decreased over the years.
In this workshop, as we cook, share stories and enjoy a spicy meal from Campus Dammweg’s garden, we will explore our relationship of food to resilience.
Popo Fan is a filmmaker and writer. Born in China, he has been living and working in Berlin since 2017. Fan’s queer documentaries and short films, embodying elements of sex and comedy, aim to empower. He is the founder of the Queer University Video Training Camp and has been organizing the Beijing Queer Film Festival for over a decade. Fan is currently developing his debut feature-length script.
popofan.net
Urban Resilience
One’s definition and experience of resilience is informed by, and not limited to, one’s sociocultural background, identity, sentiments of belonging, gender and support systems. The definition of resilience in the West is centered on one’s ability to confront one’s hardships without falling apart, signaling resilience as the ability to prevent or to stop damage, at times reverting back to a place of departure. It is tied to class, education, privilege, identity, gender and economic factors. Whereas, resilience in post-colonial or transnational spaces could mean the ability to cope with pain, trauma, loss, injustice and inequality. It is a fight for survival and healing.
How can we regard resilience as a multitude of intersectional spaces to decompress, heal, defend and empower? What are the tools of defense? Is resilience a strength, a coping mechanism, a strategy of damage-control, a position of privilege or a contingency of knowledge? How does it affect and transform bodies?
Curated by Ali El-Darsa and Anna de Carlo. Coordinated by Berlin Mondiale.
Registration
Please register here on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/397232775742821