Birds Eye x Pride
the spaces we create
Jo Reid
Hello and Happy Pride! I’m Jo and I’m so happy to be here with Birds Eye View to curate a selection of films for Pride 2021. As I’m sure we all know (and are tired of hearing), the pandemic has impacted the way the LGBTQ+ community has accessed our spaces. With Prides cancelled, Gay clubs and bookshops closed, we’ve all had to rethink how we create queer spaces, often moving online. As the UK begins to tentatively (for now) emerge from lockdown, this provides an opportunity to explore how our community have created our own spaces of belonging, both online and offline. This season focuses on films that feature the active creation or discovery of LGBTQ+ spaces, past and present.
We have got a mixture of short-form and feature length films that come in a variety of genres, including archival, speculative fiction, documentary, and personal reflection. Many of these films question, recontextualise and/or reimagine LGBTQ+ history, not viewing the past as static and linear. Throughout the season, film exist as a site of potential, where space can be created for queer lives to exist and thrive in. The spaces featured in these films are not always physical, but what connects them all are that they are actively created by and for queer people.
I really hope you enjoy this collection and have a wonderful rest of Pride!
About Jo:
Jo Reid is a Glasgow-based film curator and writer. She has worked with film organisations such as Regional Screen Scotland, Scottish Queer International Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Recently completing an MSc in Film, Exhibition and Curation, she has previously focused on film memory, particularly as it relates to children’s experiences of filmgoing. She is also interested in the weird, the tacky, and the cheesy, and exploring the screening possibilities of digital media such as games and fan content. Her website is at jomreid.wordpress.com and you can find her on twitter @_jomreid
in the weird, the tacky, and the cheesy, and exploring the screening possibilities of digital media such as games and fan content. Her
DAY 1
WOMAN ON THE INTERNET (ETERNAL SCREAM) (2021)
Dir. Jamie Jankovic
22.28 mins
Available at White Pube – free to watch here until the end of June
[CC available]
An experimental documentary exploring how marginalised people experience liberation through digital spaces
Video games are often infamously hostile to woman, particularly queer women. However, as Jamie Jankovic clearly illustrates, they also offer a space of freedom, of relief. This short documentary charters this dichotomy between freedom and hostility. Digital spaces, particularly video games, offer the ability to manipulate and discover digital bodies. I chose this film because I think it provides a thought provoking look at the potential that video games offer for the creation of queer spaces. However, it also acknowledges that queer people are often having to fight against the game systems’ limitations; both technical and cultural.