Queering Memory: Gathering Light Past, Present and Future
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series Queer Rhapsody. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Dive into a captivating collection of short films that explore the intricate and powerful theme of memory. Mooncake is an experimental meditation on gender queerness, revisiting an unnamed subject's childhood memories to uncover the nascent fantasies that shaped their identity. This docu-fictional film prompts us to reflect on what we can learn from our formative fascinations and how they re-emerge in our lives. In Re-Entry, a trans scientist must confront her painful past when she rediscovers a lost satellite from her former life as a NASA engineer, forcing her to reconcile who she once was with who she has always been. Meanwhile, Neo Nahda follows a young woman's feverish journey in London as she uncovers archive photographs of Arab women cross-dressing in the 1920s, revealing lost histories and sparking a deeper understanding of her own identity. These films delve deeply into how our memories shape our present selves and influence our futures. In Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs in Their Limpias? a struggling Latinx healer considers abandoning the physical world for a digital utopia, reflecting on past disillusionments and future promises. All the Words but the One sees Maya and Santiago, once lovers, unexpectedly seated across from each other at a professional dinner with their new partners. Maya navigates a minefield of delicate dynamics, reliving painful and electric memories, as past and present collide, forcing her to confront Santiago at last. Finally, The Sea Runs Thru My Veins is a poetic, stream-of-consciousness documentary featuring four protagonists grappling with difficult life circumstances and personal challenges, each sharing their perspectives on happiness. Through these powerful narratives, the films invite viewers to explore how memories, both cherished and painful, profoundly shape our identities and our understanding of happiness.
Mooncake (2022)
Mooncake is an experimental meditation on gender queerness and the blurred lines between influence, desire and obsession. The docu-fictional film revisits an unnamed subject’s childhood memory, resurfacing the nascent fantasies that once captured their imagination. What can we learn from our formative fascinations? Where in our mind do they live? How do they re-emerge?
Digital, 12 min. Director: Rraine Hanson. With: Kae Fujisawa, Kennie Zhou.
Re-Entry (2024)
When a trans scientist rediscovers a lost satellite from her former life as a NASA engineer, she’s forced to confront her painful past in order to reconcile who she once was with who she’s always been.
Digital, 16 min. Director: Ariel Mahler. Screenwriters: Ariel Mahler, Nicholas Schmid, Kunal Sengupta. With: Danielle Squyres, Tirosh Schneider, Robert Dowdy, Matthew Henerson, Leon A. Walker.
Neo Nahda (2023)
When Mona, a young woman in London, finds archive photographs of Arab women cross-dressing in the 1920s, she starts a feverish journey of uncovering lost histories and her own identity.
Digital, 12 min. Director: May Ziadé. Screenwriter: May Ziadé. With: Nadia Nadif, Eman Alali.
Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs in Their Limpias? (2023)
A struggling Latinx healer considers abandoning the physical world for promises of a digital utopia.
Digital, 14 min. Director: Roberto Fatal. Screenwriter: Roberto Fatal. With: River Gallo, Angel Zeas.
all the words but the one (2024)
Maya and Santiago haven’t seen each other in years. Unexpectedly seated together at a professional dinner with their new partners, Maya struggles to stay focused in the present with her new partner.
Digital, 18 min. Director: Nava Maul. Screenwriter: Nava Mau. With: Nava Mau, Domenic Kim, Shaan Dasani, Dani Woodson, Sis.
The Sea Runs Thru My Veins (2019)
A poetic, stream-of-consciousness documentary featuring four protagonists who have had to grapple with difficult life circumstances and complex, personal challenges. Each of them shares their own point of view on the subject keeping us most occupied — happiness.
Digital, 20 min. Director: Zara Zandieh. With: Llanquiray Valioska Painemal Morales, Sabuha Salam, Amir Zandieh, Neomi Ilan.
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