A hot summer week in 1997, Italy. Young Gays and Lesbians from all over the world meet at a conference on ‘Homophobia and Fascism’. But how does their life look alike?
They confront their history of the persecution of gay men and women by Nazi Germany and other fascist regimes. Discover the differences and similarities of their present lives. Imagine their future: Natasha from Belarus, Sven from Belgium, Maria from Argentina, Nick from Bulgaria, Francesco from Italy, Sabina from Australia, Ali and Pascal from France, Suzy and Colin from the United Kingdom, Dennis and Henrike from the Netherlands and Germany – they all belong to a new generation of gay and lesbian youth exploring new freedoms and old shadows. Some as they say are just ‘happy the way I am’, others are isolated and living on the net as a replacement for a community.
Moments of happiness, a Jewish marriage, talks about sex and faith, the remembrance of the victims of the past and clever media strategies for the future – this 45-minute documentary portrays lesbian girls and gay boys in their own words. Their voices, their faces. Living in very different countries, but thinking globally. “We all dance to the same music”, says Sabina. But every rhythm is a different one.
Shot on digital camera and with all the improvisational space this new medium offers, ‘Just happy the way I am’ is an experimental way of telling a story. Reacting to what happens rather than working from a predetermined concept. It is the first Slovenian-Dutch co-production of its kind.
CREDITS
A film by Klaus Mueller
Camera by Miha Lobnik
Cut, sound, post-production: Lobnik/Mueller
Video: VHS PAL
Length: 45 minutes
THANKS
This film was supported by Trut Foundation, Netherlands; Open Society Institute, Slovenia; Slavka and Andrej Lobnik
SCREENINGS
Slovenia/Netherlands, Romania, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Serbia
IN SLOVENIAN
ČISTO SREČEN, KAKRŠEN SEM – JUST HAPPY THE WAY I AM
Vroč poletni teden v Italiji leta 1997. Mladi geji in lezbijke z vsega sveta se srečajo na posvetu o homofobiji in fašizmu. Toda kakšna so pravzaprav njihova življenja? Soočeni z zgodovino pregona gejev in lezbijk v nacistični Nemčiji in drugih fašističnih režimih odkrivajo medsebojne podobnosti in razlike. Predstavljajte si njihovo prihodnost: Nataša iz Belorusije, Sven iz Belgije, Maria iz Argentine, Nick iz Bolgarije, Francesco iz Italije, Sabina iz Avstralije, Ali in Pascal iz Francije, Suzy in Colin iz Velike Britanije, Denis in Henrike iz Nizozemske ter Nemčije, vsi pa pripadniki nove generacije istospolno usmerjenih mladih, ki spoznavajo sence preteklosti in odkrivajo svobodo sedanjosti.
‘Čisto srečen, kakršen sem’, pravijo nekateri, medtem ko drugi še vedno živijo v nadomestni družbi, v zavetju interneta.
Trenutki veselja, poroka judovskih lezbijk, pogovori o spolnosti in veri, spomin na žrtve preteklosti in inteligentne medijske strategije za prihodnost. O vsem tem govori 45 minutni dokumentarni portret mladih lezbijk in gejev. Njihove besede, njihovi obrazi. Čeprav živijo v zelo različnih deželah, razmišljajo globalno: ‘Vsi plešemo na isto glasbo,’ pravi Sabina, a vsak pozna svoj ritem.
‘Čisto srečen, kakršen sem’ je film, ki je posnet in montiran z najnovejšo digitalno video tehnologijo in ob vsem improvizacijskem prostoru, ki ga nov medij ponuja, na nov ter eksperimentalen način pripoveduje zgodbo. Reagirati na tisto, kar se zgodi, postaja pomembnejše od ozkih, vnaprej določenih konceptov. Gre za prvo slovensko-nizozemsko (neodvisno) produkcijo te vrste.
CREDITS
ČISTO SREČEN, KAKRŠEN SEM – JUST HAPPY THE WAY I AM
Režija: Klaus Müller; Kamera: Miha Lobnik; Produkcija: East/West; Dolžina: 45 minut; Leto: 1998
Informacije/VHS video:
Film so podprli: Trut Foundation (Nizozemska); Zavod za odprto družbo Slovenija; Slavka in Andrej Lobnik