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Defiant, joyous, tender, and multifaceted - whilst being openly queer in socialist Eastern Europe was difficult, these four films shine a light on the varied experiences of LGBTQ+ people from the Eastern Bloc outside of the Western context.

The strand kicks off with Coming Out (1989), Heiner Carow’s powerful story of love and self-acceptance set in East Germany and originally released on the night the Berlin Wall fell, and closes with Želimir Žilnik’s Marble Ass (1995), the first film from the former Yugoslavia to openly depict LGBTQ+ characters.