Identity Gone Public

We learn basic social customs and gain first values in childhood. Then as teenagers, we focus on the role models we find among our peers and even among celebrities, and re-evaluate everything we have learned.

Just a few years ago, we would have been hard-pressed to find any queer role models in the Czech context; with a few exceptions, they occurred only in our personal lives – if we were lucky and there was someone progressive around. These circumstances often led to difficulties in forming our own identity. Our inner struggle and the search for our true selves cost a lot of energy.

And because our paths have not always been easy, we should be all the more prominent in public life and stop hiding behind the oh-so popular excuse of a “closed door”. If we are not seen, nobody will take us seriously. We will not be able to achieve anything for our communities, and we will not become role models for future generations.

Mezipatra is entering into its symbolic adulthood this year. For eighteen years, it has offered a safe space for all identities to meet and interconnect and for even seemingly incongruous groups to finds points of intersection.

This year again, we are our own champions as the only queer film festival in the Czech Republic. We are our own champions as communities and as individuals, and we wish for all of us to have the possibility to live our identity publicly and without fear.

Pavel Bicek, Director of Mezipatra QFF