Great Freedom
Co-presented with Goethe Pop Up, MFAH Films, The Big Queer Picture Show
HCAS partners with Goethe Pop Up, Houston MFAH Films, and The Big Queer Picture Show to present the Houston Premiere of Great Freedom on April 29th and 30th at 7:00pm.
The Friday evening screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Stephanie Saint Sanchez, Byron Canady, and Marcus Pontello.
For information on Saturday's screening, click here.
In post-war Germany, liberation by the Allies does not mean freedom for everyone. Hans has been found guilty for his homosexuality, deemed grounds for imprisonment under Paragraph 175. Over the course of decades, he is spied on and repeatedly jailed as a result.
As Hans returns to prison again and again, he develops an unlikely bond with his cellmate Viktor, a convicted murderer. What begins as revulsion blossoms over time into something far more tender.
Winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes, and starring an exceptional Franz Rogowski (Transit), Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom is a searing depiction of love in the face of injustice.
| Country, Year | Austria, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Director | Sebastian Meise |
| Writer | Thomas Reider, Sebastian Meise |
| Cast | Franz Rogowski, Georg Friedrich, Anton Von Lucke, Thomas Prenin |
| Producer | Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann, Benny Dreschel |
| Language | English Subtitles, German |
| Runtime | 116 MINS, SECS |
| Genre | Narrative |
Special Guests
Stephanie Saint Sanchez (DJ ESTEFF)
Stephanie Saint Sanchez is a by-any-means-necessary media artist, movie maker, and instigator. A Tejana raised in the MTV-era of the1980s, she received her first video camera at age 13 and was off and running, creating video stories and mini-epics. Under the banner La Chicana Laundry Pictures, she has written, produced, and directed more than 30 award-winning, genre-splitting short films. Her work has been screened extensively both locally and nationally.
She is the Founder and Executive Director of Senorita Cinema, an all-Latina Film Festival, which was selected as a Warhol Foundation Idea Fund recipient. She has served on QFest, Houston International LBGT film festival, and the Diverseworks Artist Advisory Board and is a Co-Founder of GenderReel Houston.
She is a recipient of a S.W.A.M.P. Emerging Filmmakers Fellowship, Houston Arts Alliance Individual Artist Award, The Lawndale Artist Studio Program, and was featured as one of Houston Press 100 Creatives.
When not making movies and hosting super fun events, Sanchez also makes art cars, VHS furniture, and her own line of dead celebrity prayer candles.
Byron Canady
Byron Canady's background is a perfect balance of artistic and academic worlds. Byron holds a Master of Science degree in Business and is an adjunct professor in the University of Houston-Downtown Davies College of Business. He also owns and operates Colorbox Multimedia - a film, video, and digital content production house, as well as Gulf Coast Comic Book Store. True to his talent for balance, Byron devotes time away from work with family and friends, watching movies and indulging in his love of comic books.
Marcus Pontello
Marcus is a visual storyteller, clothing designer and drag artist from Houston, Texas who holds a B.F.A. in Theater from The California Institute of the Arts. Friday I'm In Love is Marcus Pontello's first film.