Kino - german films

Ich kenn keinen – Allein unter Heteros
TALK STRAIGHT – THE WORLD OF RURAL QUEERS
In big cities, discrimination against homosexuality and
the gay way of life is not a big issue anymore. Gay
mayors and football club association presidents are no
longer colorful exceptions to the rule, rather they have
become an expression of normality. In rural areas,
however, the definition of what is ”normal“ is quite
different. Out here, normal means a husband, wife
and children – ”the nuclear family“. In the country,
expressions such as ”proofter“ are still common parlance
and mothers are ashamed if their sons fail to
bring home a girlfriend.
Hartmut, Richard, Stefan and Uwe are all gay men
who live in the country. They punctuate their rural
existence with brief but regular sojourns to Berlin,
Zurich or Thailand. These four men have learned to
live with the fact that their lifestyle is met with a volley
of abuse from their heterosexual friends and
acquaintances in the church choir and at the local
pub.
Talk Straight – The World of Rural Queers provides
an insight into a largely unknown world. The
audience follows the lives of the protagonists via the
comments of their heterosexual environment.
Expressed in the local dialect, the often comical and
surprising comments on homosexuality demonstrate
just how deep the gulf is between what is supposedly
normal and what comprises a deviation from the
norm. The film provides a bitterly comical portrait of
a heterosexual perspective on gay men in Germany’s
country towns.
Genre Society Category Documentary Cinema Year of
Production 2003 Director Jochen Hick Screenplay
Jochen Hick Director of Photography Jochen Hick
Editor Florian Koehler Music by Jan Tilmann Schade, Klaus
Wagner Producer Jochen Hick Production Company
Galeria Alaska Productions, Stuttgart, in cooperation with
3Sat, Mainz, ZDF, Mainz Principal Cast Hartmut Alber,
Stefan Braun, Uwe Furtwaengler, Erika Micale, Richard
Length 99 min, 2,700 m Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.33
Original Version German Subtitled Version English
Sound Technology Stereo International Festival
Screenings Berlin 2003, Selb 2003, Zurich 2003,
Documentary Film Festival Munich 2003, Vienna 2003,
Bogota/Medelin 2003, Melbourne 2003, Helsinki 2003, Rio
2003, among others International Awards Teddy Award
for Best Documentary Berlin 2003 With backing from
MFG Baden-Wuerttemberg, FilmFoerderung Hamburg
Jochen Hick studied Film at the Hamburg Academy of Fine
Arts and in Italy from 1981-1987. He has worked in almost all
aspects of film production, including as a sound technician,
director of photography, writer, director and producer. He cofounded
the company Galeria Alaska Productions in Hamburg
with PC Neumann, and has been sole owner since 1995. His
films include: Moon Over Pittsburgh (Mond ueber
Pittsburgh, short, 1985), Gerd Hansen, 55 (short,
1987), Via Appia (1990), Welcome to the Dome
(documentary short, 1992), Menmaniacs – The Legacy
of Leather (documentary, 1995), Sex/Life in L.A.
(documentary, 1998), No One Sleeps (2000), and Talk
Straight – The World of Rural Queers (Ich kenn
keinen – Allein unter Heteros, 2003).
World Sales:
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kino 4 new german films
2003 41
Scene from ”Talk Straight“ (photo © Galeria Alaska Productions)