FINAL GIRLS FILM FEST 2025: queer horror shorts block
by Avery Coffey, Staff Writer
In a genre built upon the victimization of women, we’ve fought back harder with narratives in our control. It’s only right that we have a film festival to showcase and celebrate it. Final Girls Berlin Film Festival creates space for productions from nonbinary directors, writers and producers and those who identify as women. March 5th marked the first day of their tenth edition! Over the course of five days, attendees, virtually and IRL, have an itinerary packed with panels, shorts, and features programmed to showcase the range of modern horror.
On day four of the festival, the day ends on a queer note– literally. Nine queer horror shorts will introduce the feature showing of Jane Schoenburn’s I Saw the TV Glow. Themes of gender dysphoria, bodily autonomy, and consumption are interspersed through each one. The shorts that stood out to me most were those that sent their protagonist into a frenzy as a result of their suppression. Jane’s film depicted this theme in a way that still rocks me to my core. It’s body horror, absurdism, and sound design made it a top watch for me last year and it set the tone for these Final Girl’s watches.
The Final Girls Berlin Film festival runs from Wednesday, March 5 to Sunday, March 9, 2025. Tickets can be found here. Additional fest coverage from MovieJawn can be found here
Consume
Directed by Aliyah Knight
This short follows 17-year-old Esther who, threatened by a religious upbringing and her explorative sexuality, gives into temptation for her best friend Alana. She fights with her own conscience in an attempt to conceal her sins from her family. It’s a story that explores the repercussions of suppressing one’s identity so much that it ends up explosive. The plot is structured to make us believe that the intimate scene between Esther and Alana is just that: a sex scene. Her flashbacks, in the sexual fashion, show us the true nature of her desire. The reality is still up for debate though. A desire that contradicts what we’ve been conditioned to believe will consume us if we don’t feed it properly. If we let it build momentum, our own consumption of said desire could also lead to disaster.
Ingestion
Directed by Jordan Pfeifer
Depressed artist Isa is trying to find ways to cope with her fresh breakup. Where other sapphics might befriend their exes, take up an improv class, or even move cities, she finds solace in an unexpected way - eating her paint. I saw a short like this once from director Audrey Lorber. This descent into madness is a horror niche that I love dearly! While suppression can be a response for one’s identity, it can also be a response for one’s emotions. No one ever said that breakups are supposed to be easy. Sapphic relationships, though, are like a friendship and relationship ending all at once. It makes you want to crawl into yourself and wait for the pain to stop. Isa’s “ingestion” is a way to cope that shifts the focus off of her breakup. However, as we saw before, you can only drown it out for so long before it resurfaces.
Papergirl
Directed by Jack Warren
Gender dysphoria gives way to a terrifying metamorphosis when a lonely partygoer discovers that their skin is turning to paper. Below the surface, this character comes to understand the true feeling of unashamed freedom. The black and white color grade makes this short stand out amongst the other two. Its dynamism creates a moody atmosphere that allows its viewers to focus on the metamorphosis of the narrative rather than any technical elements. The short begins with its character as a man assigned at birth. He’s awkward and he’s clumsy: characteristics that make him a target for public humiliation. It encapsulates the experience of gender dysphoria in the simplest of terms: lost in route.
Body horror, in queer context, is feeling alien in your own body. The shedding, bleeding, and morphing intends to emphasize the feeling of gender dysphoria or euphoria. It packs a punch that you feel well after you’ve left the theater. I Saw the TV Glow leaves that impression on viewers; whether they are queer or not. Everyone can empathize with the more commercial aspect of the narrative: the weight of time.
For queer watchers, though, it’s like peeking into an alternate dimension: one where they turned the TV off. They suppressed their feelings they had for the person of the same gender. They submitted to the life they were conditioned to want. Owen’s (played by Justice Smith) breaking point passionately depicts how his truth has been eating away at him from the inside out. Just like Owen, Isa of Ingestion and Esther of Consume are full of shame over their actions. Papergirl offered a more heartwarming ending that, in a way, celebrated queer transmogrification. But that’s the dynamicism of Final Girl’s 2025: proving that horror by women deserves to take up space in whatever capacity it’s willed.
The Final Girls Berlin Film festival runs from Wednesday, March 5 to Sunday, March 9, 2025. Tickets can be found here. Additional fest coverage from MovieJawn can be found here
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