Join us for a special screening of Five Films for Freedom, the world’s widest reaching LGBTQIA+ online celebration.

A partnership between the British Council and BFI Flare, London’s LGBTIQIA+ film festival, Five Films For Freedom makes five LGBTIQ+ short films available to watch online for free anywhere in the world.

Since its launch, the films featured in the programme have been watched online by over 26 million people in more than 200 countries and principalities, celebrating global stories in support of LGBTQIA+ communities around the world.

MTG Hawke’s Bay is delighted to host this free public screening in collaboration with Eastern Screen Alliance and the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific. The films selected for this year’s programme are from New Zealand, Indonesia, USA and UK.

The films selected for this year have been announced overnight. This year’s #FiveFilmsForFreedom selection is:

DRAGFOX (d. Lisa Ott, UK, 8 mins)

Struggling with their gender identity, eleven-year-old Sam feels alone and confused, not quite sure how to express the way they feel. That is until a mischievous neighbourhood fox (marvellously voiced by Ian McKellen) jumps through their window late one night, taking Sam on an all-singing, all-dancing journey of self-discovery and acceptance.

IF I MAKE IT TO THE MORNING (d. Andre Shen, USA, 9 mins)

Accompanied by her overbearing mother, Chinese teenager Ziyi spends the final night of her cross-State college tour at her cool aunt’s apartment in New York. But as Ziyi starts to think this could be the perfect place to live and study, an unexpected revelation suddenly brings tension to the group.

NO!!! / NGGAK!!! (d. Oktania Hamdani, Winner Wijaya, Indonesia, 8 mins)

As they play an online game together, loved-up girlfriends Sekar and Bebi laugh, chat and send each other memes. But their simple bliss is shattered when Sekar’s mother phones to tell her she is to be set up with a potential partner. Can Sekar make her mother understand that she has already found the one?

WAIT, WAIT, NOW! (d. Ramon Te Wake, New Zealand, 13 mins)

When best friends Alex and Sam are left at home for the night, they do what all teenage boys do: raid mum’s wardrobe, play dress ups, and create a fantasy world where they feel safe and accepted. Well, maybe that's just what some boys do. But little do they know, the parents are on to them. Is there a safe bubble about to burst?

WE'LL GO DOWN IN HISTORY (d. Cameron Richards, Charlie Tidmas, UK, 25 mins)

The story of TRUK United, a grassroots, proudly trans football club formed in January 2021. Filmed over two years, this heartfelt documentary captures the highs and lows of the pioneering UK team on and off the pitch as they strive to create a safe haven for their community in the face of rising transphobia.