The Love Unbound: Five Films For Freedom Festival is set to make a comeback this March. For the third year of the festival, we are expanding our reach with activities in both Athens and Thessaloniki. The festival is committed to exploring and delving into a variety of LGBTQIA+ and gender equality experiences by harnessing the transformative influence of arts and culture.
The festival is co-organised by the British Council and Parenthesis in collaboration with the British Embassy and INNOVATHENS | Technopolis City of Athens, with the support of Queer Con and Amnesty International.
The festival focuses on our global programme Five Films For Freedom, which includes a collection of short LGBTQIA+ films from around the world. Through film screenings, panel discussions, empowerment workshops and mentoring sessions, the festival aims to open unbiased discussion on current equality gender issues based on ‘real life’ experiences through artistic outputs.
In the parallel programme of the Love Unbound festival, there will be a series of discussions and workshops hosting leading UK professionals from the film industry.
This year, the festival delves into the complexities of gender identity, fostering meaningful dialogue, understanding and action towards a more inclusive and equal society. We will also explore the critical role of consent – not only in sexual contact and relationships but also in the digital realm and artistic production in the creative industries.
This year’s Festival marks the 11th year of #FiveFilmsForFreedom in partnership with the British Council. Since its launch in 2015, Five Films For Freedom films has been viewed by 26 million people in over 200 countries and principalities, including significant numbers in the 11 countries where LGBTQIA+ lives are punishable by the death penalty.
UK guests
Dorothy Allen-Pickard
Dorothy is a filmmaker working across narrative, documentary and theatrical modes, focusing on themes of community resistance, mental illness, disability and the criminal justice system. Her collaborative approach is shaped by her protagonists’ lived experiences, and she explores the intersection of performance and reality. She is a founding member of Breach Theatre and an associate artist at Kestrel Theatre, which runs theatre and film workshops in prisons. Her work has screened at major festivals, including the London Film Festival, Hot Docs and Sheffield DocFest, and has been featured on PBS, Guardian Documentaries and the BBC. She has won multiple awards, including Best UK Short at the Open City Doc Festival and a Special Mention at Oberhausen.
Rosie Morris
Rosie Morris is a London-based filmmaker. She studied a BA in Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London and did a one-year Arts Council Funded MA at Open School East, before attending the Directing Documentary course at the National Film and Television School, from where she graduated in February 2020. Rosie’s aim is that the audience is invited into the world of her films to meet the people in them at eye level. She examines the ethical complexities of the stories she is telling to drive her creative choices, prioritising intimacy and emotion and the relationships involved in making the film.
Workshop
As part of the festival, we are joining forces with our global Youth Connect programme aiming to empower young people to make a meaningful impact. We will be hosting a workshop for young people aged 18–35, in both Athens and Thessaloniki, which aims to discuss the value of gender equality in leadership and its indisputable impact in addressing the different challenges we come across in our daily contexts with regards to gender at work.
For more information, please visit our Youth Connect | Gender Equality Workshops webpage. To sign up, please complete the online registration form.
Screenings
This year’s Five Films For Freedom are:
- Dragfox by Lisa Ott (UK)
Struggling with their gender identity, eleven-year-old Sam feels alone and confused, not quite sure how to express the way they feel. - If I Make it to the Morning by Andre Shen (USA/China)
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. - NGGAK!!! by Oktania Hamdani and Winner Wijaya (Indonesia)
As they play an online game together, loved-up girlfriends Sekar and Bebi laugh, chat and send each other memes. - We’ll Go Down in History by Cameron Richards and Charlie Tidmas (UK)
The story of TRUK United, a grassroots, proudly trans football club formed in January 2021 - Wait, Wait, Now! by Ramon Te Wake (New Zealand)
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.
Alongside the Five Films For Freedom, we will also be screening the films:
- My Blonde GF by Rosie Morris
- We Did Not Consent by Dorothy Allen-Pickard
We will also co-host ‘Το Παζλ για τη ΣυΝΑΙνεση’ (The Puzzle for Consent) with Amnesty International – Greek Section, continuing the fight for a culture of consent, in order to discuss, reflect and take action for a world where everyone’s boundaries are respected in all aspects of life.
In Thessaloniki, we will present the performance Feminist Spoken Word Performance Poetry: Amelia and Manolis Nanouris. Through slam poetry and music, the performance highlights the gender hierarchy embedded in people’s everyday practices, focusing on oppressive structures that portray the subjugation of the feminine.
Programme
Athens | Friday 28 March 2025
14.00–17.00 | Youth Connect | Gender Equality Workshops
18.15–18.40 | Screening: My Blonde GF by Rosie Morris
18.40–19.20 | Screening: Five Films For Freedom
19.20–19.45 | Screening: We Did Not Consent by Dorothy Allen-Pickard
19.45–20.45 | Panel Discussion, moderated by journalist Thodoris Antonopoulos
Speakers
- Rosie Morris, Filmmaker
- Dorothy Allen-Pickard, Filmmaker
- Polina Michalou, Activism Officer, Amnesty International – Greek Section
- Ilias Katirzigiannoglou, Artistic Director, Queer Con
21.00 | End | Networking
Thessaloniki | Saturday 29 March 2025
15.00–18.00 | Youth Connect | Gender Equality Workshops
18.15–18.40 | Screening: My Blonde GF by Rosie Morris
18.40–19.20 | Screening: Five Films For Freedom
19.20–19.45 | Screening: We Did Not Consent by Dorothy Allen-Pickard
19.45–20.45 | Panel Discussion, moderated by Angelos N. Vassos, Director of the Now – The Creativity Platform
Speakers
- Rosie Morris, Filmmaker
- Dorothy Allen-Pickard, Filmmaker
- Tina Antonakou, Press Officer at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival
21.00–21.20 | Feminist Spoken Word Performance Poetry: Amelia and Manolis Nanouris
21.20 | End | Networking
The discussions will be held in English.
Athens
| When | Friday 28 March 2025 |
| Where | Warehouse space INNOVATHENS | Technopolis City of Athens 100 Pireos Street 118 54 Athens |
Thessaloniki
| When | Saturday 29 March 2025 |
| Where | Ypsilon 5 Edessis Street 546 25 Thessaloniki |
Five Films For Freedom
Dive into the world of LGBTQIA+ cinema!
In partnership with BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, we celebrate global LGBTQIA+ stories every year in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual people across the world.
We launched Five Films For Freedom ten years ago and this phenomenal global programme has enabled us to stand in solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities around the world, particularly in places where freedom and equal rights are limited.
Our annual online celebration of LGBTQIA+ stories from around the world has been online for just 120 days during these ten years. In that time over 26 million people, watching in more than 200 countries and principalities, have supported the fact that ‘Love is a Human Right’.
Information
For further information, please contact Maria Papaioannou:
| Maria.Papaioannou@britishcouncil.gr | |
| Telephone | 210 369 2336 |