Queergestreift Film Festival – CRISANTEMO

As part of our anniversary celebrations, we are once again taking on a film patronage at the Queergestreift Film Festival at Zebra Kino in Konstanz. For the 39th time, the cinema will be transformed into the vibrant heart of the queer community from 16 to 26 April 2026. Featuring brand-new films and current topics, this year’s festival is held under the motto “Personal Identities Under Construction”.

HIV is already a topic on opening day: the short film “Crisantemo”, supported by AidsHilfe Konstanz, is one of three films screened under the program title “Queerer 3er – Complex Feelings”. Matías and Itaii, two young men from completely different worlds, feel drawn to each other. In search of a better understanding of themselves, they embark on a journey that brings them closer - one in which they begin to share their most intimate stories. All but one: Itaii struggles to find the right moment to tell Matías that he is living with HIV.

“Crisantemo” aims to make the lives of people living with HIV and serodiscordant couples visible in a contemporary yet accessible way. The reason is simple: thanks to modern medicine, HIV is now a chronic infection that people can generally live well with. For many, treatment has become a well-integrated routine - made possible by good medical care and reliable support services. Scientific insights, especially U=U (“undetectable = untransmittable”), have fundamentally changed the everyday lives and outlook of people living with HIV: with effective treatment, the viral load becomes undetectable; and if it remains undetectable over time, HIV is not transmitted during sex.

In cinema, however, many portrayals still focus primarily on the traumatic period of the 1980s, when many people died of AIDS. This makes the absence of stories that reflect today’s reality all the more noticeable: a life with HIV shaped by relationships, everyday life, plans for the future, and dignity.

Precisely because, according to UNAIDS, more than 40 million people worldwide are still living with HIV, it is important to tell up-to-date, nuanced - and above all, human - perspectives. Against this backdrop, Yuri Matoszko and Kane Kwik decided to bring this film to life.

The film patronage also includes AidsHilfe being on site with an information stand, providing a space for conversation, information, questions, and exchange.

Date: Thursday, 16 April 2026, 9:45 p.m.
Venue: Zebra Kino Konstanz, Joseph-Belli-Weg 5, 78467 Konstanz

Come along - we’re looking forward to seeing you!