The Kiss
Prejudice is timeless, so is love.
A period short film set in the 50’s depicting acceptance and tolerance with an underlying LGBTQ+ theme. The Kiss exposes the ugly face of intolerance that hides behind the glamour of one of history’s most romanticized eras.
festivals & awards
Short Corner Cannes, France, May 2017
Award: Best International Short Film LA Brazilian Film Festival, USA, Nov 2017
Award: Runner-Up Public’s Choice XX Intl. Short Film Festival of the Bay of Pasaia, IKUSKA Spain - Nov 2018
Nomination: Best Intl. Short Film ME (Milledgeville & Eatonton) Film Festival, Georgia, USA - 2018
Nominations: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Costumes at FESTICINI - Festival Intl. de Cinema Independente, Guararema - São Paulo, Brazil, Nov 2018
Caribbean Film Festival & Market, Bahamas, Nov 2017
Our City Festival, Cape Town, South Africa, Nov 2017
FARCUME Festival Internacional de Curta Metragens de Faro, Aug 2017
Vasteras Film Festival, Munkgatan, Sweden, Sep 2017
Orlando Film Festival, Orlando USA, Oct 2017
Festival Venezolano del Cine de la Diversidad, Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 2017
Queer Streifen-Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany, Nov 2017
Festival Internacional de Curtmetratges de Villa-Seca, Spain, Oct 2017
Queer Kampala International Film Festival, Kampala, Uganda, Dec 2017
DIGO - Festival Internacional de Diversidade Sexual e de Gênero, Goiás, Brazil - 2018
Bengaluru Intl. Short Film Festival Bangalore Karnataka, India - 2018
Festival Cine Zaragoza, Spain - Nov 2018
Las Vegas Queer Arts Film Festival, USA - Nov 2018
Santo Domingo Outfest - Festival Internacional de Cine GLBT, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Nov 2018
Séptimo La Otra Banqueta - Festival de Cine por la Diversidad Sexual, Guatemala - Nov 2018
International Queer Film Festival Merlinka Belgrade, Serbia - Dec 2018
XIV FESTIMATGE - Festival de la Imatge de Calella , Catalonia, Spain - April 2019
41st Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes en San Roque, Spain - June 2019
Festival Internacional de Cine LesBiGayTrans Asunción, Paraguay - Jul 2019
Filmmaker International Film Festival Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain - Nov 2019
Festival Espacio Seis, Panama City, Panama - Jun 2020
Fem Tour Truck Itinerant Film festival, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain - Dec 2020
reviews
“A Kiss Should be Just a Kiss”
THE KISS is directed by Joffre Faria Silva and Written by Barbara de la Fuente who also plays Mrs. Tancredi. Setting the action in the 50's is a smart way of showing that despite making advances in the subject of Gay rights, we are still not that ahead. The wardrobe, sets and colours all transport us to a different time period, but there's still something inherently modern, perhaps it's the subject, perhaps is the naturalistic direction and performances. The script is simple, yet there is a clear and succinct message that resonates with modern audiences, the set-up is uncomplicated, but still layered with different motivations and details that on second look enrichen the experience. THE KISS may be brief in its run-time, but returning to it more than once elevates the experience and certain details come to the light. Above all, this is a film that is held together by its performances. The standouts include Barbara de la Fuente herself, as a mother that knows who her child is and that will stand for him in the face of bigotry, however her pain is clear when she realizes that her son will never be safe from people who don't understand him, and that scene where she begs the question of why Paul can't be "normal" shows how afraid she is for his future in a world that won't accept him. Denise DeSanctis role as Mrs. Williams is complex, she could have easily played Williams as nothing but a bigot, but she's multidimensional. A woman torn between upholding a strict and retrograde disciplinary code and knowing that she's deep down a hypocrite who has allowed this views to tear her family apart. Savannah Burton makes a brief but pivotal appearance as Bettina, William's transgender sister, she's surprised that her rigorously conservative sister would shot at her door, and that moment when she realizes that the only reason her estranged sister could have paid her a visit could be only to deliver bad news of a death in the family tells volumes on how apart both women are. Young Victor Gilbert also portrays the innocent complexity of Paul Tancredi, a boy who is exploring his place in the world and how he just wants to be accepted and acknowledged for who he or she is. Overall, this is a successful effort to show audiences that we are still stuck in some old ways due to outdated religious and hypocritical "moral" views that keep people from accepting others, in some cases loved members of their own families. Oct 8,2017
“If Anything, Just for a Kiss”
by Alexandre Dias Ramos
We are accustomed to the idea that decades ago the world was more conservative, that differences were not tolerated, that the family nucleus was the foundation for the exact fulfillment of the role of men and women in society. True.
But... have things really changed that much? The film The Kiss, directed by Joffre Faria Silva, brings in a nuanced view of the 1950s, an issue that is still so prevalent today. The social pressure that keeps people from being who they want to be. The school, as an institution created to be a base for civility and a producer of “good manners”, is also, evidently, a place that censures any attitude that goes beyond the norms that society expects you to follow.
The film's rhythmic pace, elegant filmography, and engaging soundtrack lull the discussion in the face of a serious incident involving Paul (Victor Gilbert), the son of Mrs. Tancredi (Barbara de la Fuente, who also wrote the script). Mrs. Williams, the school principal (Denise DeSanctis), Mr. Baker, Paul’s teacher (David Emanuel), and Mrs. Tancredi might perhaps think or act in a different manner… No, they might not. They know that their actions must correspond in a way that reflects the ideals of a society that has certain moral codes. And therein lies the perfect choice for the era in which the film takes place, the 1950s, when schools played a fundamental role in the constitution of this morality.
The film creates a mood of dubious feeling, showing the exaggeration of a simple kiss being treated so seriously. We know why. We know what that meant for the time. But the audience that watches the film is here today, more than 60 years later, and it also understands the absurdity of the situation. Well, maybe not. Even today, discussions about gender neutral bathrooms in schools, what is considered "appropriate" clothing for boys and girls, and kissing among boys in schools is still a contentious point of debate. Maybe the world has not changed that much.
It is interesting to note how, in the film, everyone knows they have to accept the imposed situation, but at the same time, each one finds a way to mitigate such imposition. Herein lies the endurance of the film. Behind the conservative formation of all there is the human aspect, there is a more tenuous, not less complex, layer that meets the established rules. Bettina (Savannah Burton) shows that it is possible to resist conservatism, that it is possible that one day little Paul can make his own choices.
Yes, everyone knew that it was not just a kiss.