Fabian Stumm takes on the comedy and the tragedy of modern queer life in the new film Sad Jokes
The German filmmaker stopped by Here & Queer to chat about his tender and poignant second feature
Here & Queer is a Canadian Screen Award-winning talk series hosted by Peter Knegt that celebrates and amplifies the work of LGBTQ artists through unfiltered conversations.
At the beginning of Fabian Stumm's new film, Sad Jokes, someone asks, "What do you call a sad coffee?"
The answer, of course, is: "a depresso!"
Though that is indeed an example of what is expressed in the title of Stumm's film, Sad Jokes is about much more than melancholic one-liners. Set in modern day Berlin, it's essentially a series of autofictional vignettes that tell the story of a gay filmmaker (played by Stumm) and a depressive, straight woman (Haley Louise Jones), who are close friends co-parenting a young child. What results is a tender and poignant tragicomedy that cements Stumm as a truly exceptional new queer voice in cinema.
The film had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last September. That's when Stumm — who wrote, directed and stars in Sad Jokes — stopped by the Here & Queer set to talk about how it came together.
For more information on how to watch Sad Jokes, visit the film's website.
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