Pillion

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Shy Colin leads a dull life as a traffic officer. He longs intensely for a soulmate—and then he meets Ray: his complete opposite and the man of his dreams. Ray is clad head to toe in leather, irresistibly handsome and charismatic. As Colin surrenders completely to the macho biker and enters an exciting new world of sadomasochistic desire, he must confront the limits of his devotion.

The film Pillion marks an intriguing shift in the oeuvre of British director Harry Lighton, who makes his feature debut with this project following the success of his short film Wren Boys. Produced by Element Pictures (known for Poor Things), the film explores the complex dynamics of an unlikely relationship against the backdrop of British motorcycle culture. The story follows shy Colin, whose monotonous life is upended when he meets the dominant Ray. What begins as a physical attraction on the back of a motorcycle evolves into a deeper exploration of power, intimacy, and the need to belong.

Thursday, March 26: The Queer Image

We’ll watch Pillion together, preceded by the short film The Healers (2010, 10 min) by Tim Leyendekker. After the screening, Leyendekker will be present for a Q&A with the audience.

The Healers is a deconstructed reconstruction of a memory from Rotterdam’s mid-1990s nightlife, presented as a triptych: the thrill of the night, the location, and the date.

Tim Leyendekker is an artist and filmmaker based in Rotterdam and Strasbourg. His work moves between film and visual art and has been shown at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, MoMA (New York), and Centre Pompidou (Paris), among others. His feature film Feast (2021) was nominated for a Tiger Award at IFFR.

The aftertalk with director Tim Leyendekker is in English.