A great many gay films have come out of Germany, which is said to be the country where the world’s first-ever “pro-gay” film was made.
In that sense, No Hard Feelings is part of a long history of German features that have broken down boundaries through their explorations of LGBTQ characters and queer themes.
The big-screen debut of writer-director Faraz Shariat, the smart and vibrant film has won fans the world over, as it traveled from film festival to film festival, premiering at the acclaimed Berlinale and eventually making its way stateside to San Francisco’s Frameline and, later, New York’s NewFest—which is where it first caught our attention.
Now streaming for free via Germany’s Goethe Institute, it’s the perfect time to catch up with this future queer classic.
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No Hard Feelings is the story of the devil-may-care Parvis (Benjamin Radjaipour), a second-generation Iranian-German who spends his nights dancing at gay clubs and cruising on the apps, while his days are (reluctantly) spent working at a refugee center for community service.
It’s there he meets the alluring Amon (Eidin Jalali) and his sister Bana (Banafshe Hourmazdi), who are new to Germany, seeking asylum from Iran. It’s not long before the two men begin falling for each other, sharing an electric sexual chemistry. As their romantic and social lives intertwine, Parvis finds a sense of community outside of his own conservative family.
However, when Parvis learns that Bana is facing deportation, he begins to reckon with the intermingling facets of his identity for the first time. He sees a lot of himself in the siblings—especially as all three confront casual racism on the regular—but realizes the ways in which their “outsider” status makes their day-to-day lives that much more of a struggle.
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Even as No Hard Feelings unpacks race, sexuality, and the ways they intersect, Shariat maintains a delicate balance that keeps things colorful and buoyant—and frequently very funny. And while Parvis, Amon, and Bana’s story pulls at the heartstrings, it makes plenty of space for queer joy, highlighting why the film has been such a festival crowd-pleaser over the years.
Just recently, No Hard Feelings became available to stream through the Goethe Institute’s New Directions program, a free film series celebrating German cinema from young filmmakers over the past 20 years. In other words, it’s the perfect time to catch up with this celebrated and celebratory gay feature.
Head to the Goethe Institute site, use Google Translate if you don’t speak German, and then sign up for free to watch. You can check out the official international trailer below:
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