NQV Media’s lesbian shorts series ‘Upon Her Lips’ is back with a new instalment just in time for Easter. ‘Upon Her Lips: She Likes Girls’ brings together five shorts from filmmakers around the globe, with stories from Singapore, Spain, France and the US. Each of the shorts tells a different love story, shining a spotlight on the lesbian experience and highlighting the commonality regardless of where you’re from.
This collection opens with ‘In Tune’ from director Hannah Miles Wong, and it finds 35-year-old Lin (Kimberley Kiew) caught off-guard when she finds a half-finished composition written about her by Sarah (Cassandra Spykerman), her son’s piano teacher. Initially shocked, Lin starts to look inward and realises that maybe she hasn’t been living her authentic life and there’s more out there than she thought. The short explores the pressure that Asian people face from society when it comes to their sexuality, and it’s an engaging meditation on finding out who you are later in life.
‘Cleo is Coming Over Tonight’ by directors Aitana Ahrens and Miguel Guindos is a real change of pace following ‘In Tune’. We move from Singapore to Spain where Aitana (Aitana Ahrens) is throwing a Halloween party in the hope that her ex, the titular Cleo, is going to turn up. Contrasting with the calmness of ‘In Tune’, ‘Cleo is Coming Over Tonight’ is altogether more chaotic and it captures the rush of adrenaline you feel when you’re anticipating seeing someone and hoping that a spark is rekindled. It’s a situation most of us have been in and this is a fun short.
Coralie Watanabe Prosper moves us to France with ‘Kotowari’, where we find Japanese citizen Saki (Rei Watanabe) and her French wife Tom (Isaline Prévost Radeff) hoping to pick up Saki’s residency permit so she can permanently live in France. At a time when immigration is permanently in the spotlight, Watanabe Prosper highlights just how tough the process really is – even when you’re trying to follow the rules. This short is based on her own life (lead actress Rei Watanabe is her wife) and it’s the most heartbreaking of the shorts here. You witness Saki gradually losing hope and then being dealt a life-changing blow, that forces her to make an impossible decision.
From that weighty subject to the flightier ‘Girlfriends’ from Claire Bonnefoy, this next short is more like a soap opera. Hélène (Marguerite Thiam) is best friends with Samia (Louise Malek) but she’s now dating Gaby (Alma Rechtman), Samia’s ex-girlfriend. As Hélène’s jealousy gets the better of her, she decides to take a magic potion to erase her memory and things between the trio take an unexpected turn. ‘Girlfriends’ is probably the lightest short on this collection, and it borders on the silly at times. It’s engaging enough but against the weightiness of the other films here, it feels a little out of place.
This instalment ends with ‘Greta’ by Sparkman Clark, and we end our trip around the globe in the US. Clark plays the titular Greta, a 22-year-old New Yorker who is struggling with the realities of being an adult in a big city. When she meets April (Callan Souzzi-Rearic), Greta’s world is turned upside down and she starts to realise that maybe her life doesn’t suck so much after all. This is a short about finding yourself, learning to stand on your own two feet and following your heart. There’s a twist in this one but overall it’s a positive story that injects plenty of fun along the way.
‘Upon Her Lips: She Likes Girls’ showcases lots of different lesbian experiences, and there’s a coming-of-age theme throughout. The most striking thing is that it doesn’t really matter where in the world you live, people face similar kinds of hurdles and issues. For some of these women it’s allowing themselves to be the person they’ve been supressing and for others, it’s coming to terms with the reality of the situations they’re in. As always, the collection is thought-provoking, and there’s a little something here for everyone.
Cast: Kimberley Kiew, Cassandra Spykerman, Aitana Ahrens, Marina Pérez, Rosa Caldito, Rei Watanabe, Isaline Prévost Radeff, Habib Labidi, Marguerite Thiam, Alma Rechtman, Saaphyra, Louise Malek, Sparkman Clark, Callan Souzzi-Rearic Directors: Hannah Miles Wong, Aitana Ahrens, Miguel Guindos, Coralie Watanabe Prosper, Claire Bonnefoy, Sparkman Clark Certificate: 18 Duration: 101 mins Released by: NQV Media Release date: 27th March 2026 Buy ‘Upon Her Lips: She Likes Girls’ now
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