One year shy of its silver anniversary, the Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival returns to treat Sydney audiences to a cornucopia of queer cinema including one world premiere and 31 Australian premieres, as curated by festival director Paul Struthers.
Opening with Irish writer/director Darren Thornton’s , starring Seána Kerslake as a young woman fresh out of juvenile detention frantically trying to find a suitable plus one for her best friend’s wedding, it closes just over two weeks later with another Irish offering, John Butler’s boys’ school comedy .
In between, there will be Australian coming-of-age films and , a sneak peek at the first episode of Dustin Lance Black’s LGBTIQ rights drama series , directed by Gus Van Sant, as well as powerful trans stories like Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca’s documentary , and a focus on films from the Asia-Pacific region, including a look back at Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee’s 1993 movie .
1. Moonlight
Source: A24
Played by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and then Trevante Rhodes, Chiron’s complex relationship with his sexuality unfurls slowly in a tough world of violence and addiction. Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris excel in supporting roles, with James Laxton’s woozy cinematography incandescent.
“Not only is the story of Moonlight stunning, and the cinematography exceptional, but every single actor is mesmerisingly real and honest in their performance,” Struthers says.
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2. The Pass
Source: Queer Screen
“Russell is very, very good in it and convincing as a football player,” Struthers says. “It’s an important story. How many gay footballers are there? I can’t think of many, but they must exist.”
3. Irrawaddy Mon Amour / The Priestess Walks Alone
Part of the festival's 'Focus on Asia' program, these two compelling documentaries screen together. Nicola Grignani, Valeria Testagrossa and Andrea Zambelli’s follows a young gay couple in a remote Myanmar village who dream of marrying despite the laws of the military regime. Taiwanese director Hui-chen Huang’s is an intense doco of raw, emotional honesty between the filmmaker and her older lesbian mother that’s intertwined with religious belief. “They are both really good films,” Struthers says.
4. Rara
Source: Queer Screen
5. Brothers of the Night
Another Berlin International Film Festival highlight, Patric Chiha’s provocative doco follows the antics of a group of young ‘gay for pay’ sex workers who left behind their homes in Bulgaria for the promise of a better life in Vienna. Their fascinating bond drew Struthers in, with their upfront revelations gripping. “The possibilities of hybrid documentary are explored to the full in this beautifully captured film,” Struthers says.
6. The Revival: Women and the Word
Documentary-maker Sekiya Dorsett’s features five queer women of colour—Jade Foster, Be Steadwell, Jonquille Rice, T'ai Freedom Ford and Eli Turner—as they spread their stories across the US and Canada through spoken word performance and poetry. “It’s a pretty unbeatable recipe for success,” Struthers says.
7. Out of Iraq
Source: Queer Screen
8. Being 17
Source: Queer Screen
“It’s such a different look at a gay coming-of-age story, about these two young men who have a strong dislike for each other, essentially masking their love,” Struthers says. “I love it. The boys’ performances, the way it’s shot, the Pyrenees, Sandrine Kiberlain as the mother. Sciamma is outstanding.”
9. Don’t Call Me Son
Source: Queer Screen
10. Seat in Shadow
Hailing from Struthers home nation of Scotland, Henry Coombes’ beautifully shot features an unusual, platonic bond between an older, weary psychologist Albert (David Sillars) and the troubled grandson of a good friend, Ben (Jonathan Leslie), who’s coping with depression while embracing his newfound gay identity. They find strength in one another. “It’s just really cool to see a Scottish queer film,” Struthers admits. “It’s also really nice to see a queer film about friendship.”
11. Me, Myself and Her
Source: Queer Screen
12. Tomcat
Struthers says Austrian director Händl Klaus’ - which took home the Best Feature Teddy Award at Berlin - is not for the faint of heart, especially not if you’re a cat lover. Starring Lukas Turtur and Philipp Hochmair as lovers living in perfect bliss with their cat Moses in Vienna, things suddenly take an awful, shocking turn, shaking their relationship to its very foundation. “It starts off as quite a vanilla drama then something happens that changes the course of the film and it’s edged of your seat stuff after that. It’s excellent.”
The Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival runs from February 15 to March 2. For more information, tickets, and the full line up of films, you can .
SBS will be streaming the 2017 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade live on Saturday, March 4 on SBS On Demand, and will then air our Mardi Gras special event - with commentary from our hosts, behind-the-scenes action and exclusive interviews - on Sunday March 5. In the meantime, you can .
