Promising to excite all the senses, Queer Screen’s 30th Mardi Gras Film Festival is curating a bold collection of new and retrospective films for its anniversary Festival from 15 February to 2 March in Sydney and nationally on-demand.
Tickets to the first released films are on sale now at queerscreen.org.au, with full program released 11 January.
The Festival will screen at eight venues across Sydney including Event Cinemas (George Street), Dendy Cinema (Newtown) and Ritz Cinemas (Randwick) as well as other exciting venues to be announced.
“Our 30th anniversary is the perfect time to celebrate impactful Australian creatives from our rich history to honour and recognise those who have shaped our queer culture and introduce them to younger audience members so their legacy and impact lives on, because we need to understand and experience our history to create our future,” explains Queer Screen Festival Director Lisa Rose. “The hosting of World Pride in Sydney also gives us the opportunity to showcase our brilliant Australian storytelling to a new international audience while sharing the best of the new global films with our always amazing Australian audiences.”
The late filmmaker Stephen Cummings, one of the founders of Queer Screen, will be honoured with a retrospective gala of his nine short films that have been digitised, restored, and remastered by National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) and Simon Hunt, Stephen’s estate executor. This will include the award-winning RESONANCE, ELEVATION and LE CORPS IMAGE.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Stephen’s key creatives and collaborators, moderated by NFSA Curator Nick Henderson, and a party to celebrate his powerful life and career.
Another highly influential Australian the late legendary drag queen Doris Fish will be revered with a special screening of the cult classic VEGAS IN SPACE, lovingly created over a decade by Fish as a homage to B-grade science fiction movies through an all-drag musical odyssey. The movie has been
recognised for its pioneering role in queer cinema and Doris Fish, aka Philip Mills, for his crucial role in transforming the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras from a street protest march to an international cultural phenomenon.
This once-in-a-lifetime screening will be preceded by live performances and the director Phillip R. Ford, co-stars Miss X and Silvana Nova and musical director Timmy Spence will be in attendance for a Q&A moderated by Jay Katz, who will also attend the exclusive out of this world after-party.
A recipient of the Queer Screen Completion Fund 2021, Queer Screen’s grant program that provides financial assistance to worthy Australian LGBTIQ+ screen projects, LONESOME by Director Craig Boreham (Teenage Kicks, MGFF17) is a frank and sometimes confronting film about the solitary cowboy Casey who dives headfirst into a grungy world of lust and love on the streets of Sydney.
Winner of the Audience Award at Toronto’s Inside Out festival, GATEWAYS GRIND dives into the history of London’s longest-running lesbian club. Open from the 1930s, this charming documentary, delightfully narrated by Sandi Toksvig, is a journey through the scandals and stories from those who
frequented the establishment, and those who grew up within its walls.
UÝRA: THE RISING FOREST is an inspiring documentary about self-expression and education through art in defiance of Brazil’s repressive political regime by the Indigenous non-binary performance artist Uýra. Resisting their marginalisation, Uýra travels across the Amazon to conduct workshops, educating locals around environmental preservation and promoting LGBTIQ+ rights with creative modes of expression.
Also From Brazil, MARS ONE is a tender story of family, love, and hope following the everyday challenges of a tight-knit family of working-class dreamers. Law student Nina is in love, but is she ready to reveal she has a girlfriend when her family’s lives are already so complicated? This rich and multi-faceted film is more than a coming out story, it is an immersive drama about embracing people for who they are.
IN FROM THE SIDE is a captivating drama exploring an illicit affair between two partnered members of a South London gay rugby club. This sizzling crowd-pleaser from rugby player and coach turned filmmaker Matt Carter and Australian co-writer/producer Adam Silver faithfully captures the jealousies, camaraderie, and team spirit within a local gay rugby club.
Where one must choose between love and duty, identity, and faith, YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER asks the question: what do we sacrifice for paradise? When queer teenager Jaime is reluctantly sent to live with her Jehovah’s Witness aunt and uncle after her father’s death, she encounters Marike, a devout follower of the faith. Their undeniable bond forces them to confront their own ideas about community, belief, and love.
Optus returns this year as Presenting Partner. “With two big milestones, our 30th anniversary and World Pride in Sydney, coinciding we are so excited for this year’s Festival,” says Queer Screen Co-Chair Cheryl Kavanagh. “A huge thanks to our partners who are helping us bring to life our best Festival yet and give our loyal Australian audiences and our international visitors so many special events to remember!”
Queer Screen’s 30th Mardi Gras Film Festival is also supported by Screen NSW and Randwick City Council. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available through Queer Screen.
Tickets for the first released films are on sale now including Flexi Passes and Queer Screen memberships for discounted tickets and priority entry. Please visit queerscreen.org.au or the Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival app, or call (02) 9280 1533 to book.
