Queer Screen’s 29th Mardi Gras Film Festival (Festival) starts next week and it is just the antidote to the pain and distress LGBTIQ+ communities and their allies may have experienced this week.The Festival program includes a range of narrative features, documentaries, episodics and short films which capture the wonder of what it means to be queer – gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, or whatever!
Festival director Lisa Rose said the events of this week highlight the ongoing importance of queer storytelling. “It’s more crucial than ever to see positive representation on screen when LGBTIQ+ youth are being so casually crushed by the nation’s leaders.”
This Festival includes films where LGBTIQ+ youth come into their own, Rose said. “Trans, queer and non-binary young people know who they are and deserve to be celebrated and cherished for it, as should every child. They are everywhere. They can’t be erased.”
The week that was also reinforced the need for us to keep fighting the good fight, as the trailblazing activists and artists in our Rebel With A Cause program strand did before us.
These films capture the essence of what it actually means to be young and queer.
Wildhood (Opening night)
When two-spirit youth, Link, runs away from his abusive white father, he meets Pasmay, a pow wow dancer, and together they journey towards community, identity, and love.
As We Like It
Rosalind disguises herself as her twin brother, Roosevelt, and meets Orlando who starts to fall in love with her, as a him. A Taiwanese adaptation of the Shakespeare play, with an all-female cast.
Hetero
A fabulous ensemble of queer teens must save their Gay-Straight Alliance from disbandment by recruiting… heteros. Written, directed and created by queer and trans teenagers.
Sweetheart
Awkward teenager AJ is destined for a dreadful time on a family holiday, until she befriends Isla, the cute lifeguard.
Potato Dreams of America
When young Potato travels from the oppressive USSR to the USA with his ‘mail order bride’ mother, things start to look up, but he lives in fear his new family will find out he is gay.
Mayfly
Emilia’s perfectly planned future starts to derail when she meets Renata, who is committed to living in the moment. Emilia’s father embodies what every young queer would wish for in a parent.
Querencia
Two young Indigenous Canadian women find themselves and each other in a big city. They each have markedly different relationships to their heritage.
Summertime
The lives of 25 young poets in Los Angeles intersect throughout one summer day. SHORTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
My Queer Career
Eight emerging filmmakers are in the running for Australia’s richest queer short film prize.
Shorts About Family Ties
Family means something different to everyone, even more so in the LGBTIQ+ community. These shorts explore the many different types of family and relationships we have.
$10 community screenings
Includes The First Girl I Loved from Hong Kong in Hurstville and Kapana and Ife, two African films, in Parramatta. Hating Peter Tatchell with a Q&A with filmmaker Christopher Amos and Hetero, followed by a panel discussion featuring young content creators, are on in the city.
Running from 17 February to 3 March, the Festival is a hybrid model, with in-cinema screenings in Sydney and on-demand streaming options around the nation.
Tickets for all films and Festival Passes are on sale now. Please visit queerscreen.org.au or the Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival app, or call (02) 9280 1533 to book. Become a Queer Screen member for discounted tickets and priority entry.
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