The program has been revealed for this year’s Queer Screen Film Festival, which runs September 18 to September 26 at Sydney’s Event Cinemas on George Street. This year’s line-up comprises 29 films from 12 countries, and boasts a huge 55% of LGBTIQ films directed or co-directed by women.
“I’m incredibly proud that Queer Screen continues to champion the work of female filmmakers,” says Festival Director, Lisa Rose.
“Having a film festival with over half the filmmakers identifying as female is rare. It shouldn’t be, but it is and I am honoured that Queer Screen can be seen as doing its part to address this in balance.”
To celebrate this year’s program, and its impressive line-up of content from female filmmakers, we’ve picked five films from the program – all directed by women – that look particularly interesting. Here they are, with descriptions taken from the festival website.
Nothing to Lose
“When you have a larger body, everyone seems to have an opinion about what you can do and where you should be seen. Dancing on the main stage at a major arts festival? Forget about it. Acclaimed choreographer Kate Champion decided to change that situation, joining forces with queer fat activist and artist Kelli Jean Drinkwater to challenge the status quo and bring larger bodies to the stage.”
Just Friends
“A modern gay romance about two young men in the Netherlands, at turning points in their lives, who find themselves inescapably smitten. Model-hot Joris (Josha Stradowski), wealthy but bored and dealing with the death of his father, spends his day at the gym or riding his motorbike, while just-as-fetching Yad (Majd Mardo) has returned home after dropping out of university at Amsterdam, where he was partying a little too hard.”
Yo También
“Lina has been diagnosed with hepatitis. Following the instructions of her doctor, she must contact her past sexual partners so they can get tested for the infection.”
Salamagan
“Ana fears that coming out to her Filipino Catholic mother would break her heart. But when her mother needs help cleaning a hoarder house, Ana enlists her secret girlfriend for the job.”
Marguerite
“An ageing woman and her nurse develop a friendship that inspires her to unearth unacknowledged longing and thus help her make peace with her past”.
