30 years of Mardi Gras Film Festival
Queer Screen marks a milestone this year when it holds its 30th Mardi Gras Film Festival. The 16-day program is one of the biggest and most varied ever, with 166 LGBTQI+ themed films being played on indoor, outdoor, and digital device screens, plus workshops, panel discussions, international guests, networking events and parties.
Queer Screen was founded by a group of LGBTQI+ film-makers and film-lovers who wanted more queer representation on and off the screen. During the last three decades, Queer Screen has helped many LGBTQI+ film-makers start or advance their careers and introduced Australian audiences to some a wide selection of international LGBTQI+ films.
The 2023 MGFF will encompass eight locations around Sydney: Event Cinemas (George Street and Hurstville), Dendy Cinema (Newtown), Hayden Orpheum (Cremorne) and Ritz Cinemas (Randwick), Casula Powerhouse, the Westpac Open Air Cinema and the Alumni Green at the University of Technology (Broadway).
The festival will include six special community screenings in six different venues with tickets priced at $10.
The opening and closing films are highlights of the festival, accompanied by after-parties which always have a great vibe. This year’s opening film is an Australian production, Of An Age, about an Australian-Serbian boy who becomes strongly attracted to his friend’s older brother.
Closing out the festival is The Venus Effect, a girl on girl romance from Denmark.
There will be two world premiers in this year’s festival: Trans Glamore, a documentary about trans DJ, Victoria Anthony and her efforts to organise trans womens events during the pandemic; and the hilarious romp, The Winner Takes It All, starring drag queen Maxi Shield.
The retrospective program features a Stephen Cummins gala, Doris Fish’s cult classic,Vegas In Space, and what promises to be a fascinating, nostalgic revisiting of ground-breaking TV soap, Number 96. The show broke boundaries that even today would cause intense pearl-clutching. An episode screening will be followed by a chat between TV historian, Andrew Mercado, and actor, Joe Hasham who played the first openly gay regular character on TV.
A very special and free event (donations welcome) is Queer Screen on the Green, which is being held outdoors on the Alumni Green at the University of Technology.
Catering to the whole community, and stepping backwards through time, the event features four films: a family treat, Raya And The Last Dragon (2021); Pride (2014), about a small-town UK queer group who supported British miners during the 1984 strike; Saving Face (2004), a lesbian rom-com about two Chinese-American women; and the seminal teenage love story, Beautiful Thing (1996).
Cate Blanchett’s phenomenal new film, Tár, will screen at the Westpac Open Air cinema on the Harbour; a magnificent film in a magnificent setting.
Joel Creasey and Rhys Nicholson will host a free dual screening of stand-up specials: Joel Creasey: Queen Of The Outback, filmed in front of a live audience at the 2022 Broken Heel Festival, and Rhys Nicholson’s Big Queer Comedy Concert, featuring Urzila Carlson, Geraldine Hickey, Cassie Workman and Chris Parker. There is loads more in the 2023 MGFF program and tickets are selling fast.
February 15 – March 2
Tickets and info: queerscreen.org.au.
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