Celebrating 30 Years Of ‘Priscilla’ In Bondi

This post also appeared on Star Observer.

It’s no stretch to call The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which just turned 30 this year, one of the definitive Australian films. An unexpected critical and commercial hit worldwide, Stephan Elliott’s 1994 film is an essential bookmark in Aussie cinema for its genuine portrayal of queer and drag culture in Australia. 

Retrospective screenings are popping up everywhere for the film, including on Thursday September 26 as part of the fiercely independent Bondiwood Film Festival with an opening night gala, screening, afterparty and drag performances, of course. 

For Bondiwood Creative Director Billy White, Priscilla was an instrumental film when he was growing up as a queer kid in regional New South Wales. “I saw Priscilla very young, alongside Rocky Horror, and it had a major impact on me,” he said. “I grew up in Coffs Harbour, and LGBTQI+ issues were not really talked about. 

“It wasn’t until I got older and started to feel a bit insecure about my identity, wondering if this was something to be loved and praised because of my internalised homophobia. But I looked at films like Priscilla and realised it was something to be praised.”

As such, it was only natural to Billy to include Priscilla at this year’s Bondiwood Film Festival, a grassroots celebration of cinema featuring cult classics and box office hits, for its 30th anniversary. 

“I think it’s a real testament to Australia’s cinema culture that we really set the benchmark quite high with something like Priscilla, before a lot of American and European films. It proves that a lot of kids and young people were looking for love and hope and all those wonderful things from the film, and they got it.”

“Priscilla is very important”

For Jay Katz and Miss Death, legends of Sydney’s underground scene and Bondiwood’s Co-Creative Directors, this Bondiwood screening of Priscilla provides an excellent chance to reflect on how Australian culture has shifted since the release of the film. 

“Australia has an incredible queer history on the world stage, but Priscilla is very important,” says Jay Katz. “As the years continue to roll on, we realise it was significant because it made people feel that they can be their authentic selves in the wider world; it really opened that doorway internationally.”

Miss Death recalls the time of the film’s release: “I was excited that Priscilla was going to a broader audience. Communities are made up of all sorts of different people, and to see the film in mainstream theatres with heteros going along to see it was really quite exciting!”

“And nowadays drag is everywhere. You’ve got drag bingo, trivia, readings in libraries. Nobody bats an eyelid anymore, so it’s really permeating the culture and becoming something that’s extremely normalised.” For Jay and Miss Death, this is most evident in their grandson’s passion for drag artistry, and the ability he has to express himself so freely thirty years after the film’s release. 

Jay adds: “Priscilla made me realise there was something courageous about authentic creativity that smashed down barriers and penetrated the mainstream. It’s beyond a piece of art, beyond a film. It’s something that goes out and changes people positively.” 

The Bondiwood screening of Priscilla will be presented by Jay Katz and is set to open the film festival and will feature an opening night gala, a Zoom Q&A with director Stephan Elliott and an extensive afterparty. 

What to expect from Bondiwood’s Priscilla event

Billy White says: “We’re encouraging people to frock up, let their hair down and come celebrate. Throw on your most fabulous, colourful clothing and makeup and embrace self-expression while celebrating the anniversary of Priscilla and the legacy of Australian cinema culture!”

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at Bondiwood
Thursday 26 September
Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach
Tickets are $22.93 + booking fee