Come Saturday March 7, lashings of glitter and confetti will rain down on Oxford Street during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, probably the best-known event during the annual Mardi Gras Festival. However, if the constant stream of summer parties is starting to wear you down, take some time to recuperate in a cool cinema with the 22nd Mardi Gras Film Festival, which will showcase the best of queer cinema.
Festival director Paul Struthers has carefully curated an international spread of must-see films. “There are a lot of films that will appeal not just to the LGBTQI community, but a wider audience as well,” he says. “I think what’s also important is making sure there are things that young people can come to. For people coming out in their early-to-mid-20s, it’s important that they see themselves represented onscreen.”
This is the second year Struthers has taken the reins after putting on the smaller Queer Screen Festival. Stepping up to a bigger platform, the Mardi Gras offered the opportunity to program a bigger range of films. Packed with comedies, coming-of-age dramas, thrillers and documentaries, this year’s list honours the different experiences of a diverse community.
“There’s A Girl At My Door,” says Struthers, rattling through some of the highlights. “It’s a Korean thriller which won a standing ovation at Cannes.
“Another important film we’re screening is from Kenya, called Stories Of Our Lives. It was created by a group called the Nest Collective, who have gathered together hundreds of LGBTQI stories and turned them into five short films.”
The festival’s opening night, Thursday February 19, will feature the critically acclaimed Swiss film, The Circle. A compelling docudrama, it retraces the birth of the provocative gay magazine of the same name and its founders. On a lighter note, Do I Sound Gay? is about a young man who confronts his anxiety about the way he sounds. “It opened at the New York Documentary Festival and was selected for the Toronto Film Festival,” explains Struthers. “And it’s got interviews with George Takei, Dan Savage and David Sedaris – it’s very funny.”
In recent years, there has been a nostalgic trend in queer cinema and understandably so. Part of this looking back excavates a dark history of discrimination and reclaims the heroes that fought back. One example is She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, which revolves around a group of prominent lesbian activists who began campaigning for gender equality during the late ’60s. And on Monday March 2, there will be a tenth anniversary screening of Ang Lee’s tender masterpiece, Brokeback Mountain.
The selection of films also reflects contemporary human rights abuses suffered by the LGBTQI community. “There are a slew of films being released from Russia, highlighting the plight of our Russian brothers and sisters,” says Struthers. In particular, Stand is an edgy film that follows the violent repercussions of a possible hate crime. By screening these kinds of films, there is an attempt to foster a sense of international solidarity within the queer community. “You have to screen courageous filmmakers,” says Struthers. “Especially in somewhere like Sydney, where I can walk down the street holding my boyfriend’s hand. We still have some way to come, but compared to many other countries we’re very lucky.”
There has long been a relationship between queer cinema and arthouse, a consequence of censorship and conservative values. These days, many more high-calibre queer films are reaching wider audiences. “The quality is astounding, and it’s not just LGBTQI people that are consuming these films,” says Struthers. “Films like The Circle and Stranger By The Lake have had phenomenal success. So it’s important for people to recognise that queer cinema isn’t just about being gay, it’s about quality as well.”
Catch the Mardi Gras Film Festival 2015 fromThursday February 19 until Thursday March 5 atEvent Cinemas, George Street
