2014 MARDI GRAS FILM FESTIVAL: PREVIEW

As the Opening Night festival-goers enjoy the post-screening festivities in Sydney’s George St cinema precinct, SCREEN-SPACE looks at some of the highlights the next ten days offer at the 21^st annual Mardi Gras Film Festival (MGFF), brought to Harbour City patrons by festival director Paul Struthers and his Queerscreen team.

FIVE WORLD PREMIERE SCREENINGS:
Australian filmmakers tackling the complexities of LGBTI lifestyles have always cherished the internationally recognised exposure that the MGFF offers. This year, five local works have their global premieres – Martin Fox’s fascinating journey through Sydney’s queer history, Friends of Dorothy; the lesbian coming-of-age drama, Zoe.Misplaced, from Mekelle Mills; Out in the Line-Up, Ian Thomson’s insightful doco on the world’s gay surfing culture; and, Sasha Hadden’s Vicky: The Gay Gene Comes to Australia, a chronicle of the controversial gay bishop’s 2013 visit to Melbourne. Closing the festival is Fiona Cunningham-Reid’s highly anticipated Croc-A-Dyke Dundee, a colourful profile of 1960’s hard-nosed lesbian icon, Dawn O’Donnell.

GAY LITERATURE ON SCREEN:
Two packed auditoriums responded warmly to the Opening Night film, Bruno Barreto’s Reaching for the Moon (pictured, top), a vivid, passionate account of the love between poet Elizabeth Bishop (our own Miranda Otto) and Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares (Gloria Pires). It kicks of an unofficial festival focus on key literary figures who publicly embrace their alternative lifestyles. Humorist and commentator David Sedaris puts a comedic spin on his late-teen coming-out in Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s C.O.G. (pictured, right); documentarian Pratiba Parmar’s Beauty in Truth, a portrait of feminist, activist, bisexual author Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize winner for The Color Purple; and, from Nicholas Wrathall, a fitting and very moving tribute to the late Gore Vidal, the provocatively titled The United States of Amnesia.

RETROSPECTIVES:
Two of the biggest mainstream hits in Australian cinema history have been gay-themed works that attained iconic status very soon after they hit our screens 20 years ago. Stephan Elliott’s classic comedy, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and PJ Hogan’s eccentric suburban romp Muriel’s Wedding will screen ahead of a night of partying in honour of the films. Also showing in conjunction with the Rainbow Kids & Babies initiative will be Disney’s Oscar-nominated Beauty and The Beast, a fancy-dress event with prizes and festivities.

BEYOND BORDERS: LGBTIQ CINEMA FROM AROUND THE WORLD:
In addition to the 23 features from the US, MGFF has secured works from some of the most creative yet unsung alt-lifestyle filmmaking subcultures around the world. These include Spain (Andrea Esteban’s Born Naked); Taiwan (Arvin Chen’s Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?); Germany (Anne Zhora Berrached’s Two Mothers and Stephan Lacant’s Free Fall); Israel (Yariv Mozer’s Snails in the Rain; pictured, left); The Philippines (Eduardo Roy Jr’s Quick Change); and, Poland (Tomasz Wasilewski’s Floating Skyscrapers). Canada’s bad boy of gay cinema, Bruce Labruce, softens his sledgehammer stylings with Gerontophilia. Co-productions include Nejc Gazvoda’s Dual (Slovenia/Denmark/Croatia) and Cagla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti’s transgender study, Noor (France/Turkey/Pakistan).

THE BUCK ANGEL Q&A:
Guaranteed to continue on his establishment shocking ways will be transgender advocate and porn superstar Buck Angel, who will address what is certain to be a sellout crowd following the screening of Dan Hunt’s incisive doco Mr Angel. One of the most high-profile LGBTI stars ever to attend MGFF, he will riff on the issues raised in the acclaimed film, including his upbringing, modelling, entry into the gay porn sector, substance addiction and the formation of his gender identity.

The 2014 Mardi Gras Film Festival runs from February 13-23 at the Event George St Cinema complex. Further details and tickets are available on the event’s website.