Luchina Fisher's GLAAD-nominated 2020 feature documentary, Mama Gloria, was a captivating portrait of Chicago’s septuagenarian Black trans trailblazer and community leader, Gloria Allen, who sadly passed away in June 2022. With her latest documentary short, The Dads, which just received its world premiere at SXSW, the filmmaker turns her attention to the fathers of LGBTQ+... Continue Reading →
Well-groomed – Film Review: Palm Trees and Power Lines ★★★1/2
Navigating the emotions of a person who either lacks self-awareness or the tools to articulate their experiences has often proved a captivating exploration in cinematic storytelling. I think of such films as far back as 1973’s Badlands to the more recent Never Rarely Sometimes Always from 2020 as examples of such tellings in which we... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: Wet Sand ★★★★
Georgian queer cinema is in the spotlight again with Elene Naveriani’s evocative Wet Sand, a heartbreaking look at the power of repression in a parochial community and the hate that lurks behind the faces we see everyday. Amnon (Gia Agumava) runs the local café, serving beers and meals to the locals. He’s a calm, stable... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: The Origin of Evil (L’origine du mal) ★★★★
Situations spiral out of control and the classes clash in the juicy lesbian drama, The Origin of Evil (L'origine du mal). Money, murder, and the design choices of the nouveau riche fill the screen in this darkly comic-thriller. Stéphane (a wonderful performance by Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy) works in a factory, packaging anchovies all... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: Wandering Heart (Errante corazón) ★★★★★
Actor-turned-filmmaker Leonardo Brzezicki’s devastatingly impactful drama Wandering Heart (Errante corazón), is a stunning showcase for the talents of Leonardo Sbaraglia who fills every frame with a brokenness that transcends the screen. This is a fantastic performance that is worth the price of admission all on its own. Wandering Heart (Errante corazón). Courtesy of Queer Screen.... Continue Reading →
Film Review: Of An Age ★★★★★
Writer-director Goran Stolevski's achingly romantic Of An Age opened Sydney's 30th Mardi Gras Film Festival last night ahead of its US theatrical release on Friday, February 17th. Set in Melbourne's northern suburbs in the summer of 1999, the film quickly establishes a riveting, frenetic pace as high school senior Nikola “Kol” Denić (Elias Anton) receives... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: The Winner Takes It All ★★★
A gigolo, a drag queen, and a porn star scheme their way to a motherload of cash in fashion photographer James Demitri’s feature debut as writer-director, The Winner Takes It All. This film is utter trash. That’s not a read, it’s the aesthetic. This is a deliberately, deliciously trashy comedy caper that won’t come anywhere... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: Outrageous – The Queer History of Australian TV ★★★★
In the 1970s, while the rest of the world was struggling to show LGBTQ+ characters as anything other than jokes or morality tales, one country led the way with fully-fledged gay characters front and centre. Australia’s Number 96 was a sexy soap opera about the lives of people sharing an apartment building, putting sympathetic gay... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: Punch ★★★1/2
New Zealand filmmaker Welby Ings’ debut feature, Punch, lives up to its title with some powerful drama, stunning visuals, and a sexy subject. Jim (Jordan Oosterhof) is a rising boxer on the eve of his first professional fight, trained by his father (Tim Roth). Their lives are lived in service to Jim’s boxing career with... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023 Review: How to Tell a Secret ★★★★★
How To Tell A Secret is a documentary. How To Tell A Secret is a documentary about the filming of a documentary. How To Tell A Secret is a documentary about the filming of a documentary about the staging of a play. How To Tell A Secret is a documentary about the filming of a... Continue Reading →