Exclusive Interview: Moffie star Kai Luke Brümmer “It was really interesting to interrogate being a young man who’s turned into a weapon”

Ahead of the US theatrical and on demand release of the acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated fourth feature from writer-director Oliver Hermanus, Moffie, this Friday April 9th, The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann had an exclusive chat with its star Kai Luke Brümmer. Brümmer, who makes his impressive big screen acting debut in the film, portrays sixteen-year-old Nicholas... Continue Reading →

April 7, 2021 0

Theatre Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray (on demand globally) ★★★★

One thing we’ve learnt through this pandemic is that “Zoom theatre” is gawdawful. And while previously recorded theatre productions (like London’s brilliant National Theatre Live) have gone some way to filling the gap, new productions have been rare and of vastly varying quality. Which is why this production of The Picture of Dorian Gray is... Continue Reading →

March 15, 2021 0

BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: Rūrangi ★★★★1/2

Often films with a message are so busy driving that message home that they become one-note. Rūrangi, which plays this month's virtual 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, doesn’t fall into that trap. By placing this transgender homecoming tale into a broader, intersectional context of identity—gender, sexual, cultural—it rises above them to become a... Continue Reading →

March 9, 2021 0

Film Review: Chaos Walking ★★

Well, here we are again. A beloved book, the first part of a trilogy, a strong cast… and a mess of a film. Chaos Walking? I wish! This is more like Disorganised Wandering! If you love the book, it’s best to look away while this one is put out of its misery. Acclaimed gay YA... Continue Reading →

March 9, 2021 0

BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: The Greenhouse ★★★★1/2

Thomas Wilson-White’s The Greenhouse, part of the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, is a queer fairytale, but if that sounds like it’s all prancing twinks in tight shorts running around the woods, I hate to be the one to disappoint you. Like all good fairytales, this one is about bigger, darker things, and... Continue Reading →

March 3, 2021 0

BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: My First Summer ★★★★ 1/2

There is something quintessentially Australian about finding privacy in a wide expanse of nature, and My First Summer, part of the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, uses the depths of Australian forests as a furtive playground for big emotions. A teenage girl, Grace (Maiah Stewardson), witnesses a reclusive writer, Veronica Fox (Edwina Wren),... Continue Reading →

March 3, 2021 0

Mardi Gras Film Festival 2021 Review: The Dilemma of Desire ★★★1/2

Well, that was an eye-opener! As a 'gold star' gay man I’m not the most ‘cliterate’ person out there and the documentary The Dilemma of Desire (getting its Australian premiere at the Mardi Gras Film Festival) presented a lot of new information in an entertaining way. Artist Sophia Wallace’s work around ‘Cliteracy’ is woven through... Continue Reading →

February 28, 2021 0

Mardi Gras Film Festival 2021 Review: No Ordinary Man ★★★★

The life of transmasculine musician Billy Tipton gives directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt the perfect opening to explore the history of transmasculinity in culture in the excellent feature documentary, No Ordinary Man. Billy Tipton’s life is remarkable. Born in 1914, Tipton’s music career began as a radio band leader in 1936 establishing himself over... Continue Reading →

February 28, 2021 0

Mardi Gras Film Festival 2021 Review: Dating Amber ★★★1/2

David Freyne’s Dating Amber is a much more complex and interesting film than it at first lets on. Yes it’s a kind of romantic-comedy without the romance (platonic-comedy? Is plat-com a thing?) but once those tropes are disposed of there’s more grit lurking beneath the colours and jokes, all anchored by a series of authentic... Continue Reading →

February 26, 2021 0

Exclusive Interview: Transformistas filmmaker Chad Hahne “as a queer person I believe there are unique experiences that connect us all”

Chad Hahne’s undercover documentary, Transformistas, which had its Australian premiere at Queer Screen's Mardi Gras Film Festival earlier today, offers a heart-wrenching and eye-opening window into an unexplored chapter of LGBTQ+ history. The film shines a light on Cuba’s drag community, how the HIV/AIDS crisis was handled in the republic, and Cuba's oldest gay bar.... Continue Reading →

February 21, 2021 0