Tickets are now on sale at bfi.org.uk/flare for the 35th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival which runs March 17th - 28th 2021. With 26 features and 38 free shorts from 23 countries, the UK’s longest running queer film event will deliver virtual premieres via BFI Player to audiences nationwide, making it the... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: LGBTQ drama Lupe exec producer Kerry Michelle O’Brien & star Rafael Albarrán “I identify as non-binary & all that discovery started with this film”
André Phillips and Charles Vuolo's LGBTQ+ drama Lupe follows a Cuban immigrant, Rafael (Rafael Albarrán), as she begins to embrace her identity as a transgender woman while searching for her missing sister in New York City's sex worker community. Trans artist Celia Harrison, who is a co-writer on the film, portrays the role of Lana,... Continue Reading →
Mardi Gras Film Festival 2021 Review: My First Summer ★★★★ 1/2
There is something quintessentially Australian about finding privacy in a wide expanse of nature, and My First Summer 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), commit suicide in a local lake. She also spies another... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Uncle Frank star Lois Smith on being Tony nominated for The Inheritance “it’s just a delight at this time when everything has gone splat”
Actress Lois Smith, who turned 90 earlier this month, received her third Tony nomination in October for her deeply moving performance in Matthew Lopez's epic gay play The Inheritance. Born in Kansas, Smith moved to New York City in 1951, making her Broadway debut the following year in Time Out for Ginger and her auspicious... Continue Reading →
NewFest 2020 Film Review: Tahara ★★★1/2
Following the suicide of one of their peers, best friends Carrie (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah (Rachel Sennott) are forced to spend the afternoon at their upstate New York Hebrew school reflecting on the passing of a classmate they apparently hardly knew in this queer dark comedy. Unfurling compellingly more or less in real time,... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Tony-nominated The Boys in the Band star Robin de Jesús “being a part of this cast really helped me find that pride & that gay ancestral power to step into”
Robin de Jesús received both critical acclaim and his third Tony nomination for his show stealing, hilarious yet soulful, performance as the fabulously flamboyant Emory in the Ryan Murphy produced 2018 Tony-winning Broadway revival of Mart Crowley's groundbreaking play The Boys in the Band. He's now reprising that role, alongside his all-star, all publicly gay... Continue Reading →
TIFF 2020 Film Review: Shiva Baby ★★★★★
The 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) got underway today in true 2020 style with a mix of virtual and socially distanced in-person screenings, remote video Q&As, press conferences and in-depth actor and filmmaker conversations. The first film I screened, from the comfort of my own sofa in New York, saw my TIFF-at-home get off... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: star of Outfest 2020 Closing Night film ‘Two Eyes’ Nakhane “I’m drawn to the whole idea of play in queer identity”
This year's Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival closes on Sunday August 30th with both drive-in and virtual screenings of Travis Fine's exceptional Two Eyes. It's an ambitious, stirring, rich cinematic tapestry that weaves a triptych of narratives exploring the spectrum of queerness and gender identity over more than a hundred years. Set in the... Continue Reading →
Time for a Rebirth? Film Review: The Death & Life of John F. Donovan ★★★
Maybe expectations were too high for The Death & Life of John F. Donovan. It looked like the stars were literally aligning for a while, as queer filmmaker Xavier Dolan started working on his first English language feature. The large cast included a collection of talented, swoon-worthy men (Kit Harrington, Nicholas Hoult, Chris Zykla), acclaimed... Continue Reading →
Snuggle Up with Peccadillo’s Sofa Club – End of the Century Q&A
Peccadillo Pictures is doing their bit to get us all through this time of social distancing with their Sofa Club - made up of great queer films and insightful YouTube Q&As. As they say, "You may be distant, but let's get social". This week it's time for The Queer Review favourite, End of the Century... Continue Reading →