CALLING DOCUMENTARY DIVAS
Queer Screen’s 24th Mardi Gras Film Festival starts TODAY. The festival runs Wednesday 15th February – Thursday 2 March, bringing a huge selection of remarkable LGBTIQ documentaries to Sydney and we’re proud to be co-presenting Brothers of the Night, Check it and The Pearl. Check out the full program and grab tickets here – but be quick as seven sessions have sold out already!
BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT
SAT 25 FEB 9:15PM, EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
Immerse yourself in this unique documentary about the compelling, provocative lives of a group of young Bulgarian sex workers. Utilising stunning cinematography, the film takes us along on their drunken, money-making nights and hungover days. Their conversations take all sorts of twists and turns – revealing how they landed in Vienna and started working as ‘gay for pay’ sex workers – leaving Bulgaria and starting a new family together. Ultimately, the sense of brotherhood that binds these boys and men together is what’s memorable.
CHECK IT
SAT 18 FEB 4:00PM, EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
Get ready to meet the Check It – the first known black LGBTIQ gang, based in Washington, D.C. Born out of a need to protect themselves and a want for respect, they are just as tough as any other gang. Formed by a handful of kids, Check It now has more than 200 members. Amid this dangerous world, some have turned to fashion as an inspiring way to break free. A hit at Tribeca, NewFest, and Frameline film festivals – talk about fierce.
THE PEARL
SAT 18 FEB 1:00PM, EVENT CINEMAS GEORGE ST
Four US women, middle-aged and beyond, in various stages of transition, let us into their sometimes bleak and sometimes hopeful lives in nondescript northwest towns. Beautifully captured, we travel with them on physical journeys: a pilgrimage to the Esprit Conference for transgender women in Washington state, to Bangkok for surgery, on a holiday in Hawaii, and driving around town, delivering pizza. Most importantly, are the emotionally raw journeys of each of their comings out after a closeted life – including twins who’ve been hiding a shared secret from each other!
POLITICAL ANIMALS
SUN 26 FEB 5:30PM
As the film’s tagline says “when women lead, leaders follow.” Political Animals tells the inspiring story of four pioneering lesbian politicians and the battles they fought to win LGBTIQ rights.
MEMORIES OF A PENITENT HEART
FRI 17 FEB 9:00PM
Family ties are tested for filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo who delves into her late uncle’s life. An utterly moving and personal doco about forgiveness, survival, and a devastating time in gay history.
COMING OUT
SAT 25 FEB 2:00PM
Alden Peters bravely records his genuine coming out to friends and family in this unique documentary. Honest and intimate, you cannot look away from every heartwarming and toe-curling moment.
SUITED
WE
D 1 MAR 7:00PM
Suited follows tailors Bindle & Keep and their transgender gender nonconforming clients, who come in search of clothes befitting of who they are and how they want to be in the world.
THE FREEDOM TO MARRY
WED 22 FEB 6:45PM
Billed as a ‘war room’ style documentary, the film tracks the final months of the marriage equality legal battle in the US and joins the grassroots campaign for hearts and minds across the States.
OUT RUN
SUN 26 FEB 3:30PM
Bemz Benedito dreams of becoming the first transgender person in the Philippine Congress. This uplifting documentary portrays an inspiring sense of camaraderie within the queer community.
THE PRIESTESS WALKS ALONE
TUE 28 FEB 6:15PM
This is the story of a fraught mother-daughter relationship, as they have lived through family rejection, abuse, and discrimination as a result of living as an openly gay parent in Taiwan. Screens with Irrawaddy mon Amour
REAL BOY
TUE 28 FEB 7:30PM
Bennett has been on the journey of transitioning into a man since early childhood, but his mother must now accept the reality of her new son’s identity and differing ideals.
GIRL ON GIRL
THU 2 MAR 7:00PM
Director and producer Jodi Savitz has made femme visibility a priority; her documentary Girl on Girl explores why feminine lesbians feel invisible in straight and LGBTQI worlds – and to each other.
THE REVIVAL:
WOMEN AND THE WORD
FRI 24 FEB 7:30PM & MON 27 FEB 6:45PM
Five queer women of colour take their incredible talents on the road in ‘The Revival’ – a salon-style poetry tour, which is coming to a venue near you thanks to this outstanding documentary.
