Mardi Gras Film Festival

The good peeps at Queer Screen present a sensational programme of award-winning international films that will make you laugh, cry and never want to watch straight cinema again. Queer Screen director Lex Lindsay gives us his top picks for the festival.

Grown Up Movie Star is my personal favourite from this year's festival. It's a tough film, confronting, but just so compelling. The film is a kind of compare / contrast of the sexual awakenings in a 13 year old girl and her closeted gay father, both are exhibiting increasingly risky behaviours as they explore and come to terms with their sexuality. The performances are just outstanding, and I'd go as far as to say watching it was the most intense cinema experience I had last year.

One thing we've done differently this year is 'Companion Pieces', so, throughout the program you'll find pairings of films to compliment each other. I'm hoping people respond to this as an opportunity to have a more in-depth and focused experience of the festival, and allow these links to guide them through our biggest program in years.

Amongst our companion pieces are the two Xavier Dolan films I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats. Dolan is the most exciting new face to arrive on the queer film circuit in recent years. He's Quebec's queer wunderkind (was 19 and 21 respectively when he made these, his first two films) and he really is just bloody fantastic - as a writer, performer and director - a genuine prodigy.

Amongst our companion pieces we also have a couple of documentaries to compliment narrative films. The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister is a rip-roaring BBC telemovie about Britain's first out Lesbian, the gun-toting, womanizing Anne Lister who's diaries clocked up over 4 million words all encripted with an intricate code, detailing her every sexual dalliance. In the accompanying documentary The Real Anne Lister, we meet the woman who painstakingly cracked the code and revealed the controversial content of the diaries to the world.

We also take an indepth look at homosexuality in Latino culture through the exceptional Benjamin Bratt film La Mission - about a Latino father coming to terms with his son's coming out. There's some really insightful exploration around masculinity, machismo culture and homosexuality in this film which is perfectly matched with our world premiere of Homeboy, a documentary by photographer, artist and DJ Dino Dinco about gay guys in the gangs of California.
 

Mardi Gras Film Festival reviews and interviews

I Love You Phillip Morris
This riotous and too-candid-for-the-cinema-chains prison comedy sees Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor play gay lovers in domestic bliss. Ritz Cinema, Randwick, Thu 17 Feb, 7.30pm.

Undertow
A married man’s lover returns from the dead. Complications ensue. Hoyts EQ, Fri 18 Feb, 9.30pm & Dendy Newtown, Fri 25 Feb, 9pm.

Spork
A trailer-park dwelling high school hermaphrodite enters a dance contest. Cinema Paris, Sat 19 Feb, 12.30pm & Hoyts EQ, Mon 28 Feb, 7.30pm.

Loose Cannons
Tomasso, son of a pasta-making Puglian clan plans to come out to his traditional family. However, his plans are derailed when his older brother steals his thunder. Dendy Newtown, Sun 20 Feb, 5pm & Cinema Paris, Wed 23 Feb, 7.30pm.

Bear City
A youngster looks for the hairy man of his dreams. Cinema Paris, Tue 22 Feb, 9.30pm & Dendy Newtown, Tue 1 Mar, 9pm.

La Mission
Reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic Che discovers that his son is gay. His world is thrown into turmoil and he must question where his loyalties lie. Dendy Newtown, Tue 22 Feb, 9pm & Hoyts EQ Sat 26 Feb, 9.30pm.

Violet Tendencies
The latest NYC-based gay flick from Casper Andreas is this fun tale of a serious fag hag (TV legend Mindy Cohn) who is determined to find a man of her own. Cinema Paris, Wed 23 Feb, 9.30pm & Hoyts EQ, Fri 25 Feb, 9.30pm.

Fit
Fit focuses on the lives of six London teenagers brought together by one very sassy dance teenager. Dendy Newtown, Sun 27 Feb, 5pm.

Howl
Franco portrays beat poet Ginsberg during the obscenity trial that occurred when Lawrence Ferlinghetti published the title poem in 1957. Dendy Newtown, Wed 2 Mar, 9pm.

Kaboom
Gregg Araki takes on conspiracy theories and college hookups. Hoyts EQ, Thu 3 Mar, 7.30pm.