Five Must-See Films at the 2016 Melbourne Queer Film Festival
Everything from heartbreaking romantic recounts to accidental murder to Lily Tomlin being awesome.
Things are looking a little bit queer in Federation Square, with the return of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival to ACMI. The largest event of its kind anywhere in Australia, this year's festival features over 100 different features, documentaries and shorts, from searing dramas to crowd-pleasing comedies and everything in-between. Throw in special events ranging from speed dating to a virtual reality drag show, and film lovers will have their work cut out for them.
Standout films on this year's program include the highly anticipated Australian documentary Remembering the Man, a retrospective screening of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, and the local premiere of low key indie drama Boulevard featuring one of the final performances by the great Robin Williams. There's also a stellar selection of documentary, animated, gay and lesbian short films, plus industry workshops, public panels and more.
Below, we've put together a list of five must-see films on the MQFF program. Tickets to many of them are already close to selling out, so get in quick while you still have the chance.
GRANDMA
Who hasn't wished that Lily Tomlin was their grandmother? The actress and comedian has proven a force to be reckoned with since the '60s, and does so again in the movie that makes our dreams the fictional Sage's (Julia Garner) reality. When the teenager needs help finding cash and dealing with a problem, she turns to Tomlin's feisty family matriarch. The likes of Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer, John Cho and Sam Elliott also join in the episodic antics, though Grandma's title gives away the true star of the show, offering the veteran performer a potent role and a poignant character study suited to her talents.
REMEMBERING THE MAN
Maybe you first discovered the real-life story of Tim Conigrave and John Caleo in 2015 Aussie feature Holding the Man. Maybe you had already read Conigrave's best-selling book of the same name. Either way, you'll want to see Remembering the Man, the latest effort to recount their tragic romance from their first meeting as Melbourne schoolboys in the late '70s to the cruel blow that the '80s AIDS epidemic served them. This time, documentarians Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe not only chart a familiar tale in factual form, but offer up previously unseen footage of and unheard details about Conigrave and Caleo's relationship. Our advice: bring tissues.
ADDICTED TO FRESNO
The woman behind cult comedy But I'm a Cheerleader, director Jamie Babbit returns to MQFF with her latest film full of sex, death and dark humour. Judy Greer stars as Shannon, a recovering sex addict who moves in with her lesbian sister Martha, played by Orange Is the New Black star Natasha Lyonne. But things get a little more complicated after Shannon accidentally murders someone, leading to a blackmail plot and a string of robberies. Aubrey Plaza, Allison Tolman, Fred Armisen and Molly Shannon co-star, giving Addicted to Fresno one of the sharpest comic casts in the festival.
CLOSET MONSTER
Arriving at MQFF following a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, the stylish debut film from 26-year-old director Stephen Dunn is billed as a drama with smatterings of dark comedy and a touch of David Cronenberg. Connor Jessup plays 18-year-old Oscar, whose confused sexual identity stems from witnessing a violent gay bashing when he was a child. Closet Monster looks bold enough to distinguish itself from the numerous coming-of-age films that pepper the MQFF program each year. And if nothing else, it's got Isabella Rossellini as the voice of Oscar's pet hamster Buffy, which quite frankly seems like it'd be worth the price of admission alone.
SCRUM
Another strong looking local doco on this year's festival program is Poppy Stockwell's Scrum, about Australia's first gay rugby union club. The film follows a group of players for the Sydney Convicts, each of whom hopes to be selected as part of the squad to compete for the Bingham Cup, an international biennial tournament held by the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. Screening alongside the film is the short documentary Boxeadora, about one woman's quest to become Cuba's first female Olympic boxer.
The Melbourne Queer Film Festival runs from March 31 to April 11. For the full program visit mqff.com.au.
By Tom Clift and Sarah Ward.
