Boasting a jam-packed program celebrating queer music culture, through the provocation, Formative Sound and Vision, the 34th annual Melbourne Queer Film Festival kicks off tonight and runs through to 24 November 2024.
The 2024 program will screen 42 feature films, 18 Australian premieres, 18 Melbourne premieres, 19 documentaries, 11 short film packages and 90 short films. The Australian Pride Network takes a look at 10 films worth considering:
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story (2024, Canada)
Kicking off Opening Night with a bang, is the story of Jackie Shane, a rising star in 1950s Nashville, who became a sensation in 60s Toronto, with a huge hit single in Any Other Way. However, Shane was to disappear mysteriously from public view for nigh-on 40 years. We hear from Shane herself in never-before-heard phone conversations. We’re also treated to live recordings which leave no doubt that Jackie Shane was one of the greatest soul performers of the 20th century. Melbourne Premiere!
The Astronaut Lovers (2024, Argentina / Spain)
Director Marco Berger (Horseplay, MQFF 2022) returns to the queer film festival circuit to continue his focus on masculinity and lust between men with his latest feature, The Astronaut Lovers. Pedro (Javier Orán) travels to the Argentinian coast to spend time with old friends, including recently single Maxi (Lautaro Bettoni). While Maxi is vehemently straight, he is fascinated by Pedro’s queerness – and there surely is quite some chemistry between them. This playfulness between the two men soon shifts as Maxi sets out to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Can Pedro keep track of what’s real between Maxi and him, and what’s just a bit of fun – is theirs a romance, a bromance or faux-mance?
National Anthem (2023, USA)
Twenty-one year old Dylan (Charlie Plummer) lives an isolated life of routine in rural New Mexico, working odd construction jobs to help support his little brother and a somewhat absent mother. He accepts a gig working at House of Splendor – a queer ranch a little further out than normal. There he meets the luminous Sky (Eve Lindley) and a diverse group of queer folk who provide him with the space and freedom to explore parts of himself he hasn’t yet found.
Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers (1972, USA)
This film was scarcely seen since premiering 50 years prior but was restored by the Academy Film Archive in 2022. In one of the earliest lead roles granted to a trans performer, Warhol Superstar Holly Woodlawn (seen in Paul Morrissey’s Trash and Women in Revolt!) puts in a riotous turn as small-town girl Eve Harrington, who quickly finds life in New York City circa 1972. This classic now rates as one of the greatest queer film rediscoveries in many long years. Australian Premiere!
Linda Perry: Let it die Here (2024, USA)
Don Hardy’s gripping documentary grants us unprecedentedly candid access to the formidable Linda Perry, illuminating the many challenges she has faced in her life and career, notwithstanding all the triumphs. Brandi Carlile joins Christina Aguilera, Dolly Parton, and Perry’s ex-wife, actor Sara Gilbert (Darlene in Roseanne and The Conners) among the talking heads in this superb, animation-enhanced tribute to a legendary singer-songwriter-producer. Australian Premiere!
Eat the Night (2024, France)
Dynamic French filmmaking due Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel return to the dark, dystopian themes of their 2018 breakout hit Jessica Forever as Pablo (Théo Cholbi), a drug dealer, and his younger sister Apolline (Lila Gueneau) escape their tenuous lives by throwing themselves into a fantastical virtual reality computer game, Darknoon. Australian Premiere!
Life is not a Competition, But I’m Winning (2023, Germany)
Julia Fuhr Mann’s experimental essay on the “marginalised bodies” of sport, in this case track, compels the viewer to pay attention to these bodies in motion and to look back with them on the fraught history of gender in athletics. As Mann’s queer athletes move from stadiums like the ‘original’ at Athens to the controversial 1936 Berlin Olympic Stadium, the hidden histories of “divergent and ambiguous bodies” are revealed. Australian Premiere!
Heart of the Man (2024, Australia)
Queer Australian First Nations filmmaking is still rare in 2024, so this directorial debut of Butchulla man, David Cook, shot in Brisbane and featuring a predominantly LGBTQIA+ and Aboriginal cast, is cause for celebration. Chris Wundurra (Parker Little) is pushed by his intimidating father, Sammy – played by writer-director David Cook – to train for the national boxing title he didn’t himself attain, a failure connected to tragic events that robbed Chris of his mother and Sammy his wife. Sammy’s obsession with his son following this path encounters resistance, however, when Chris starts to question his sexuality and finds himself more oriented towards pursuing treading the boards at a local theatre than stepping into the ring. Melbourne Premiere!
Can’t Stop the Music (1980, USA)
This 1980 musical comedy film follows a young New York City model, Samantha Simpson (Valerie Perrine), who attempts to help her roommate Jack Morell (Steve Guttenberg), a struggling composer and DJ, make it big in the music industry. To bring Jack’s catchy music to life, Samantha recruits a colourful group of friends and acquaintances, each with a unique personality and backstory, to form a new band – the Village People. Co-written by Allan Carr and directed by Nancy Walker, Can’t Stop the Music was intended to capture the disco era’s energy. However, it was released just as disco was losing popularity and was a commercial failure. Despite this, the film has since gained a cult following for its campy, over-the-top style, and nostalgic look at the disco craze. The film’s upbeat and energetic vibe is underscored by performances of some of the Village People’s biggest hits, including YMCA and Macho Man.
Duino (2024, USA, Argentina, Italy)
Rounding out the 2024 Festival, Argentinian actor Juan Pablo Di Pace (The Mattachine Family and Mamma Mia) stars in this semi-autobiographical film that also marks his directorial feature debut, alongside co writer/director Andrés Pepe Estrada. Di Pace plays Matías, a filmmaker yearning for the unrequited love of Alexander (Oscar Morgan), the blazingly beautiful teen he fell head over heels for many years ago while studying on Italy’s luscious Adriatic Coast. Australian Premiere!
The 34th Melbourne Queer Film Festival continues to Sunday 24 November 2024. For more information and full program, visit: www.mqff.com.au for details.
Image: Duino (film still)