Now in its 18th year and one of the few regional centres Australia wide to host its own queer film festival, the 2022 Bendigo Queer Film Festival (BQFF) runs 15 – 17 July.
Providing cultural and artistic opportunities to LGBTIQA+ people living in Central Victoria, BQFF is recognised as a significant community event, showcasing queer talent and attracting interstate and international visitors to the region.
With films from Denmark, USA, and Germany, as well as short film sessions from all over the world as well as locally, sessions in 2022 include:
FLEE
Friday 15 July – 7.00pm (Opening Night)
FLEE tells the extraordinary true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage which compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time. Amin’s life has been defined by his past and a secret he’s kept for over 20 years. Forced to leave his home country of Afghanistan as a young child with his mother and siblings, Amin now grapples with how his past will affect his future in Denmark and the life he is building with his soon-to-be husband. Told brilliantly through the use of animation to protect his identity, Amin looks back over his life, opening up for the first time about his past, his trauma, the truth about his family, and his acceptance of his own sexuality.
True Stories – BQFF International Short Film Festival
Saturday 16 July – 11.00am
Part 1 of the Bendigo Queer Film Festival International Short Film festival featuring documentary and films based on true life stories. BQFF’s intrepid reviewers have scoured the globe for the latest queer stories. Here are films created from the real life experiences of LGBTIQ+ people from around the world including Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the USA.
No Straight Lines
Saturday 16 July – 1.00pm
No Straight Lines tells the story of five scrappy and pioneering cartoonists who depicted everything from the AIDS crisis, coming out, and same-sex marriage, to themes of race, gender, and disability. They tackled the humor in queer lives in a changing world, and the everyday pursuits of love, sex, and community.
Great Freedom
Saturday 16 July – 3.00pm
In postwar Germany, Hans is imprisoned again and again for being homosexual. Due to the notorious paragraph 175 criminalizing homosexual acts between men, his desire for freedom is systematically destroyed. The one steady relationship in his life becomes his long time cell mate, Viktor, a convicted murderer. What starts in revulsion grows to something called love.
Outland 10 years on
Saturday 16 July – 5.00pm
10 years ago Outland – the first (and possibly only) sit-com about a gay and lesbian science-fiction fan club, burst onto our screens on the ABC. Starring Christine Anu (in her first TV role), Ben Gerrard, Paul Ireland, Adam Richard and Toby Truslove, Outland explored the lives, loves and never-ending dramas of the members of a gay science-fiction fan club. Join co-creators John Richards and (the fabulous) Adam Richard to discuss what’s changed in those years for queer representation on the small screen.
As We Like It
Saturday 16 July – 7.15pm
A reworking of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, it tells of the love blossoming between Orlando and Rosalind, who is disguised as a man. This colorful, energetic film follows Orlando and Rosalind and three other potential couples in their search for one another in an internet-free neighborhood in the bustling metropolis of Taipei, where there is no rush and people consciously live together. Fairy-tale settings, magical meetings, cryptic messages, but also fights, kidnappings, and family feuds. The film upends the binary world, making it a loving spectacle with plenty of music and doll-like design.
Breakfast with Adam Richard
Sunday 17 July – 10.00am
Join BQFF Special Guest, Adam Richard for breakfast at the Shamrock Hotel. An Australian comedian, actor, radio presenter, writer and media personality, Adam is best known for co-writing and starring in Outland – an ABC1 comedy series about a group of LGBT sci-fi geeks. Adam was also a team captain on the 2014 revival of music quiz and live music performance show Spicks and Specks, and a permanent panel member on the Doctor Who-themed 2017 show Whovians.
Short Tales – BQFF International Short Film Festival
Sunday 17 July – 1.00pm
Part 2 of the Bendigo Queer Film Festival International Short Film festival featuring drama and ficition films. BQFF’s intrepid reviewers have scoured the globe for the latest queer stories. Here are films created from the real life experiences of LGBTIQ+ people from around the world including Australia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom and the USA.
But I’m A Cheerleader/Lesbians in Film
Sunday 17 July – 3.00pm
This year BQFF is turning 18! To celebrate they’re going all teen nostalgic and showing But I’m A Cheerleader – an iconic coming out film from way back in 1999. To accompany the film they’re also having a panel of illustrious and way intelligent queer women to discuss how portrayal of lesbians and queer women has changed (or not) since the film was first released. Panel quests include: Sue-Ann Post, Sherene Clow and Sarah Lang.
The 2022 Bendigo Queer Film Festival (BQFF) takes place at the Bendigo Cinemas from 15 – 17 July. For more information, visit: www.bendigoqueerfilmfestival.com.au for details.
Image: Toby Truslove, Paul Ireland, Christine Anu, Adam Richard and Ben Gerrard star in Outland – courtesy of the ABC