QUEER SCREEN FIRST LGBTQIA+ FESTIVAL INVITED TO MARCHE DU FILM GLOBAL FEST SIDEBAR

Queer Screen will be representing five work-in-progress productions at the international marketplace Marché du Film, in conjunction with the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

Each year the Marché du Film offers renowned festivals the chance to showcase their selection of original work-in-progress feature titles to sales agents, distributors and festival programmers as part of the ‘Goes to Cannes’ initiative. 

Queer Screen, producers of Sydney’s Mardi Gras Film Festival and Queer Screen Film Fest, will join Festival de Málaga, Hong Kong Industry’s Asia Film Financing Forum, Spanish Screenings and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in the marketplace. Their presence will represent the first ever LGBTQIA+ and Australian partner in what will be the eleventh edition of the event.

Queer Screen’s festival director, Lisa Rose (pictured, right), said the invitation is an enormous honour and a testament to the organisation’s international standing. “We are thrilled about being chosen,” she said. “To be the first ever Australian and the first ever LGBTQIA+ film festival involved is something we are very proud of and I can’t wait to champion these films.”

Marché du Film attendees can view an extract from the films and see pitches from the filmmakers, at an in-person event and online.

Rose has hand-picked four Australian and one international production to showcase, including SUNFLOWER, a gay coming of age drama from Melbourne filmmaker Gabriel Carrubba. “Earlier this year we gave Sunflower $15,000 from our completion fund,” Rose explained. “It’s the most we have ever awarded for a single project. To give emerging talent like Gabriel this opportunity on the global stage is very exciting.”

CLOSING NIGHT from filmmaker Timother Despina Marshall is a queer psychological horror that received $8,000 from the Queer Screen Completion Fund in 2021. “Tim is a Mardi Gras Film Festival alumni,” Rose said. “Three of his films have been finalists in our My Queer Career short film competition, with Gorilla winning the 2013 Iris Prize, the largest in the world for LGBTQIA+ shorts.”

Dark comedy-drama TRIPLE OH! is a mid-length film/episodic featuring a superb Brooke Satchwell (pictured, left). “It’s funny and sexy,” Rose said. “I loved it when I saw it, and it's so great to see director Poppy Stockell seamlessly deliver compelling narrative work after a much awarded factual career.”

Rounding out the Australian selections is ONE PERSON PROTEST from director Christopher Amos. It is the only documentary of the five films selected and is about Australian activist Peter Tatchell. 

The international project THE QUEEN OF MY DREAMS comes via Canada and Pakistan from writer/director Fawzia Mirza, who’s making her feature directing debut after having many of her shorts screened at Queer Screen’s festivals over the years. It tells the story of a Pakistani Muslim woman, and her Canadian-born daughter coming of age in two different eras.

“Fawzia was a guest at our most recent festival in February and I knew she was toiling away in post while she was here, so I jumped at the chance to offer her this opportunity, as we don’t see enough queer Muslim stories on screen,” Rose said.

Queer Screens selections will be shown on Saturday 20 May 2023 at 4:30pm at Palais K, with filmmakers pitching in person or via recorded video. The film extracts and pitches will also be available online for Marché du Film attendees to view the following day.

PREVIEW: 2023 GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL

In collaboration with German Films, Palace Cinemas presents the 2023 German Film Festival with a lineup that includes several titles arriving in Australia direct from the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival (The Berlinale). Other highlights in the vibrant, 33-film strong program include a music-themed retrospective, a focus on female filmmakers and the return of the popular family sidebar, Kino for Kids.

Opening the festival is director Michael ‘Bully’ Herbig's A THOUSAND LINES (Tausend Zeilen; pictured, above), a true-life drama starring Elyas M’Barek and Jonas May as journalists caught in a fake news scandal involving a disgraced Der Spiegel journalist.

The Festival Centrepiece, direct from its Berlinale world premiere, is Ilker Çatak's THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (Das Lehrerzimmer) featuring 'Babylon Berlin' star Leonie Benesch (pictured, right) as a dedicated, idealistic teacher who is pushed to the brink when she investigates a series of thefts at her new school.

The program strand Frauen Am Werk: Focus on Female Directors showcases German and Swiss women in film with eleven films from dramas, to documentaries and comedies. Frauke Finsterwalder’s SISI & I (Sisi & Ich) is a contemporary reinterpretation of the “Sisi” myth starring Sandra Hüller; the stylish biopic INGEBORG BACHMANN - JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT (Ingeborg Bachmann – Reise in die Wüste), starring Vicki Krieps, is the latest film by the legendary Margarethe von Trotta; IN A LAND THAT NO LONGER EXISTS (In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt) is based on director Aelrun Goette’s own experiences as a model in the German Democratic Republic in 1989; and, Saskia Diesing’s WWII drama LOST TRANSPORT explores the unexpected friendship between three very different women of diverse backgrounds.

Anika Decker directs Elyas M’Barek and Alexandra Maria Lara in the romcom LOVE THING (Liebesdings); Barbara Kulcsar’s Swiss box office hit comedy GOLDEN YEARS (Die goldenen Jahre) follows two retirees who must face their marital problems on a cruise through the Mediterranean; Emily Atef’s seductive drama SOMEDAY WE’LL TELL EACH OTHER EVERYTHING (Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen) follows a young woman who begins a relationship with a charismatic middle-aged farmer; and, Birgit Möller’s FRANKY FIVE STAR is a quirky dramatic comedy starring newcomer Lena Urzendowsky as a woman inhabited by four weird but lovable personalities.

Also helmed by women are the documentaries in the lineup. Eva Weber’s MERKEL (pictured, right) is the astonishing story of how a triple political outsider – a woman, a scientist, and an East German – became Germany’s first female chancellor. And Cordula Kablitz-Post's FCK 2020 – TWO AND A HALF YEARS WITH SCOOTER (FCK 2020  -Zweieinhalb Jahre mit Scooter) follows Germany's undisputed techno superstars Scooter and their eccentric front man H.P Baxxter.

Music flows through this year’s festival with the sidebar retrospective, Music, Art and Chaos: A Sonic Transmission from Berlin. B-MOVIE: LUST & SOUND IN WEST BERLIN 1979-1989, from the directing team of Jörg A. Hoppe, Heiko Lange and Klaus Maeck, fuses unreleased footage and original interviews with pioneers Mark Reeder, Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld, Nena, Joy Division and Gudrun Gut to reveal the story of life in the divided city; Muscha’s iconic film DECODER (1984) explores the disenfranchised youth culture, neon drenched visuals and urban industrial aesthetics of the early 80s; and, Klaus Maeck and Johanna Schenkel’s LIEBESLIEDER: EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN (1993) captures the renowned industrial band from 1980 to 1993 on the low-fi analogue equipment of the time.

Other centrepiece retrospective screenings include the Wim Wender’s angels-in-love classic WINGS OF DESIRE and Uli Edel’s CHRISTIANE F., remastered in 4K, starring Natja Bronckhurst as the14-year-old girl who falls into the drug scene in West Berlin in the 1970s.

Austrian Cinema presents Adrian Goiginger’s touching WWII drama THE FOX (Der Fuchs) featuring a standout performance from newcomer Simon Morzé as a member of the Austrian Army who finds friendship with a young fox cub; Dieter Berner’s ALMA AND OSKAR (Alma und Oskar) a historical romantic drama that follows the torrid love affair between Viennese grand dame Alma Mahler and expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka; and, Chris Raiber’s quirky fairytale-like Vienna-set urban love story, FIRST SNOW OF SUMMER.

The Goethe-Institut will present films especially curated for children, teens and families with their Kino for Kids for sidebar. The roster of titles includes Mark Schlichter’s ALFONS JITTERBIT – CLASS TRIP CHAOS! (Alfons Zitterbacke – Endlich Klassenfahrt!), the story of a chaotic class trip to the Baltic Sea coast; MY LIFE AS LOTTA – OKEY DOKEY ALPACA! (Mein Lotta-Leben - Alles Tschaka mit Alpaka!), Martina Plura’s family comedy that follows Lotta (Meggy Husson) on her first school trip adventure; ONE IN A MILLION, Joya Thome’s coming-of-age documentary about success and loneliness in the age of social media; Sven Unterwaldt Jr.’S SCHOOL OF MAGICAL ANIMALS 2 (Die Schule der magischen Tiere 2; pictured, above), the live-action-adventure sequel that became Germany’s most popular film of 2022; and, THE ROBBER HOTZENPLOTZ (Der Räuber Hotzenplotz), Michael Krummenacher’s remake of Otfried Preußler's classic children's book.

Closing Night honours go to the female-led drama OVER & OUT, a unique take on a female friendship story. Directed by Julia Becker, it focuses on four lifelong friends who vowed to celebrate their weddings together 26 years ago but when one of them invites the others to Italy, a chaotic road trip ensues.

The 2023 GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL will take place nationally from 2 May to 24 May in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Byron Bay. Tickets and session details will be available at the event’s Official Website.

PREVIEW: 2023 SWANA FILM FESTIVAL

The first SWANA Film Festival, presented by Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) Parramatta, will comprise a 3-day festival of Southwest Asian and North African cinema screening at Riverside Theatre, Parramatta across the weekend of April 28-30, 2023.

ACE Executive Director Anne Loxley said, “The Festival is an important community-led project that showcases the diverse and important perspectives of Southwest Asian and North African voices.” SWANA Film Festival Director Hajer Al-Awsi (pictured, below) said, “The Festival aims to connect diasporic audiences to films from the region, and promises to be incredibly inclusive, featuring two LGBTQIA+ films as well as representing over five different languages.”

Established in 1984, Arts & Cultural Exchange is a Western Sydney-based community arts organisation with five program pillars: First Nations, Youth Engagement, Multicultural Women, Artists with Disability and People in Aged Care, and Screen. They advocate for social justice, the use of creativity to reverse disadvantage and the producing of ground-breaking interdisciplinary, intergenerational collaborative projects co-devised with the communities with whom we work.

These values will be central to the inaugural SWANA Film Festival, which promises to be a must-attend event for film lovers, artists, and cultural enthusiasts showcasing 20 unique films from such filmmaking centres as Iraq, Türkiye, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Armenia, and Syria. (Pictured, above; Grace, directed by Brian Patto, screening as part of the Australian SWANA Cinema: Through the Eyes of the Diaspora strand)

SWANA is a decolonial term for the region, its aim to displace the terminologies of Middle Eastern, Near Eastern, Arab World or Islamic World that have colonial, Eurocentric, and Orientalist origins and acknowledge the diversity and complexities of those communities.

The SWANA Opening Night honours went to Baghdad in My Shadow by acclaimed Swiss-Iraqi filmmaker Samir (Iraqi Odyssey, 2014). The Australian Premiere screening will be the centrepiece of the first night festivities, which will also include regional delicacies and music by DJ Nelya.  Also having its Australian Premiere at the festival is Turkish director Ümit Ünal’s story of a unique friendship, Love, Spells and All That, the acclaimed films screening with Jawahine Zantar's On My Fathger's Grave (Morocco); two films from Lebanese filmmaker Chantal Parmatian, Sandjak and Houbout; and, Ramazon Kilic's Penaber (Türkiye). 

Other program highlights include a selection of outstanding shorts from Syria to Morocco and award-winning director Eliane Raheb’s Miguel’s War (pictured, right), featuring Miguel Jleilaty as the gay Lebanese man returning home to confront the ghosts of his past. The Festival’s Closing Night will include shorts spanning Iraq, Egypt, the Emirates and Syria, and Egyptian director Ayten Amin’s coming-of-age romantic comedy/drama, Souad (pictured, top).

Audiences can attain an all-access pass, which includes entry to Sobhiya morning feast; screenings from Melbourne-based artist Sammaneh Pourshafighi; and, Andari’s Stove intimate exploration of life in a rural village in Mount Lebanon, followed by a panel discussion featuring Refugee Art Project.

Full session and ticketing information can be found at the Official Website of 2023 SWANA FILM FESTIVAL.

PREVIEW: 2022 JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL

Presented by The Japan Foundation, the 26th edition of the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) will begin its 2022 rollout across Australia, launching in Canberra (5–20 November) before moving to Perth (21–27 November), Brisbane (11–27 November), Melbourne (30 November–4 December) and finishing up in Sydney (7–14 December).

The national season represents a return to the theatrical experience for both the festival organisers and patrons, after two years of committed online programming in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Since 1997, the Sydney-based Japan Foundation has presented contemporary and retrospective Japanese film screenings; in 2022, it will screen in conjunction with cultural partners NFSA, QAGOMA and ACMI via Palace Cinemas.    

Opening the festival this year across all cities is the historical drama Dreaming of the Meridian Arc (大河への道; pictured, right), a rewriting of Japanese history by director Kenji Nakanishi. Set in both present-day Japan and the Edo period, this comedy uncovers the true story behind the man who completed the first ever map of Japan. 

The Japanese sector’s grasp of intense and complex drama can be seen in such programming highlights as Keisuke Yoshida’s Intolerance (空白), an intricate portrayal of the behaviour and psychology of people caught in extreme situations; the moving exploration of the lies and secrets of a girl with a complex family upbringing in Tetsu Maeda’s And So The Baton Is Passed (そして、バトンは渡された; pictured, top); Keisuke Yoshida’s human drama, Blue (ブルー), an examination of the inner lives of boxers; and, Takahisa Zeze’s poignant murder mystery/drama, In the Wake (護られなかった者たちへ), about the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

The festival offers ‘quirky edginess’ with Hūgo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins (ベイビーわるきゅーれ), a Tarantino-esque romp about teen killers learning to cohabitate and adjust to the facade of ‘normal life’; Kōhei Yoshino’s ANIME SUPREMACY! (ハケンアニメ !), a charming slice-of-GenZ-life drama about a production outfits quest to create the next great anime; and, Masaki Tachibana’s coming-of-age animation Blue Thermal (ブルーサーマル), a refreshing college-life story about friends' growing devotion to competitive gliding. 

The line-up turns dark with Kazuya Shiraishi’s psychological thriller Lesson in Murder (死刑にいたる病; pictured, right), the story of a young man upended by a serial killer’s claim. And foodies will not want to miss Toshimichi Saitō’s mouth-watering documentary, The Pursuit of Perfection, following four elite chefs in Tokyo who work tirelessly to perfect their craft. 

A particular highlight for international cinephiles will be the JFF Special Series, a free sidebar of 35mm film screenings celebrating the master filmmaker Mikio Naruse. The four films featured in this program shine a light on Naruse’s poignant observation of the growing tension surrounding familial and societal conformities in a changing, post–war Japan - a theme that pervades the director’s remarkably crafted body of work. The rarely-seen collection includes Sound of the Mountain (山の音; 1954); Floating Clouds (浮雲; 1955), the film considered by many his masterpiece; When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (女が階段を上る時; 1960); and, Yearning (乱れる; 1964). 

Sydney audiences will also be treated to a special post-film presentation at The Chauvel Cinema on Wednesday 14 December, where Dr Mats Karlsson, Senior Lecturer at The University of Sydney, will discuss Floating Clouds in the context of Naruse’s filmography, which included a mammoth 90 films spanning 1930 to 1967.

All ticketing and session details are available at the 2022 Japanese Film Festival OFFICIAL WEBSITE. 

PREVIEW: 2022 PALESTINIAN FILM FESTIVAL

The 2022 Palestinian Film Festival joins the ranks of international film celebrations regaining its live event footing post-COVID. For the first time since 2019, Festival Director Naser Shaktour will tour the country with the eleventh program, a line-up of feature films, documentaries and retrospective screenings that highlight a filmmaking culture both intellectually and creatively at its peak.

Traversing themes of people, place and identity, this year’s Festival will roll out nationally, beginning in Sydney (2-10 Nov), then Melbourne (3-6 Nov), Brisbane (11-13 Nov), Canberra (11-13 Nov), Perth (11-13 Nov), Adelaide (18-20 Nov) and Hobart (18-20 Nov). (Pictured, above; Tara Abboud, in Amira) 

“We’re very proud to present the best of Palestinian cinema. This year’s program focuses on the power of personal storytelling in building individual and collective resilience,” said Shakhtour, Founder and Director of Cultural Media, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of Palestinian art and culture in Australia. “With award-winning films set in Palestine 1948 to present day Palestine, we have curated an engaging and unforgettable program guaranteed to inform and inspire."

Opening Night honours have been bestowed upon Jordanian filmmaker Darin J. Sallam debut feature, Farha. The story of a young girl whose dreams change from seeking education to survival in Palestine 1948, the devastating narrative about loss, dispossession and survival is a poignant and remarkable first feature that became one of the must-see titles of TIFF 2021, where it debuted in the Next Wave strand. (Pictured, right; Karam Taher, in Farha)

Other narrative features in the 2022 program include Amira, a complex thriller about a girl whose identity isn’t what she thought it was, from in-demand Egyptian director Mohamed Diab (one of the creative forces on the Disney+ MCU series, Moon Knight); Gaza Mon Amour, from brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser, a charming romantic drama about an aging fisherman and an ancient statue; and, Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon (Dear Son), a twisting and gripping drama about a Palestinian woman blackmailed into becoming an informant for Israel’s internal security service. The showpiece title of the festival is Maha Haj’s Mediterranean Fever, a darkly comic friendship drama about a depressed man and a small-time crook, which earned the Best Screenplay Award at this year’s Festival du Cannes.

Documentaries to screen at the event include Julia Bacha’s Boycott an incisive look at anti-boycott legislation in the USA that tells the inspiring story of ordinary Americans living in defiance of the shifting political landscape; Fadia’s Tree, Sarah Beddington’s inspiring, tender portrait of a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon (pictured, right); Hummus: A Story of Appropriation, the largely unknown story of the appropriation of Palestine’s treasured culinary staple, from director Lafi Abood; and, Abdallah Al-Khatib’s Little Palestine, A Diary of a Siege, a journey inside the district of Yarmouk, which homed the biggest Palestinian refugee camp in the world.

In a true declaration of the festival’s commitment to Palestinian film culture and history, this year Naser Shaktour and his team will present a 40th anniversary screening of director Kassem Hawal’s Return to Haifa (A'id ila Hayfa). The story is based on a 1969 novel by Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani, who would be assassinated in 1973. Widely regarded as Palestine’s first film, it recounts the journey of Safia (Hanan Al Haj Ali) and Saeed (Paul Mattar), who are forced to leave their baby son when they are expelled in 1948, only to return 20 years later to find their son adopted and enlisted into the Israeli army. All proceeds from the screening of Return to Haifa will be donated to the Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation.

Ticketing and session information for the 2022 Palestinian Film Festival can be found at the event’s Official Website.