Melbourne Queer Film Festival kicks off in style

Melbourne Queer Film Festival kicks off in style

THE Melbourne Queer Film Festival is about to get started, and tickets are already selling fast. With a festival program shining with local and international talent, the Star Observer team has picked a few favourites from the first few days of the festival to get you started.

Any Day Now

Thursday, March 13

7.30pm, ACMI Cinemas 1 & 2

Opening the festival is the Melbourne premiere of the award-winning Any Day Now, starring Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt as a gay couple struggling to adopt a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome in the face of a prejudiced and unjust legal system. Set in 1979 and based on a true story, amazing performances by the lead actors confront the complexities of parenthood and the challenges of keeping a family together.

Jack and Diane

Friday, March 14

8pm, ACMI Cinema 1

In Jack and Diane, the titular characters go through the time-honoured tradition of a tumultuous New York holiday romance: Jack is a tomboy with a hidden romantic side and Diane her complete opposite, but hides vulnerabilities that manifest as something monstrous. The film also features pop princess Kylie Minogue’s first on-screen same-sex kiss, when she makes a cameo as Jack’s former lover.

Meth Head

Friday, March 14

10.30pm, ACMI Cinema 2

Winning multiple awards at Filmout San Diego, Meth Head is a story of addiction and personal destruction. Dissatisfied with the dullness of his life, Kyle’s chance encounter with drugs is at first amazing and freeing, but leads to the end of his relationship with fiance Julian and eventually to the harsh realities of what he needs to do to continue his habit. Director Jane Clark is expected to attend this Australian premiere as part of MQFF.

Pitstop

Friday, March 14

10.30pm, ACMI Cinema 1

Gabe has ended a tumultuous relationship with a married man and is forging a new one with his ex-wife Shannon and her young daughter. Meanwhile, lumber-yard worker Ernesto escapes the loveless relationship with his live-in boyfriend by visiting his comatose former lover Martin. Called “the best American queer film of the year”, Pitstop charts the lives of characters desperately in need of human connection in a small Texas town.

Valentine Road

Saturday, March 15

2pm, ACMI Cinema 1

When teenager Brandon McInerny shot and killed his openly-gay fellow student Larry King in front of their classmates the story shocked America: Larry had asked Brandon to be his valentine. This confronting, compassionate and ultimately devastating documentary charts the aftermath of the shooting, exposing a community filled with intolerance, homophobia and transphobia, and a school system completely unequipped to deal with the needs of a trans* child.

G.B.F.

Saturday, March 15

8.15pm, ACMI Cinema 2

Touted as a gay(er) Mean Girls, G.B.F. is set to be one of the festival’s most fun films. When a set of prom queen wannabes decide they need a new gay best friend, shy, nerdy and recently-outed Tanner unexpectedly finds himself the centre of attention as the three girls appear ready to do anything to make him theirs. With an amazing soundtrack and an ensemble cast including Will and Grace’s Megan Mullaly, this is sure to be a favourite.

Visit: www.mqff.com.au to book tickets and for more information about films and session times.

 

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