Perth gets its first queer film festival

PERTH’S first queer film festival will be held in September, with seven films showcasing the best of LGBTI cinema.

Hosted by the WA AIDS Council in collaboration with The Backlot Perth the inaugural Perth International Queer Film Festival will run from September 9 to 15 with proceeds to the WA AIDS Council.

Film Festival Director Mark Reid wanted to offer Perth audiences thought provoking films.

“I didn’t want to put films in the festival that were happy ever after films… it needed to be gritty, it needed to show the depth of filmmaking that’s still happening out there.” Reid told the Guardian Express.

The festival program includes films from across the globe including the USA, South Africa, the Netherlands and Germany with several Australian premieres, including opening night film Jonathan, which follows the journey of 23-year-old Jonathan, who sacrifices himself by taking care of his cancer-stricken father and works on the family farm. A long buried family secret puts the father-son relationship to the test.

Other Australian premieres include, Boys which was nominated for an International Emmy Award in 2016; While you weren’t looking an original story set in Cape Town; and closing night film Those People where a young gay painter is torn between an obsession with his infamous socialite best friend and a promising new romance with an older foreign concert pianist set on Manhattan’s gilded Upper East Side.

Portrait of a Serial Monogamist has been described as ‘High Fidelity for lesbians’ and is a smart authentic Canadian comedy set to a fabulous soundtrack.

Perth International Queer Film Festival, for tickets and more information click here.