Last night was the official launch of the 2023 Melbourne Queen Film Festival for 2023. Hosted in Town Hall, lit by a kaleidoscope of rainbow lights, guests, members and media gathered to celebrate the full program launch and experience the 1918 silent film Ich möchte kein Mann sein (I Don’t Want To Be a Man).
The festival’s theme this year is Rewind to Fast Forward and will show the un-disputed existence of the queer community all throughout history. Running from November 9 – November 19, there is a wide selection of local and international features at various cinemas across the city. Boasting 50 feature films, 17 documentaries, 11 shorts, 3 world premieres, 26 Australian premieres and 19 Victorian premieres.
David Martin Harris, MQFF CEO said: “We cannot wait to share this spectacular array of films with queer Victorians and those who love us – we’ve scoured the planet for 12 months to find the most incredible new LGBTQIA+ stories – there’s something for everyone: hysterical comedy, campy horror, we’re serving drama, new Australian work, famous faces, the shorts packages are just brilliant! And, after popular demand, we’re bringing back the Festival Lounge at ACMI right throughout the festival – it’s going to be a space to connect with community, enjoy fascinating public programs, DJs, great food. This MQFF is all about solidarity, connection, and joy.”
The opening night will be on November 9 with Filipino rom-com I Love You Beksman. A coming-out story with a fabulous Filipinx makeover from director Perci M. Intalan is said to be high camp and a heartfelt inverted rom-com that you absolutely cannot miss.
Other highlights of the festival include Ng Choon Ping & Sam H. Freeman’s masterpiece Femme, Director Nate Dushku’s premiere Birder starring horror queen Eliza Dushku. Goren Stolevski’s new film Housekeeping for Beginners and the Victorian premiere of director Andrew High’s All of Us Strangers starring Aftersun’s Paul Mescal.
The cinemas supporting the festival are The Capitol, Kino Cinemas, Village Cinemas Jam Factory, Cinema Nova and the Rooftop at the Victorian Pride Centre in St Kilda. You can buy single tickets, a pack of 10 of the All-In pass which will give you one ticket to every session along with the Opening night, Centrepiece and Closing night.
This year, MQFF is thrilled to welcome new Program Director, Cerise Howard. Cerise said: It’s an honour and privilege to assume the mantle of MQFF Program Director, and I’m beside myself with glee anticipating that anyone taking even the most cursory scan of the program will find not one, not two, but umpteen films from every which where and when that they simply have to attend, with current and future friends, lovers and chosen family alike. And how!
Howard’s clear precision for choosing a diverse array of films and packing it all into a schedule that truly offers something for everyone is to be commended. The selection of I Don’t Want to Be a Man for the program launch was accompanied by Town Halls’ impressive live organ which filled the hall and transported us back a different era, while showcasing that the existence of the queer community in 1918 was not only there, but also shown on film. Howard clearly needs a raise and deserves all of the respect for curating this collection.
If you are a MQFF member, you can start purchasing tickets right now via the website here. General tickets will go on sale October 11 on the MQFF website here
