The 2022 Adelaide Film Festival will see more queer content than ever gracing our screens.
Adelaide Film Festival chief executive and creative director Mat Kesting said importantly, the queer films featured in this year’s festival did not have a designated “LGBT program”.
“We haven’t created a ‘queer section’, these films are woven throughout the program,” he said.
“We have a wonderful array of queer films, but they stand on their own merit.”
However, Mr Kesting did acknowledge that the 2022 program featured more queer films than in previous years.
“When we were putting the program together, we did joke that we need more films for straight people,” he quipped.
The festival will feature the Australian premieres of numerous highly-anticipated queer films, including Cate Blanchett’s Tár, Bros, and Harry Styles in My Policeman.
‘We need audiences to support us’
Additionally, a curated selection of LGBTQIA+ short films will be shown at a special event on October 26.
The LGBTQIA+ shorts collection showcases the best and freshest voices in queer cinema, including prize winners from Cannes, and a Sundance winner.
For Mr Kesting, The Giants– a documentary on the life of environmental activist Bob Brown is a ‘must-see’ of this year’s program.
The Giants is set to explore “the intertwined fates of trees and humans in this poetic portrait of environmentalist Bob Brown and the Forest”.
“He speaks of his own experiences as a gay man, and how much things have changed,” Mr Kesting said.
“Even just speaking about this film gives me goosebumps, it’s just so beautiful. I highly recommend it.”
Joyland– the winner of the 2022 Queer Palm at Cannes and Will-O’-The-Wisp are others that Mr Kesting recommends for queer audiences.
“Joyland was the first Pakistani film to be shown at Cannes, it’s a very special movie,” he said.
“And Will-O’-The-Wisp is just queer as f*ck. It’s the most compelling film I’ve seen all year, I was on the edge of my seat. It’s quite explicit, but it’s presented as a musical and it’s just this queer fantasy.”
With so many queer films featured at The Adelaide Film Festival, it is also an important reminder to support queer content and queer creators.
“It’s always a big risk programming queer films,” Mr Kesting said.
“There is such a wealth of queer-made and queer-told stories, but we need audiences to support us.”
Adelaide Film Festival launches on October 19.
For more information, visit their website.
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