5 Teaser Films Now On Sale! BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20

Queer Storytelling: Always Evolving. Queer Screen’s 27th Mardi Gras Film Festival runs 13-27 February, 2020 across multiple venues. Full program announced 8 January.

THE SHINY SHRIMPS Fri 14 Feb 6:30 PM
A massive hit in France, this feel-good queer comedy focuses on a flamboyant amateur water-polo team striving to qualify for the Gay Games. Book: bit.ly/MGFF20-Shrimps

SID & JUDY Wed 19 Feb 6:30 PM
Jon Hamm narrates this amazing doco about the talent and tragedy of gay icon Judy Garland, based on the memoirs of her third husband, Sid Luft. Book: bit.ly/MGFF20-Judy

MONSOON Thu 20 Feb 7:00 PM
Henry Golding stars as a gay man who heads to Saigon in a film that questions how family ties, culture and sexuality make us who we are. Book: bit.ly/MGFF20-Monsoon

LIZZIE Fri 21 Feb 6:30 PM
Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart are forces to be reckoned with in this sexually-charged, feminist take on one of the most notorious murders in US history. Book: bit.ly/MGFF20-Lizzie

UNSOUND Tue 25 Feb 6:30 PM
Through a mutual love of music, a heart-wrenching love story unfolds between Noah, a guitarist from the UK and Finn, a deaf trans man in Sydney. Book: bit.ly/MGFF20-Unsound

Queer Screen’s 27th Mardi Gras Film Festival runs 13 – 27 February 2020 across multiple venues in Sydney, before touring to Canberra, Parramatta, Lismore, Newcastle, and the Blue Mountains in March and April, 2020.

See more for less with a Flexi Pass bit.ly/QS-flexipass
Become a Queer Screen member and save bit.ly/QS-memb

#MGFF20 | 13-27 Feb BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20

Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt) | Opening Night MGFF20 | Thu 13 Feb 7:00pm Event Cinemas, George St. BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20-Ellie

This heartfelt lesbian rom-com, shot entirely in Sydney by writer-director Monica Zanetti (Skin Deep MGFF15) and based on her beloved play, is the first Australian feature to open Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival in its 27 year history.

Sophie Hawkshaw plays school captain Ellie, who is seriously crushing on her rebellious classmate Abbie (Wentworth’s Zoe Terakes). Determined to ask her first love to the year 12 formal, Ellie devises a plan to go public with the invitation but before she can go through with it, her dead aunt Tara (Julia Billington, Starting from…Now MGFF16) reappears from beyond the grave. Believing she’s been brought back from the dead to be Ellie’s fairy godmother, Tara dishes out unwanted dating advice based on her life as an out lesbian in the 80s.

Marta Dusseldorp (Stateless, Janet King) plays Ellie’s high strung mother whose concern about Ellie’s coming out is more than it seems, and Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) gives a wonderfully deadpan performance as Ellie’s adopted aunt with secrets of her own.

Don’t miss this intergenerational film which pays homage to Sydney’s LGBTIQ+ activist history — as well as bringing us a fresh take on the universal ‘first love’ story.

World Premiere. Join us for a Q&A after the screening and Opening Night Party in the Gold Class Lounge!

If you have a flexipass and wish to attend the party, please purchase a Flexi Party Add On.

UPDATE: PARTY SOLD OUT

Film only
$19.90 Full
$17.90 Concession
$16.90 Queer Screen Member

BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20-Ellie

The Shiny Shrimps | Mardi Gras Film Festival 2020 | Fri 14 Feb 6:30pm Event Cinemas, George St. BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20-Shrimps

After Matthias, a hot-headed swimming champion at the end of his career, makes a homophobic slur on national TV he is relegated to coaching the Shiny Shrimps, a diverse and flamboyant water-polo team.

Upon initial inspection, the Shiny Shrimps seem little more than an undisciplined ragtag bunch of amateurs. But before long, the Shrimps transform themselves into a force to be reckoned with. They soon find themselves and their initially-reluctant coach embarking on an action-packed road trip from Paris to Croatia in a beat-up old bus to compete in the Gay Games.

This hilarious and touching journey will shake up Matthias’ past prejudices and forge friendships amongst the disparate team. A massive box-office hit in France, The Shiny Shrimps is a feel-good sports comedy, and unabashed escapist entertainment guaranteed to leave audiences feeling uplifted.

Join us for a Q&A with director Cédric Le Gallo after the screening!

BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20-Shrimps

Sid & Judy | Mardi Gras Film Festival 2020 | Wed 19 Feb 6:30pm Event Cinemas, George St. BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20-Judy

Judy Garland fever is upon us! After Renée Zellweger’s powerhouse performance in biopic Judy,
spend more time getting to know the star in this insightful new documentary.

The unpublished memoirs of Judy’s third husband, Sid Luft are brought to life by narrator Jon Hamm, with Jennifer Jason Leigh voicing Garland. Sid & Judy explores the performer’s rise from child vaudevillian to entertainment legend, taking a fresh look at a journey that was beset with troubles and often subject to the whims of male power players who thought they knew best, even while she was crumbling.

What rings out is Garland’s incredible, goosebump-inducing voice, and the film features plenty of interviews, live recordings, and archival footage of the star. This is a fascinating profile told from the perspective of someone who knew and loved this icon intimately.

BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20-Judy

Monsoon | Mardi Gras Film Festival 2020 | Thu 20 Feb 7:00pm Event Cinemas, George St. BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20-Monsoon

Crazy Rich Asians’ sexy leading man Henry Golding stars in this poetic tale from director Hong Khaou (MGFF15’s Lilting).

Golding plays a gay man whose family left Vietnam when he was a child, and who returns to Saigon from the UK to distribute his parents’ ashes. As well as reconnecting with a cousin who reminds him of the world he left behind, he also hooks up with an American, Lewis (Parker Stevens) who has his own personal connection to Vietnam – their liaison offering both men a sympathetic ear.

Monsoon looks at the complexity of home and place, and how our culture, history, sexuality, and family history forms our identity. With the dreamy Golding as our guide, this beautifully shot and evocative film finds that the answers can sometimes be wondrously elusive.

BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20-Monsoon

Lizzie | Mardi Gras Film Festival 2020 | Fri 21 Feb 6:30pm Event Cinemas, George St. BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20-Lizzie

Lizzie is a distinct feminist retelling of the notorious unsolved grisly axe murders of the wealthy Borden family in 1892.

At 32 years of age, unmarried and already deemed an outcast by her family and society, Lizzie Borden (Chloë Sevigny) strains against stifling social conventions and the domineering and abusive rule of her father, seeking solace in an intimate connection with the new housemaid Bridget (Kristen Stewart).

Lizzie dives deep into the possible psychology and motivations behind the murders that stopped a nation, speculating a passionate affair between the two women in an intense and unsettling character study that will have you squirming in your seat until the climactic finale.

BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20-Lizzie

Unsound | Mardi Gras Film Festival 2020 | Tue 25 Feb 6:30pm Event Cinemas, George St. BOOK TIX: bit.ly/MGFF20-Unsound

Unsound is a unique Australian movie that follows the lives of two young people; both at a crossroads in their lives.

Noah (Reece Noi) is a young guitarist in the UK, working with renowned Australian 90s sensation, Moniqua (Christine Anu). On the other side of the world in Sydney, Finn (Yiana Pandelis) is a young deaf trans man living with his father (Todd McKenney) and dealing with the recent death of his mother.

When Noah tires of the pub circuit with Moniqua, he quits and flees to his mother’s home in Sydney. Here he stumbles across The Deaf Club, a pounding nightclub run by Finn, for deaf people to feel music. And he and Finn find themselves embarking on a new relationship.

As Finn inspires Noah to write his own music, Noah supports Finn as he takes further steps in his transition and comes out as a trans man. Through a mutual love of music from two very different perspectives, a heart-wrenching love story unfolds.

Join us for a Q&A after the screening and Australian Showcase Party.

Party Note: If you have a Flexipass and wish to attend the Showcase Party, please purchase a Flexi Party add on. Film only (incl. Q&A) tickets are available.

BOOK NOW: bit.ly/MGFF20-Unsound