Winter Blues? Warm up with the Melbourne International Film Festival

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual feast for film lovers, presenting a plethora of cinematic gems from around the world. Fear not - a great variety of films will appeal to the GLBTI community, including:

Little Joe (pictured, above)
Director Nicole Haeusser traces the creation of a sex symbol in this documentary about ‘Little’ Joe Dallesandro. Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey idolised his body on screen, Lou Reed sang about him, and this film lays Joe, and his life, bare.

An Englishman in New York
John Hurt revisits the larger-than-life role of Quentin Crisp, one of the ‘stately homos’ of England, more than 30 years after his acclaimed turn as Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant. “A studied testament to the splintered state of the gay community.” – Slant Magazine.

Blessed
A new drama by Melbourne director Ana Kokkinos (Head On), based on the ‘fierce, funny and confronting’ play about the modern working class, Who’s Afraid of the Working Class, by Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap), Patricia Cornelius, Andrew Bovell (Lantana) and Melissa Reeves.

Funeral Parade of Roses
Screening as part of a package of films exploring the little-seen Japanese New Wave of the 1960s, Funeral Parade of Roses follows transvestite Eddie through a splintered, psychedelic underworld of drugs, pimps, gangsters and violence.

Humpday
This awkward American indie film about two straight guys who dare each other to make a gay porn film.

Little Joe
Director Nicole Haeusser traces the creation of a sex symbol in this documentary about ‘Little’ Joe Dallesandro. Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey idolised his body on screen, Lou Reed sang about him, and this film lays Joe, and his life, bare.

Outrage
One of the must-see films of the festival. Director Kirby Dick names and shames some of the closeted US politicians who publicly promote an anti-gay agenda while living a secret gay life.

Prodigal Sons
Filmmaker Kimberly Reed, formerly a macho jock, returns home for her high school reunion, ready to reintroduce herself as the trans woman she has become and hoping for reconciliation with her estranged brother, Marc. A fascinating exploration of sexual orientation, identity, trauma and love.

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
This documentary about New Zealand’s yodelling lesbian twins Jools and Lynda Topp is a life-affirming story of social change, and a joyful exploration of the Topp Twins’ musical appeal. ‘More fun than a possum up your trousers.’ – Sydney Morning Herald.

Melbourne International Film Festival runs from July 24 - August 9. For more information, refer to the website:
www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au