It’s a queer, queer, queer, queer world and Melbourne will be its epicentre from March 5 to 16 when the 18^th Melbourne Queer Film Festival takes over the town. Over 11 days an estimated 24,000 film lovers will watch over 140 gender bending films from around the world. The Festival will present a strong program of over 40 features, over 30 documentaries and 70+ short films selected by Festival Director Lisa Daniel and her trusty Selection Panel, who over the last 10 years have built the festival into one of the top five Gay and Lesbian film festivals in the world.

Lisa said, ‘We’ve searched the globe for a program to please, and this year we’re proud to offer an eclectic range of titles which broach important international human rights issues as well as our usual batch of international queer film festival favourites’.

Some stand outs include Semper Fi: One Marine’s Journey, (dir: Vince Di Persio), in which Lance Corporal Jeff Key documents his tour of duty in war torn Iraq and his experiences as a gay man serving under the US administration’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy; I Know That I Am, (dir: Peyman Khosravi), a unique and powerful documentary which reveals the little-told story of transgendered queers in Iran, a country where sexual ‘deviancy’ is punishable by law, and Inlaws and Outlaws (dir: Drew Emery), a film that cleverly weaves together the true stories of couples and singles – both gay and straight – into a collective narrative that is as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.

Dates not to be missed on the queer party calendar are the MQFF Opening and Closing nights. The Opening Night film, Breakfast With Scot, (dir: Laurie Lynd), is at once an all-round comedy crowd pleaser and a substantial drama about the strength of love in blended families while XXY (dir: Lucía Puenzo), recently selected as Argentina’s official entry for the 2008 Academy Awards and winner of two prizes at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, is the very special Closing Night film on March 16.

Other highlights of the 2008 feature film program include: Kiss The Bride (dir: C Jay Cox), a snappy comedy with plenty of eye-candy and some great supporting performances; The New World (dir: Etienne Dhaene), an engaging and lighthearted take on modern parenting, lesbian style; and The Picture of Dorian Gray, directed by Duncan Roy who will be a guest of the Festival. This year’s feature film program includes a strong international selection with features from France, Czech Republic, China, Japan, The Philippines and Israel.

Documentary highlights include: Anger Me (dir: Elio Gelmini), an excellent biopic on Kenneth Anger; She’s A Boy I Knew (dir: Gwen Haworth), a unique male-to-female transition tale with sublime home movie footage, frank testimonials and delightful animation; and Bears, an engaging and revealing documentary from prolific music video director Marc Klasfeld in which six contestants vie for the title of Mr. International Bear.

The coveted Selectors’ Choice session includes two powerful documentaries this year – The Birthday (dir: Negin Kianfor and Daisy Mohr), and Transvestites Also Cry (dir: Sebastiano D’Ayala Valva) – revealing the incredible hardship that the transgendered community endures in places like the Middle East and Ecuador.

Australians are also heavily featured in this year’s program with not one but two sessions of outstanding local documentaries, as well as the Celluloid Casserole and the hotly contested jury-voted City of Melbourne Emerging Filmmaker Award for Best Australian Queer Short Film offering a cash prize of $2000.

This year’s Centrepiece Presentation of the of the brilliant Taiwan/Chinese lesbian co-production Spider Lilies (Ci Qing) is co-presented by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Festival guests include US Director Duncan Roy (Picture of Dorian Gray), Canadian Director Jim Lemoire (Genderpunk) and Sydney Directors Craig Boreham (Love Bites); Sarah Spillane (The Manual); Amy Gebhardt (Look Sharp); Time Slade (Every Other Weekend); and Walter McIntosh and Producer Sophie Harper (Projecting The Body).

All of the panels for the 18^th MQFF have a human rights flavour, with documentary and panel discussions around gay and lesbian immigration issues, HIV education, and recent developments in legislation concerning queer rights in Australia. Supporters of these sessions include the Law Institute of Victoria, the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre and the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby.

For tickets, schedule and all information visit www.melbournequeerfilm.com.au

Tags: MQFF