Dublin's annual GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival kicks off its 2024 edition on Thursday 1st August.
The lineup includes a diverse array of LGBTQIA cinema, including 25 international features and 10 eclectic shorts blocks.
The Opening Gala feature is Backspot, which follows "two cheerleaders named Riley and Amanda, as they navigate the world of competitive cheerleading." Non-binary director D.W. Waterson will introduce the screening, held in partnership with Sporting Pride, on Thursday 1st August.
Oscar-nominated actor Elliot Page stars in Closing Gala feature Close To You, which sees Page (Juno, Inception) in his first leading role as an openly trans man. Page is also the exec producer of Backspot.
British documentary Tops screens on Friday 2nd August and explores “the diversity of contemporary trans masc experiences” and offers “a pastiche of chaotic, brash, self-deprecating and clueless 1990s/2000s British reality TV.”
Also on Friday 2nd, Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes tells the story of the acclaimed American photographer, a friend of Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his stunning images of gay life from the 1930s to 1950s.
Felix Maritaud (120 BPM, Knife & Heart, Sauvage) stars in Canadian drama Solo, set in the drag world, directed by Sophie Dupuis. Berlinale award-winning documentary Teaches Of Peaches follows the iconic musician 25 years into her career. Indian film Riptide follows two young men preparing for the final days of college life.
Saturday 3rd August's programme includes Big Boys, a coming of age tale from director Corey Sherman. Scala!!! is described as “A must-see for lovers of underground cinema, queer culture, the bizarre, and the renegade”, telling the story of the Scala Cinema in King's Cross, London and featuring contributions from John Waters and Adam Buxton.
Also on Saturday, Break The Game is a documentary edited from hundreds of hours of Twitch footage interwoven with 8-bit animations, and “an unflinching portrait of life lived online”. The Queen of My Dreams is a comic drama telling the parallel stories of a young Muslim woman in Pakistan, and her future lesbian daughter growing up in Canada. Greek feature The Summer with Carmen, Swiss/French ice hockey drama Rivière, docu-drama Desire Lines, and She is Conann (an "epic lesbian retelling of Conan The Barbiarian) also screen on Saturday.
On Sunday, screenings include India's First Best Trans Model Agency, Greek documentary Lesvia, Life is Excellent which tells the story of British artist David Robilliard, Belgian documentary Darklands: Are you ready to go deep? and German language Drifter.
Special guests will be acclaimed director Andrew Haigh, who will be presented with the GAZE Vanguard Award, and take part in a conversation following a screening of his BAFTA nominated All of Us Strangers with actor Russell Tovey (Being Human, Years and Years).
On Monday, there will be a screening of Edmund Lynch's A Different Country in tribute to the late Ed Lynch. Berlinale nominated Reas employs a cast of formerly incarcerated people to dramatize the struggles of their lives. Photo Booth depicts ‘Queer BDS’ as a “dynamic, Palestinian-led global movement”.
There is also a vibrant selection of short films. Irish Shorts will screen at 5.30pm on Friday 2nd at the IFI. Ursa Minor Shorts will screen at 1.10pm on Saturday 3rd in the Light House, with Unreal Shorts at 6.15pm in the Light House and Breakthrough Shorts at 8.50pm in the IFI.
On Sunday 4th, there will be Old Lesbians Shorts at 1.30pm in the Light House and Iris Loves Shorts at 4pm in the same venue. Taboo Shorts will be at 3.20pm in the IFI. The AXÉ Short Films will showcase black queer artists at 8.30pm in the Light House. Finally, the Resistance Shorts will screen at 12.30pm on Monday 5th in the Light House.
Find out more about the programme at https://www.gaze.ie/.
