18 Oct Mardi Gras Film Festival 2025 First Look
Queer Screen’s 32nd Mardi Gras Film Festival (MGFF25) will be running 13-27 February in cinemas and 28 February – 10 March on demand!
We’re excited to announce the first six films from our 2025 program, giving you an early taste of what’s to come. Stay tuned for the full program reveal on 8 January.
Make sure to grab your Festival Flexi Pass before the early bird sale ends on 5 January to lock in the best price.
Not a Queer Screen member yet? Now’s the perfect time to join and gain access to the exclusive member presale on 6 January.
Explore these six exciting films, and get ready for an unforgettable festival showcasing the best in LGBTQIA+ cinema.
With a Flexi Pass, you can select a package of films to suit your tastes and book up to two tickets per film.
Flexi Pass prices will increase on 6 January—grab yours now to secure the best deal and get ready to immerse yourself in queer cinema at its finest!
Queer Screen members save $$ on ticket prices (even more if you purchase a Flexi Pass), get access to a VIP pre sale and gain priority entry to our festival screenings, with additional benefits at every tier.
Desire Lines
Sydney Premiere | Director: Jules Rosskam | Trailer
Join Ahmad, an Iranian trans man, on a unique journey through the archives as he unpacks the intersections between gender identity and desire. Jules Rosskam’s hybrid documentary blends past and present with innovative ease, showcasing a diverse array of transmasculine perspectives across space and time. Desire Lines is a heartfelt tribute to transmasc visibility, documenting a variety of stories around sexual desire and expression.
Duino
Sydney Premiere | Director: Juan Pablo Di Pace, Andres Pepe Estrada
Past yearnings intrude on the present in this beautiful Argentinian drama. Filmmaker Matias struggles to complete his latest project, a film capturing his time as a student, where he developed an attraction to a close friend. While editing, an opportunity to revisit those feelings arises. Examining how youthful infatuations can linger years later, Duino is wonderfully co-directed and co-written by lead Juan Pablo Di Pace, drawing on his own experiences.
Eat the Night
Sydney Premiere | Director: Caroline Poggi, Jonathan Vinel | Trailer
Young drug dealer Pablo and sister Apolline’s world begins to crumble when they discover their favourite online video game, Darknoon, is shutting down at Christmas. As Apolline grows increasingly obsessed, Pablo falls into a secret relationship with sexy stranger Night as the pair are drawn into dangerous gang conflict. Contrasting the escapist nature of MMORPGs against its characters’ gritty lives, Eat the Night explores the finite nature of life in this visually distinct, intense thriller.
Ponyboi
Australian Premiere | Director: Esteban Arango
Intersex runaway Ponyboi (writer River Gallo, in a star-making performance) works at a laundromat by day and as a sex worker by night, longing to escape his bleak New Jersey life. After a drug deal goes wrong, he flees from the mob with the help of a mysterious cowboy (Australia’s Murray Bartlett). Blending surrealism with harsh reality, this Sundance hit offers a raw, tender exploration of queer identity, self-discovery and survival.
Queens of Drama
Sydney Premiere | Director: Alexis Langlois | Trailer
Sparks fly when ingénue Mimi Madamour competes with out punk rocker Billie Kohler on an early 2000s reality TV singing competition. When Mimi achieves mainstream success but Billie doesn’t, it ignites a decades-spanning romance turned rivalry – as told by a nostalgic gay vlogger in 2055. Drawing on tabloid fodder about icons like Madonna, Britney and Mariah, this satirical ode to pop divas (and the entitlement of their gay fans) is a camp cult classic in the making.
What A Feeling
Australian Premiere | Director: Kat Rohrer | Trailer
Reinvention is the key to survival, in this heartfelt romantic comedy. Marie Theres is living out the perfect middle-class dream with a career, house, husband and kid – until she’s not. When her husband leaves her life falls apart until she meets Fa, a free-spirited carpenter who cares for her elderly Iranian mother. The pair are drawn together by a desire to live their lives for themselves, in this warm, funny film about second chances.