Movies for gay men and those who love them

Featuring epic romances, steamy dalliances, touching dramas and tales of self discovery, these are just some of the many engrossing, unmissable films about gay men at Queer Screen’s 33rd Mardi Gras Film Festival.

Night Stage

Sat 14 Feb, 8:45pm
Event Cinemas, George St
and
Sun 22 Feb, 8:15pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Matias is a confident, openly gay theatre actor in a heated rivalry with his straight co-star Fabio, as both vie for a lead in a major TV show. Matias starts seeing discreet thirtysomething Rafael, and their animalistic chemistry reveals a shared love for exhibitionism. A bold, playful and unapologetically queer erotic thriller that embraces voyeurism, seduction and spectacle. In the worlds of politics and fame, authenticity has a price.

Four Mothers

Sun 22 Feb, 6:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Gay novelist Edward is on the brink of a big break when his mother Alma has a stroke, and he returns to Dublin to take care of her. This sharply observed comedy is about the care we give and struggle to accept.

3670

Wed 18 Feb, 6:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Cheol-jun is a young gay North Korean defector trying to build a new life in Seoul, navigating the fragile intersections between defector communities and the city’s underground gay scene, while concealing his identity from both. Longing to belong and make sense of this new life, he discovers how quickly trust and connection can fracture when fear and jealousy surface.

Perro Perro

Sun 16 Feb, 7:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St

 A homoerotic fable where “man’s best friend” is literally a man. In an allegorical world where “dogs” are represented by naked men, Juan finds a stray on the forest’s edge. On holidays with friends, Juan brings him back to their cabin to feed, bathe and shower with affection. This film is a sweetly surreal exploration of intimacy, loneliness and desire.

Gay Shorts

Fri 13 Feb, 8:45pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Eight short films, featuring stories of connection, resilience and self-love. These themes underpin the Gay short lineup in this year’s Mardi Gras Film Festival program!

I Was Born This Way

Thu 19 Feb, 7:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St
and
Sun 22 Feb, 1:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Lady Gaga, Billy Porter and Dionne Warwick feature in this joyful documentary celebrating the revolutionary life and music of Archbishop Carl Bean, who sang the first gay anthem, “I Was Born This Way”.

The Best Friend

Sat 14 Feb, 6:30pm
Event Cinemas, George St

After his boyfriend proposes in an elaborate public display, Lucas escapes to a Brazilian beach resort. There he’s reunited with straight lothario Felipe, a former university crush. Punctuated with bright and catchy ‘80s-style tunes, this frothy, feel-good musical rom-com will have you dancing in your seat.

On the Sea

Wed 18 Feb, 6:30pm
Event Cinemas, George St

When his son accidentally injures a local fisherman, gruff, burly mussel farmer Jack volunteers to do some fishing runs to get him through winter. Forced into close proximity with ruggedly handsome skipper Daniel, his unmistakable interest reawakens feelings Jack has spent years suppressing but can no longer ignore.

Departures

Mon 23 Feb, 6:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St

After a break-up, Benji has fallen into a self-sabotaging cycle of excess alcohol and empty hook-ups. This darkly funny, emotionally charged film finds humour, love and even hope in life’s darkest moments.

Hot Boys Shorts

Sat 21 Feb, 8:30pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Things get hot and heavy in this collection of films that centre the sex lives of men, from unexpected hook-ups to romantic rendezvous, featuring John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Tiger

Fri 20 Feb, 6:45pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Taiga is a gay masseur in Tokyo, navigating a world where desire and visibility are negotiated through the body. Seeking agency beyond fleeting encounters, he sets his sights on entering the gay pornography industry. But when his father’s sudden illness draws him into a bitter family dispute with his sister, Taiga is caught between traditional expectations and the life he has chosen.

Drunken Noodles

Fri 20 Feb, 8:45pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Young art student Adnan arrives in New York to flat-sit and intern at a gallery. A brazen cruising encounter with a delivery rider gives way to a shared appreciation of art and drunken noodles. Drifting between city streets, apartments, forest paths and late-night encounters, fleeting erotic and emotional connections begin to blur time itself.

Opening Night: Jimpa

Thu 12 Feb, 7:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St
and
Wed 18 Feb, 7:00pm
Dendy Cinemas, Newtown

Starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, filmmaker Hannah travels to Amsterdam with her non-binary teen, Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde). Reconnecting with her HIV+ academic gay father, Jim – affectionately known as “Jimpa” – she hopes to discuss plans to tell his story on screen. But when Jimpa’s health begins to decline, Hannah must negotiate what happens next as she confronts her past and the stories she’s told about her family.

We Are Faheem & Karun

Sun 22 Feb, 8:30pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Karun, a young security guard from southern India, is posted to a remote village in Kashmir. There he meets Faheem, a Kashmiri student whose quiet warmth disarms him. As an impossible love takes root, they are caught between faith, national borders and the suffocating masculinity of the institutions surrounding them.

Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day

Wed 18 Feb, 7:00pm
Dendy Cinemas, Newtown

Once inseparable friends as resistance fighters in World War II, Lovro, Nenad, Stevan and Ivan reunite years later as celebrated filmmakers in 1950s communist Yugoslavia. As their success grows, so does suspicion around their sexuality. When a loyal party functionary is assigned to monitor them, private lives become battlegrounds and creative expression an act of resistance.

Maspalomas

Wed 25 Feb, 7:00pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Vicente is 76 and has spent decades living openly as a gay man in the Spanish resort enclave of Maspalomas. After a sudden stroke leaves him hospitalised, he wakes in a Donostia nursing home, placed there by the daughter he abandoned years earlier. In this new world of routines, supervision and unspoken rules, Vicente stops mentioning his sexuality – almost without noticing how easily he slips back into the closet he once fought so hard to escape.

A Good Child

Mon 16 Feb, 6:15pm
Event Cinemas, George St

When glamorous drag queen Jiahao returns to his family home for his conservative father’s funeral, he discovers his mother has dementia. Stepping in as her carer, Jiahao balances nightly gigs with family responsibility. But when his mother mistakes his drag persona for her daughter, he takes the opportunity to build a new relationship and finally confront buried childhood memories.

The Last First Time

Tue 16 Feb, 8:30pm
Event Cinemas, George St

Eighteen year-old Eduardo travels from his small hometown to Guadalajara to sit a university entrance exam, briefly escaping the watchful control of his family. In the unfamiliar city he meets Mario, a confident local who draws him into a world of intimacy, freedom and emotional risk. Over a single day and night, tentative curiosity gives way to exhilaration as past fears and future possibilities blur.

A Useful Ghost

Tue 24 Feb, 6:15 pm
Event Cinemas, George St

When an academic’s vacuum breaks, he enlists the help of a handsome repairman. Unconvinced by the suggestion it’s haunted, they exchange flirty banter as he’s told of Nat (Thai superstar Davika Hoorne), who returned to her grieving husband as a bright red vacuum cleaner made in his family’s factory. 

Fatherhood

Mon 16 Feb, 7:00pm
Dendy Cinemas, Newtown

A gay Norwegian throuple – David, Sindre and Kris, the first pregnant trans man in Norway – prepare for impending fatherhood. Until 2016, Norway required trans people to be sterilised to get legal gender recognition. Told his womb wasn’t viable, in 2009 Kris’ doctors only removed his ovaries. When a doctor discovered Kris’ womb was healthy years later, a lifelong dream of being a father was suddenly possible.