Volunteer of the Year 2023

12 May Volunteer of the Year 2023 for Queer Screen & Mardi Gras Film Festival

Our volunteers celebrated at the 2023 Volunteer of the Year Awards!

Every year we celebrate our volunteers at the Volunteer of the Year Awards. This year, we hosted our award ceremony and wrap party at the Canva offices in Surry Hills.

Queer Screen as an organisation thrives because of our volunteers. Without the countless people putting their best foot forward, we wouldn’t be able to host our events and bring the best of Australian and international queer films to cinemas.

Our Volunteer of the Year Award nominations come from our dedicated cohort of staff, Board members (who are of course also volunteers) and all the other people involved with Queer Screen.

We have two annual awards, dedicated to the memory of two Queer Screen volunteers;

The Frank Wells New Volunteer Award
The Yunus Zeed Returning Volunteer Award

With great joy, we are pleased to announce the winners of these awards.

The Yunus Zeed Returning Volunteer of the Year Award

Winner: Scott Middleton

Five Queer Screen volunteers at Mardi Gras Film Festival 2023

For their continued dedication and work as a pink shirt volunteer for Queer Screen throughout the years, who has always brought thought and care to every festival and truly encapsulates the Queer Screen community (second from the left in the above photo).

Runner up: Sanouk Peiper

For her continued dedication and work as a volunteer programming prescreener throughout the years and for being one of our most frequent film blurb writers since 2018.

The Frank Wells New Volunteer of the Year Award

Winner: Jiri Vrba

Four Queer Screen volunteers at the 2023 Mardi Gras Film Festival

For their dedication to volunteering for MGFF23 and truly encapsulating their role as an accessibility marshall with so much love, care and passion in ensuring each event was a safe space (far left in above photo).

Runner Up: Gracie Heinjus

For their dedication to volunteering for MGFF23 and being an integral part of the Queer Screen team. No task was an obstacle and were always eager to get stuck into every situation with passion and an eagerness to learn more.