6 Of Our Fave Picks For This Weekend’s GAZE International Film Festival

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GAZE International LGBT Film Festival Dublin is returning to the Light House Cinema this weekend for five days of movie screenings, panel discussions and events. Now in its 24th year, GAZE celebrates LGBT storytelling and all that is fabulous in the world…

So, while you could go see over 30 different films throughout the festival, we have picked out six of our favourite movies or panel discussions that you should definitely check out.

You’re very welcome…

VIVA

Friday July 29, 8:30pm

Written by Mark O’Halloran and directed by Paddy Breathnach, VIVA centres around the life of an aspiring Cuban Drag Queen in Havana. Not only is it an Irish movie, but it was shortlisted for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars last year.

Genuinely not a bad word has been said about this one, so just g’wan and book your tickets before it sells out…

YesterGAZE: The Ghost of Roger Casement

Saturday July 30, 2.30pm

Each year Gaze do a free screening and this year’s film choice gives an aul nod to the 1916 centenary.

The film talks about the life, achievements, and ultimate downfall of the man, whose reputation was destroyed by the infamous ‘Black Diaries’ and allegations of homosexuality.

After the screening there will be a panel discussion about Casement and his role as a pioneering humanitarian. Oh, and it costs absolutely nothing at all. Nice wan.

GAZE on the Fringe

Sunday July 31, 2:30pm

This panel discussion will centre around the current state of LGBT film festivals and the radicalism from which they were born. It will also look at society’s shifting reception to LGBT cinema.

Speakers will include Theresa Heath (Wotever DIY Film Festival), Berwyn Rowlands (Iris Prize Festival), Jamie Starboisky (Queer Media Festival), Helen Wright (SQIFF).

What’s cool about this panel is each speaker will present a short film that they feel most accurately portrays the ethos of their festival, before breaking into a more general discussion. This will be a festival highlight – get involved!

Closet Monster

Sunday July 31, 6:30pm

Closet Monster is all about young Oscar, a creative applying for makeup school in New York whose portfolio has a certain Buffy the Vampire Slayer aesthetic to it.

His sexuality goes into overdrive when he starts working at a hardware store and encounters the charismatic Wilder. The is a gorgeous coming-of-age film AND it features a talking hamster – what more could you want?

Upstairs Inferno

Sunday July 31, 8:30pm

The topic of this documentary is painfully relevant today following the heartbreaking shootings in at Pulse nightclub in Orlando last month. Upstairs Inferno examines the events surrounding an arson attack on June 24th 1973, when the Up Stairs Lounge nightclub was set on fire, killing 32 people inside.

Previous to Orlando, this was credited as the largest mass killing of LGBT people in the States. Despite being extremely heavy, this is an incredible watch.

Heartbeats

Monday 1 August, 5:30pm

The less we say about this movie the better; so all you need to know is that it’s Xavier Dolan’s second feature film, and it more than lives up to the first.

Intrigued? You should be.