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WHILE the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is no stranger to LGBTI content, this year a queer film takes centre stage 鈥� the long-awaited cinematic adaptation of Timothy Conigrave鈥檚 beloved memoir Holding the Man will feature in a gala right in the middle of the festival.

[showads聽ad=MREC]The festival鈥檚 artistic director Michelle Carey said MIFF had some awareness of the book鈥檚 importance to the gay community in Australia, and Melbourne in particular, but wasn鈥檛 prepared for her own reaction to seeing the film.

鈥淚 was expecting it to be really sad 鈥� which it is 鈥� but it鈥檚 incredibly joyous,鈥� she said.

鈥淐oming out of the film, Al [Cossar, festival programmer] and I were just like, we鈥檝e got to do something with this.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a screening 鈥� this is such an important story to put up there and screen as a piece of Australian cinema, as well as all the local resonances and the Melbourne story.鈥�

MIFF 2015鈥檚 鈥淐entrepiece Gala鈥� will be a screening and after party celebrating the film.

鈥淭he response has been amazing,鈥� Carey said.

鈥淸It] has cut across queer and straight communities… but it seems quite generational, and I鈥檇 be really interested to see how many younger people know about the importance of the story and the book and so on.鈥�

Films like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriel鈥檚 Wedding might loom large in the history of Australian cinema as camp classics, but Carey argued they represent a very specific and fleeting cultural moment.

鈥淭hose films are from the 90s 鈥� that was a real golden era in Australian cinema where we celebrated that,鈥� she said.

Carey argued that after that, Australian cinema became quite serious for the next 20 years. She wondered whether until very recently it had been somewhat 鈥渃loseted鈥�.

鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 changing… I feel like there is a new generation coming through that have perhaps been influenced by all these people,鈥� she said.

鈥淕rant Scicluna is one to mention 鈥� he鈥檚 a young filmmaker. He鈥檚 just made his feature debut, called Downriver. It鈥檚 a really beautiful queer love story. It鈥檚 very dark and it鈥檚 very powerful.鈥�

Melbourne is of course known for one of the world鈥檚 largest celebrations of LGBTI-centric cinema 鈥� the Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF). But even for a more 鈥渕ainstream鈥� festival like MIFF, Carey argued it was important to be aware of diversity of all kinds in programming.

鈥淣ot just as a box-ticking thing, but just because there鈥檚 so much amazing cinema coming from different parts of the world and different communities,鈥� she said.

鈥淨ueer directors have given so much to cinema history… it鈥檚 been so intertwined with amazing cinema over the years that I feel we need to foreground that.鈥�

Carey also argued the existence and growth of smaller, more focused film festivals 鈥� including MQFF 鈥� informs how MIFF is programmed. She sees the festivals as complementary.

鈥淚 feel like some of the stuff [MQFF] has shown is maybe a bit more hardcore than some of the stuff we鈥檝e shown, in terms of queer content 鈥� documentaries, things around, say, surgery and that kind of thing, which might have a more specific relevance to a very specific audience that we probably wouldn鈥檛 show,鈥� Carey said.

鈥淲e try not to step on people鈥檚 toes too much. In terms of the whole festival ecosystem in Melbourne, everyone鈥檚 carving out their bit of territory and everyone鈥檚 trying to respect that.

鈥淥bviously we can鈥檛 screen everything, so we do go for something that we feel鈥檚 going to have a general interest, otherwise we feel maybe that it鈥檚 something more for the Queer Film Festival… at the end of the day it鈥檚 good, because people can still see it.鈥�

Alongside Holding the Man and Downriver, Carey highlighted some of her queer picks from this year鈥檚 program.

鈥�Ecco Homo is also really great,鈥� Carey聽said.

鈥淭he film鈥檚 directed by Richard Lowenstein 鈥� it鈥檚 about this guy Troy Davies, who was a big figure in the 90s. He died about five years ago.

鈥淗e was a very big figure in the artistic, film, music communities in Melbourne in the 80s and 90s… it鈥檚 a really beautiful story.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a documentary on Fassbinder (Fassbinder 鈥� To Love Without Demands) the filmmaker, and it鈥檚 just interesting the parallels between those two. These people really were artists, and lived their life. We don鈥檛 have a lot of people like that anymore.鈥�

Two picks also came from US independent cinema: Nasty Baby, about a couple in Brooklyn trying to have a baby and the stranger who enters their lives, and Tangerine.

鈥�Tangerine is a really awesome American independent film that follows these two transgender women around LA, and it鈥檚 just such a great celebration of friendship,鈥� Carey said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e just such wonderful characters, and it was all shot on an iPhone.鈥�

The Melbourne International Film Festival runs from July 30 until August 16. For details and ticket bookings visit

The 17c起草社区 is a media partner of Melbourne International Film Festival.

**This article was first published in the August聽edition of the 17c起草社区, which is . To obtain a physical copy, to find out where you can grab one in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and select regional/coastal areas.

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