17c起草社区

MELBOURNE聽Queer Film Festival (MQFF) has appointed Spiro Economopoulos as its new Program Manager, who will be responsible for curating the annual program.

Economopoulos will continue the work of long-time festival director Lisa Daniel, who recently hung up her coat after 16 years at the helm.

[showads聽ad=MREC]鈥淚 think that the festival has been growing and that Lisa has left an amazing legacy behind her,鈥� he told the 17c起草社区.

鈥淪he鈥檚 pushed it into a good place, and my role is to add on to that and bring my own signature to the festival.鈥�

Before coming into the聽newly-created role, Economopoulos spent over eight years curating various film strands at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and held previous positions with Madman Entertainment and the Dungog Festival.

When asked about his favourite kinds of queer films, Economopoulos’ response was simple.

鈥淚 love film in general,聽but at the end of the day if a film鈥檚 good that鈥檚 what I want to see,” he said.

鈥淭his year is a really good year for queer film actually, which is surprising. I鈥檓 quite lucky because there鈥榮 an embarrassment of riches to choose from.鈥�

Looking ahead, he said he would like to include more retrospective screenings at the next聽festival, and believes there will be plenty of great Australian films on offer.

鈥淚 absolutely love Australian film, and it鈥檚 always great when you have new content to screen,鈥� Economopoulos said.

MQFF聽co-convenor Fiona Kelly believes Economopoulos鈥� new appointment will ensure the future success of the festival.

鈥淪piro has a passion for queer film and extensive knowledge,鈥� she says. 鈥淗is appointment will be key in ensuring the continuation of MQFF as a leading cultural institution in Melbourne,” she said.

Economopoulos will work alongside聽Dillan Golightly,

鈥淲ith the two new roles, there鈥檚 an opportunity for both of us to jump into it and leave our own mark on the festival,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e both excited to bring new ideas into the program and add to what鈥檚 already been developed by Lisa.鈥�

Submissions for the 26^th will open in August.聽The festival will run from March 31 to April 11, 2016.

The 17c起草社区 is a proud media partner of Melbourne Queer Film Festival