Queer Film Festival - Brisbane, Australia
This place was Average visited Apr 4, 2006
I very cleverly organised to go to Sydney during the Brisbane Queer Film Festival. It's a lesson in effective calendar use for me. However, all was not lost, as this year the BQFF is bigger and better than ever, and started on the Tuesday. My flight wasn't until Wednesday, so I was able to go to the opening night! Just as well. I have only missed one year since it started 6 years ago, and that was last year when I was living in Berlin. In fact, the year before that I came home (from Berlin, by coincidence) on the second last day of the festival, and still managed to see 3 films. The opening night film was called "50 ways of saying fabulous", which is a New Zealand film based on the book of the same name by NZ author Graeme Aitken. I had loved the book - we studied it in Quook, the queer book club at UQ, years ago, so was keen to see the film. It was lovely, and will hopefully get a wider release, and when it does I suggest you all go see it. Or catch the second screening at the Powerhouse sometime this weekend (www.brisbanepowerhouse.org for details). After the film there was the required drag show, accompanied by free drinks, nibblies and the most disturbing iceblocks I had ever seen. If anyone ever offers you a paddle pop "bender", say no. Just do. It was nice to be at a queer event in Brisbane again, but it was yet another reminder of how long I have been away (or possibly an indicator how the community has grown in the last few years). I only saw one person I knew! Apart from the people I was with, of course. Oh, and the guy handing out the free beer knew me, though I didn't remember him at all. Apparently he was my dancing partner in HMS Pinafore years ago. That was a rather Brisbane moment.