Consulting giant, Accenture has signed up to sponsoring GAZE, Dublin’s International LGBT Film Festival

GAZE, which turns 24 this year, renewed it’s partnership with Accenture Ireland in a repeat deal for three more years sponsorship.

According to Michelle Cullen, inclusion and diversity lead at Accenture Ireland: “Accenture are proud to be able to continue our commitment to a festival that is a genuine celebration of diversity and creativity. Inclusiveness is at the heart of everything we do at Accenture, both as a business and as an employer. By building a working environment that embraces and celebrates diversity, we aim to give all our people the opportunity to evolve their careers and achieve their ambitions.

“People thrive when they can be their authentic selves at work, and the organisation, and community, are the better for it.”

GAZE is also grant aided by Dublin City Council, The Arts Council, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, and the Communities Foundation for Ireland.

According to Michael Connell, chairperson of GAZE, such investment is “critical to the success of the festival”.

The programme includes Strike a Pose featuring the male dancers from Madonna’s iconic Blond Ambition tour who reunite after 25 years to share stories; Kiki, an unofficial sequel to the influential 1990 film Paris is Burning; and the eagerly awaited Australian production Holding the Man, a film adaptation of the 1995 memoir by Timothy Conigrave, charting a gay love story over three decades.

The acclaimed Irish/Cuban film, Viva, written by Mark O’Halloran and directed by Paddy Breathnach, will also screen at the festival, as well as the world premiere of A Different Country by Edmund Lynch, which charts the Irish gay experience pre-decriminalisation.

GAZE runs from July 28 to August 1 this year at Light House Cinema, Dublin. Booking and full programme here. See trailers for Holding the Man and Viva below.