GAZE, Ireland’s International LGBTQIA Film Festival, has partnered with IFI@Home to showcase some of the 2023 programme’s highlights by making them available to rent online. Film fans can now enjoy this varied celebration of Irish and international LGBTQ+ cinema from the comfort of their homes.
The 2023 festival included everything from comedy to horror and documentary to experimental cinema. If you missed last year’s programme or simply want to revisit this eclectic mix of queer cinema, fear not, as you can catch up now!
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Among the selection is The George by Clark Harding – an homage to Dublin’s legendary LGBTQ+ bar which originally screened at GAZE during The Tenth Dublin Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in 2002. Back then, it was an of-the-moment portrait of The George and the changing queer landscape of Dublin through the eyes of its regulars.
With 2023 being the first time the documentary has been screened since its release, this archival piece is an unmissable opportunity to see the queer life of Dublin 20 years ago.
Featuring appearances from iconic Irish queer figures such as Brendan Courtney, Panti, Veda, and Shirley Temple Bar, this walk down memory lane is a must-see for anyone interested in Dublin’s queer history.
Also available to rent are the ‘Irish Shorts’, nine short films that showcase the talent of emergent Irish LGBTQ+ filmmakers. These stories weave tales of coming-of-age, identity and love.
Filmmakers featured include Zainab Boladale, Jonathan Hughes, Ethan Donoghue and Louise Nesbitt, amongst others. These short yet immense films explore diverse tales, whether it be the birth of an intersex baby in rural Ireland, the experience of a young trans person in Dublin, a first break-up or unrequited love.
From the feature selection, there is a wide variety of stories featuring both the real and the imaginary, including a documentary exploring a vulnerable community of transgender sex workers in Mexico City in the film Kenya, directed by Gisela Delgadillo. On the other end of the spectrum is Finlandia, a fantasy directed by Horacio Alcalá, which tells the story of the muxes, a community of people who live between genders and face threats from capitalism, colonialism and nature itself.
These are just a couple of the feature films available to rent, and in particular, the 2023 programme had a special focus on emerging films from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, as well as trans representation.
As the GAZE team is busy working behind the scenes to bring us the 2024 festival programme in August, this collaboration with IFI@Home means there are lots of incredible queer films to dive into in the meantime. So, if you missed the 2023 programme, you can click here to rent any of these films celebrating LGBTQ+ cinema.
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