The Mardi Gras Film Festival is an Australian
LGBTQ+
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is ...
film festival held in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
annually as part of the
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebrations. It is organised by Queer Screen Limited, a non-profit organization, and is one of the world's largest platforms for
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
cinema.
History
Australia had the world's first gay film festival, entitled ''A Festival of Gay Films'' at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op in June 1976, part of a larger commemoration of the
Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
of 1969.
Inaugurated in 1978 as the ''Gay and Lesbian film festival'' by the
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...
, the film festival joined the Mardi Gras in 1986 to present an annual ''Sydney Gay Film Week'' in conjunction with the parade. Queer Screen took control of the festival in 1993. In addition to the ''Mardi Gras Film Festival'', Queer Screen organises the ''Queer Screen Film Fest'', ''My Queer Career'' and ''queerDOC'' as part of its aim to celebrate and promote Australian and international queer screen culture in all its diversity and richness.
It 2021 it moved to hybrid online and in person festival, to adapt to a Covid landscape.
See also
*
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
References
External links
Queer Screen's official website
Film festivals in Sydney
LGBT culture in Sydney
LGBT film festivals in Australia
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