A LANDMARK depiction of the gay community in the 1970s; the life of gay Muslims in Iran; and a new film by actor/director Patrick Wang; will be shown in the Out On Film strand at the Galway Film Fleadh.
The Out On Film strand at the fleadh features new and classic gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender cinema, and is aimed at LGBTQ and heterosexual audiences.
First up is Serbian comedy The Parade (Galway Omniplex, Wednesday July 11, 9.15pm ). Former war hero Limun is hired by Belgrade LGBT activists to protect their pride march in the Serbian capital after threats from neo-Nazi groups, so Limun enlists his old enemies from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s to help out.
Iranian filmmaker Maryan Keshavarz’s new film, Circumstance (Thursday 12, Cinemobile, 10pm ), chronicles the lives of two 16-year-old girls navigating a lesbian relationship in Iran. Keshavarz’s film juxtaposes the girls’ desires with the boundaries of the world they were born into to create a film brimming with an uneasy and uncompromising authenticity.
In The Family (Galway Omniplex, Friday 13, 9pm ), written, directed, and starting Patrick Wang, tells the story of Chip Hines, who has been raised by his two dads, partners Cody and Joey. Cody is killed in a car crash and Joey and Chip struggle to find their footing again. Things are only made worse when Chip is taken away from him.
Nighthawks (Galway Omniplex, Saturday 14, 9.30pm ), written and produced by Paul Hallam and Ron Peck in 1978 was Britain’s first explicitly gay film set in the gay community. Nighthawks portrayed for the first time what it was like to be a young, single, gay man in London.
Comedian Matt Lucas has said of the film: “Nighthawks is subtle and honest and sometimes very funny. There is this abiding presumption that if you are gay and single you have sex on tap. But it’s just not true. You have to battle your own lack of confidence; your own high expectations; the high expectations of those around you. Nighthawks captures all of that, and suggests that the pursuit of sex is almost a byproduct for the real search - that for acceptance and, fundamentally, companionship.”
Tickets are available from the Town Hall on 091 - 569777 and www.tht.ie
