Melbourne Queer Film Festival | Dead Lesbians

Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Australia’s oldest and largest showcase of LGBTQIA+ cinema, has returned for its 33rd lap around the sun, and this year’s run is proving to be its biggest celebration yet. Screening over 140 features, shorts and documentaries, as well as many programs, discussions and events across our wonderful city, MQFF is a celebration of our queer community and the beauty, diversity and honesty in its storytelling, while also fighting for advocacy and visibility.

There is a plethora to choose from at MQFF, and while the festival has the world’s best queer filmmakers in the spotlight, it also invites new and emerging talent to bring their short stories to life. Milk Bar was lucky enough to pre-screen short film Dead Lesbians, which is screening in the L-Word Shorts program over two big nights.

Set in modern day Melbourne, Isabelle (Yassica Switakowski) is a queer woman reluctantly preparing for a first date. Her belief that lesbians never get their happy ending – in fiction or IRL – conjures up Dorothy (Jennifer Vuletic), a Virginia Woolf-esque, chain-smoking, transatlantic author of 1950’s lesbian pulp novels, and Dorothy ain’t here for her wisecracks or spectacular outfit, she’s here to mentor, a service she would never have been privileged with in her time.

Producer-Screenwriter Jaq Avery has penned a compelling, often hilarious, intergenerational story that holds a mirror between two women that represent two vastly different times in queer history. While Dorothy’s oppression is familiar and highlights how far we have progressed, it does not invalidate Isabelle’s struggles as a queer woman in the 21st century. Dead Lesbians successfully puts a spotlight on how we are still baby-stepping forward and still have such a long way to go. Director Eva Justine Torkkola beautifully brings Avery’s story in life, birthing a moving chemistry between Switakowski and an outstanding Vuletic. Shamita Siva is also a shining light as Isabelle’s date, Katherine. Babi Bertoli’s cinematography is worth mentioning also, with some remarkable juxtaposition of lighting and colour all within the same frame.

Dead Lesbians was a treat to watch, and a delicious appetiser to see what else MQFF has to offer. It will be screening on November 12th and November 18th, along with some of the best new local and international shorts in queer cinema. Tickets are now on sale so book below and don’t miss it.

Melbourne Queer Film Festival runs from November 9th-19th.

Dead Lesbians / L-Word Shorts Screenings
Village Jam Factory on Sunday November 12th
Kino Cinemas on Saturday November 18th

View full festival program here for MQFF screening locations, tickets and event information.