Queer Roundup at GAZE International Film Festival

by Seán McGovern.

Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to Dublin, Ireland to be on a jury of my queers at the 26th GAZE: International LGBT Film Festival. While it was fun to be back in MY HOME COUNTRY, it was even better to see such a diverse and compelling programme. After the jump a special spotlight on LGBT docs and the short film winners (and one spectacular narrative feature) which will be hopefully making it to a film festival near you soon. Don't forget to support queer cinema AND your local dive bar...

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Cannes begins. Is this the most stylish jury ever?

This blog post's title is rhetorical. We all know it is.

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Beauty Break: Cannes 2018 Jury

by Nathaniel R

"Avengers Cannes Jury Assemble!" Australia's champion actress Cate Blanchett, as you know, is presiding (and only the 9th actress to have the honor) but who will be joining her on the Croisette? The beautiful people are after the jump...

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Cate Blanchett only the 9th Actress to Preside over Cannes!

by Nathaniel R

Pedro Almodóvar was always going to be a tough act to follow. So surprise, Cannes went with an actress instead of a director to head its 71st annual event (May 8th through 19th, 2018). We're sure Pedro would approve, being the big Actressexual that he is. Actresses are more common than actors for this honor but the bulk of the Main Competition jury presidents are famous auteurs. Cate the Great will only be the 9th actress to preside (for the tenth such occurence). She's also only the second Australian after director George Miller reigned in 2016.

The only actresses to have previously presided over the main Cannes jury

• Olivia de Havilland (UK) in 1965
• Sophia Loren (Italy) in 1966
• Michele Morgan (France) in 1971
• Ingrid Bergman (Sweden) in 1973
• Jeanne Moreau (France) in 1975 and 1995
• Isabelle Adjani (France) in 1997
• Liv Ullman (Norway) in 2001
• Isabelle Huppert (France) in 2009

This is a smart move on Cannes part given the criticism they often receive about their exclusionary nature. Now if they could only address that problem within their actual lineup. Other A list festivals have definitely made greater strides about including female directors in their competitive lineups. At Cannes they're still often relegated to "Un Certain Regard" or whatnot.

The Bening hits Venice. Telluride and TIFF queue up.

by Nathaniel R

Consider prestige season officially on. The Venice Film Festival is currently in its first full day of screenings after last night's glitzy opening and Telluride just announced its lineup (which they always keep secret until after everyone has booked their passes). You can safely expect that many of the Oscar players will emerge in the next two weeks though with Spielberg's film not ready for the festivals and with Dunkirk already in theaters this could be the first year in ages where the eventual Best Picture winner does NOT emerge at the fall festivals...

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