IT'S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL↪

Monday 7th August
12:00
Light House Cinema

Dir. Alexandria Bombach
USA, 2023
2h 3m

'I was 12 years old the first time Indigo Girls' music saved my life. And if there is one thing I have found out through making this film, I am nowhere near alone in this sentiment. But how can music save a life?'

It's Only Life After All offers an intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. Blending never-before-seen home movies, raw film archive, and intimate present-day verité, It's Only Life After All is a poignant cinematic reflection on and with Amy Ray and Emily Saliers - aka the Indigo Girls - and a timely exploration of their profound impact on a community of listeners over the decades. Forty years of touring and pouring heart and soul into dozens of hit albums is a massive measure of success for any musician. But Amy and Emily have redefined success and stayed true to themselves despite a steep uphill battle against the status quo. The band have dedicated themselves to understanding and supporting grassroots environmental, Indigenous and social justice activism, never shying away from the tough issues. The love that emanates from the Indigo Girls' fan community is profound, to say the least. This film celebrates music, songwriting, survival, activism, community and authenticity. It will touch the heart of every fan and convert many more.

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Pre-Feature Short:

PORTALOO
Dir. Michael David McKernan / Ireland / 2023 / 9m
In the queue for portaloos at a music festival, two young women discover that the electric feelings between them could be more than just friendship.

MASQUERADES OF RESEARCH↪

DUBLIN PREMIERE

Monday 7th August
12:30
Light House Cinema

Dir. Padraig Robinson
Ireland, 2022
1hr 4m

Starring Mark O'Halloran in the central role as the infamous American sociologist, Laud Humphreys, Masquerades of Research is based on real life accounts, interviews and experiences of pre-Stonewall gay life in the United States. Humphreys is the author of a controversial doctoral thesis, Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places, which sheds light as never before on the thrilling hidden world of cottaging. Beginning in St. Louis in 1967, the film provides insight into how the civil and social rights movement created the backdrop for Humphreys' empathetic explorations. Leaping ahead to Los Angeles in 1975, Humphrey is on the cusp of republishing his writing in a radically different post-Stonewall world. The film is a vivid depiction of how social and sexual mores can evolve and devolve around us. With a magnificent script drawing on real testimony and a truly mesmerising lead performance by O'Halloran, this is queer history resurrected from the archives and delivered straight to the heart.

With post screening conversation.

Part of our celebration of the history of gay sexuality, marking thirty years since decriminalisation in Ireland.

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Pre-Feature Short:

TWO STORIES OF DUBLIN, QUEER
Dir. Alan Power / Ireland / 6m
Two individuals share their personal stories about living in Queer Dublin through a series of voice messages and snapshots of 35mm black and white film photography, capturing the essence and experience of the city, its people and their stories.

RED UMBRELLA FILM FESTIVAL↪

SHORTS + IN CONVERSATION

MONDAY 7TH AUGUST
12:40
Light House Cinema
1hr 35m

Red Umbrella Film Festival (RUFF) is organised by current and former sex workers. Our goal is to create community and conversation around the issues we face in Ireland and internationally. Our four-day festival from 19-22 October 2023 will include feature films and shorts, panels, workshops, and the kind of after-party only sex workers can throw. We are delighted to be part of GAZE this year and to have the opportunity to celebrate queer sex workers' lives through film. Where there is sex work, there are queer and trans sex workers. With our programme at GAZE, we hope to share some of the beauty and complexity of these connections. By showing sex worker stories, we aim to challenge stigma and shame, fight for our safety and self-determination, and build towards a decriminalised future.

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BELOW THE SURFACE
Dir. Tomas Ponsteen/ Netherlands / 2022 / 14m
Elkin is a sex worker who has left their family in Colombia to explore their gender identity in Europe, where they live a nomadic life. Below the Surface chronicles both their physical journey and their mental quest to find out who they really are.

HOUSE OF WHORESHIP
Dir. Holly Laura Bates/ Australia / 2022 / 16m
When Violet, a recently heartbroken brothel worker returns to work post break-up only to find her ex-girlfriend hustling the same shift, she must make the choice between avoidance and vulnerability in order to make her month's rent.

ONE LEG IN, ONE LEG OUT
Canada / 2018 / 15m
One Leg In, One Leg Out is an honest look at the complexities of leaving sex work. After a decade on the streets, Iman takes the first steps towards pursuing her dream of becoming a social worker.

FUCK MY LIFE
Dir. Xandra Ibarra / USA/Mexico / 2012 / 4m
Fuck My Life, named after Ibarra's full-length performance work of the same name, follows a sordid and fatigued showgirl as she sluggishly awakes to make up with yet another day.

ROXANNE
Dir. Paul Frankl / UK / 2015 / 14m
Centred around a trans sex worker and a child whose mother has left, Roxanne explores caring relationships that exist outside of what might be expected.

FAMILY MATTERS
Dir. Maximus Skaff / USA / 2022 / 24m
Family Matters is an inside peek into the lives and relationships between sex workers and their family members. The documentary profiles four families who share the struggles that got them where they are today and the unconditional love that allowed them to heal together.

KIRMIZI ŞEMSIYE
Turkey / 2022 / 2m
A beautiful, brave and down to earth Turkish trans worker takes to the screen in this short, created in honour of the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers with Kirimzi Şemsiye.

THE HOLEY GRAIL
Dirs Ethan Folk & Ty Wardwell / Germany / 2022 / 6m
It's trial by goblet for this horny cup-bearer on his first day. Madame is thirsty and he'd better not spill a drop!

WORKSHOP: CURATING SHORT FILM↪

Monday 7th August
14:15
Light House Cinema
1 hr

Are you a short film maker? A budding film programmer? Hoping to get involved with film festivals? A cinema fan? A short film fanatic? This workshop is for you. Programmers from GAZE Film Festival together with our special guest film curator Berwyn Rowlands from the Iris Prize will talk about our professional experiences watching, programming and awarding short films in an LGBTQIA context . We will talk about supporting film makers, some of our favourite works, and how practice can be evolved and improved. The more voices in the room the better! We would love to hear from you about your own experiences of watching, making, submitting and curating short films. Can you contribute to our conversation? Come along! The workshop will be immediately followed by a screening of a special Iris Prize selection, curated by Berwyn for GAZE.

The workshop is free to anyone with a ticket receipt for any one of our shorts blocks at GAZE 2023.

Established in 2007, the Iris Prize is a film and media organisation committed to increasing audiences for LGBTQ+ stories. Hosting an annual festival in Cardiff, it boasts the largest short film prize in the world, a coveted £30,000 award. https://irisprize.org/

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IRIS PRIZE SHORTS↪

SHORT FILM SHOWCASE

MONDAY 7TH AUGUST
15:30
Light House Cinema
1hr 28m

Established in 2007, the Iris Prize is a film and media organisation committed to increasing audiences for LGBTQ+ stories. Hosting an annual festival in Cardiff, it boasts the largest short film prize in the world, a coveted £30,000 award. GAZE is delighted to partner with Iris Prize for a special guest screening, with Berwyn Rowlands programming an exciting array of LGBTQ+ shorts, featuring four award-winning films from around the world. Join us for an unforgettable journey through these powerful and inspiring stories.

Curated by Berwyn Rowlands

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JIM
Dir. Tom Young / UK / 2021 / 15m
Winner: Co-op Audience Award
Inspired by true events, a gay priest decides to spend the night with a prostitute. What happens next will change his life forever, but not for the reasons he expects.

TARNEIT
Dir. John Sheedy / Australia / 2022 / 22m
Winner: Iris Prize 2022
Despite their differences, two boys bond over family issues and a shared disability, with each dreaming of escaping the brutal violence that surrounds them.

I SHALL BE WHITER THAN SNOW
Dir. Frederick Stacey / Wales / 2022 / 17m
Based on a real-life lesbian couple who married in a Cardiff hospital in 2018, this emotional film celebrates love and the importance of compassionate care.

CARDIFF
Dir. Sarah Smith / Wales / 2022 / 25m
Thrust into a forbidden romance by his meddling mother, Frederick experiences a series of unforeseen betrayals that hilariously expose some carefully held secrets.

WHO I AM NOT↪

Monday 7th August
15:30
Irish Film Institute

Dir. Tünde Skovrán
South Africa, 2022
1hr 43m

Intersex representation has reached a new milestone with this enthralling documentary by Tünde Skovrán. Focusing on two individuals with vastly different experiences who both identify as intersex, the film sheds much needed light, righteous anger, and compassionate understanding on the natural, common, yet still hidden and taboo human experience of being an intersex person. Sharon-Rose is a former South African beauty queen who has experienced an intense version of high-femme culture and 'womanly' beauty standards from the inside, before discovering she carries an XY chromosome and begins to confront her self-acceptance. Her decision to come out publicly causes ripples throughout South African society, and the rest of the world. Dimakatso navigates their own journey by facing both the contemporary medical establishment and the older traditions of shamanistic consultation. The intimacy and frankness of their encounters with partner, family, the job market and medicine make for bracing and highly emotive viewing. Ultimately this film offers a model of dignity and pride, and a call for a deeper understanding. The admiration one is left with for Dimakatso and Sharon-Rose is a testament to the power of cinematic story-telling towards a greater acceptance. Perfect festival viewing.

Inspired by this impactful new documentary we have changed the subtitle of GAZE Film Festival to 'LGBTQIA' for the first time.

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Pre-Feature Short:

BOUNDLESS
Dir. David Chai / US / 2023 / 10m
Through a series of animated vignettes ranging from everyday scenes to abstract ideas, a group of trans and nonbinary people define their genders through their surroundings, families, cultures, and imaginations.

MUTT↪

Monday 7th August
17:30
Light House Cinema

Dir. Vuk Lungulov-Klotz
USA, 2023
1hr 27m

Feña is gay, trans, and just about surviving life in New York City when he must suddenly deal with the reappearance of an ex-boyfriend, an ill-timed visit from a well-meaning parent, and the needs of a wayward younger sister - all in one intense day. A masterpiece of pace, emotion and urban story-telling, Mutt is a rare feature that centres a trans man living his life, on and off the rails, flawed but fearless. Leo Mehiel gives the star turn as Feña and holds the tender heart of this film from start to finish. Expect many laughs, sexy thrills, high drama and cringe encounters galore, as director and writer Vuk Lungulov-Klotz shows transition as both subtext and subject in a deftly artistic way that only trans filmmakers excel at. A queer film festival dream.

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Pre-Feature Short:

WHO I AM NOW
Dir. Jack Goessens / UK / 2022 / 12m
Tariq and Denise, two trans refugees, share a moment in the locker room of their queer football club to open up about their complicated relationships with their families.

OF AN AGE↪

CLOSING FILM
Monday 7th August
20:30
Light House Cinema

Dir. Goran Stolevski
Australia, 2022
1hr 40m

Just as soon as the end credits rolled on our first viewing of this heart-breaky feel-good Aussie dramedy, we knew it would have to be the closing film for GAZE 2023. It's the summer of 1999, the Millennium Bug is just around the corner, the future seems weird and uncertain, and two young guys must make an early morning mercy dash to rescue a hungover girl, stranded in a strange place awaiting rescue on the day of her final dance exam. The guys in question are Adam, her sarcastic long-suffering older gay brother, and Kol, her closeted ballroom dance partner from an immigrant Serbian family. The pair of young men are thrown together by this hilarious unexpected crisis but soon find themselves on a drive that radically alters not only their day but their hearts. The laughs are thick 'n' fast and impeccably written in this gorgeous road movie meets rom com meets teen drama, all wrapped up in a beautifully observed nostalgic bundle. At the end of a very long and emotional GAZE bank holiday weekend, buckle up and let your feelings run riot. Thanks for the ride.

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Pre-Feature Short:

EITR
Dir. Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller / Canada / 2022 / 15m
Grinding away at the inherited family business, Mohamed works tirelessly making sales of knock-off perfume, while living as a knock-off version of his true self.