From the 1st to the 11th of May, the Geelong region was lucky enough to host the Geelong Pride Film Festival (GPFF) in its fabulous 8th season.
This year’s program offered a diverse mix of local and international films, narratives that were bold, tender, funny, and unapologetically queer. Across packed screenings there was plenty of laughter, a few tearful surprises, and a lot of heart where GPFF proved once again why it’s not just a film festival, but a vital cultural moment for the community.
Here are some thoughts from a handful of their screenings.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
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Rainbow Shorts
After a joyous season opener at the Geelong Arts Centre, where the festival drew its biggest crowd to date, the stage was set for a dynamic and wonderful program. Rainbow Shorts featured ten light-hearted and emotionally rich stories and while I appreciated the diversity and creativity throughout, three films especially stood out.
While We Still Have Time follows filmmaker Ava Grimshaw and her sperm-donor father, John, who is battling cancer. The film captures the nuanced experience of “rainbow babies” while honouring the queer generations that paved the way. It’s intimate, moving, and grounded in legacy.
Clover was a joy to watch, not just for its charming animation but for the fact it radiated local pride and artistic promise as it was created by extraordinary young talent from the Geelong region, guided by the brilliant Laura Alice.
Finally, Drag Fox, a UK production, tells a magical story of self-discovery and authenticity. Sir Ian McKellen voices a fabulous fox who helps young Sam embrace his gender identity through song, dresses, feather boas, and splits. Such a youthful, affirming, and wonderfully whimsical end to the night.
Crossing
Crossing tells the inspiring story of Lia, a retired History teacher from Georgia, who learns her long-lost transgender niece, Tekla, has crossed the border into Turkey. Determined to find her and fulfil her late sisters’ dying wish of bringing her home, Lia sets off for Istanbul with the young spirited neighbour Achi, and what unfolds is more than a physical journey, but a profound emotional one.
Lia is emblematic of a whole generation of Eastern European women, a tough and refined exterior forged by decades of hardship, masking a deep reservoir of love and vulnerability. As the story develops, we see that this isn’t just a search for Tekla, but also a quiet unravelling of Lia’s own tightly held beliefs and emotions. There’s so much tenderness in how it presents people who’ve been given very little, politically, socially and emotionally, following how a group of brave individuals still manage to make something beautiful and fabulous out of life.
Baby
Baby has just been released from a youth detention centre, but in his newfound freedom walking the vibrant streets of São Paulo he is already lost. It is here that he meets Ronaldo, an older gentleman who takes baby under his wing and guides him through the dance of power, loss and freedom. Director Marcelo Caetano captures the gritty nuances of queer subcultures with humour and family at its heart, which made for an inspiring film on self-discovery and survival. The final scene, a deeply intimate moment between Baby and Ronaldo, where they engage in an intergenerational dance blending boxing with vogueing is poetic and is unforgettable. It’s both a metaphor and a memory: a tracing back to our scars, our strength, and the people who help shape who we become.
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Lesbian Shorts
With a reputation for being one of the most anticipated sessions of the festival, usually selling out weeks in advance, I had high expectations for these Lesbian Shorts and girl did they not disappoint. My Friday night was met with a lineup of vibrant, moving and at times hilarious collection of seven films, each offering a unique perspective of lesbian identity, culture, and love. What stood out for me was the sheer variety of storytelling, from inspiring biographies like The Untitled Story of a Dreamer, to a young lesbian being haunted by author Dorothy Ainsworth in Dead Lesbians. This wasn’t just a screening, but a beautiful, shared experience with a room full of queer people and allies laughing, gasping, and feeling together. It reminded us why these spaces matter, why representation matters, and why lesbian stories are not a niche, they’re essential.
Lesvia
Welcome to the island of Lesvos, the magical birthplace of the ancient Greek poet Sappho where since the 1970s, lesbians from around the globe have congregated at this sacred and special place to share their love marked in salt, water and memory. This sun-soaked and blissfully nostalgic documentary by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou had a blend of joyous archival material, paired with personal narrative and interviews make the film enticing and deeply personal. The 40+ years of chronicled stories pulled the audience in for a layered portrait of community and conflict and what it means to feel accepted.
Though the presence of lesbians on the island has ebbed and flowed over the decades, one truth remains, as Sappho said: “Beauty endures only for as long as it can be seen; goodness, beautiful today, will remain so tomorrow.”
Energy Australia Ad
Okay, not technically a film, but I must shout out the brilliant team at Energy Australia. Their fun, creative, and delightfully campy ad played before every GPFF session, and honestly? I looked forward to it every time. After all, what’s a film festival without electricity?
Don’t miss out on the bright future of Geelong Pride Film Festival, stay up to date here.
