The 13ᵗʰ edition of Queer Screen’s Mardi Gras Film Festival is upon us, and featured in this year’s lineup is an AFTRS capstone feature film project, and four AFTRS alumni works, set to screen in cinemas and stream on-demand nationally. Showcasing LGBTIQ+ storytelling from across the globe, the 2021 edition will screen 94 feature, documentary, short and episodic films, with 70% of that available on-demand.
Set for its world premiere is feature film The Greenhouse , the project of 2017 Master of Screen Arts graduate, Thomas Wilson-White. With the help of a $10,000 grant from Queer Screen in association with the Mardi Gras Film Festival, Wilson-White worked on the project with regular collaborator, producer Lizzie Cater, as well as AFTRS classmates, composer Freya Berkhout (Graduate Diploma in Screen Music, 2013), cinematographer Daniel Bolt (Graduate Certificate in Cinematography Fundamentals, 2011), editor Kelly Cameron (Master of Screen Arts, 2017; Graduate Diploma in Editing, 2012), and post-production assistant Joyce Escuardro (Graduate Certificate Screen: Editing, 2017). The Greenhouse will make its debut on 18 February and will be accompanied by a Q&A with the filmmakers.
Selected to screen in competition as part of Mardi Gras’ annual emerging filmmaker program, My Queer Career are alumni films director/producer/screenwriter Lillian Patterson’s (Foundation Diploma, 2011) Call History, produced by Rachel Argall (Graduate Certificate in Screenwriting Fundamentals, 2012) and edited by Amalia Walker (Foundation Diploma, 2011); Abby Pobjoy’s Why Did She Have To Tell The World? executive produced by Sue Maslin (Master of Screen Arts and Business, 2013); Jessica Smith’s The Test composed by Thomas Rouch (Graduate Certificate: Screen Music, 2009) and Olivia Aleksoski’s Her Own Music lensed by Carina Burke (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017). The films are in contention for the prestigious $14,000 prize, which was claimed last year by alumnus Simon Croker (Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production, 2018), for his Iris Prize-nominated AFTRS capstone project, All Good Things.
The 2021 edition of Mardi Gras Film Festival will run from 18 February to 4 March and features three world premieres, 60 Australian premieres and 15 Sydney premieres from 30 different countries. See the full program and get tickets here.
The Greenhouse
Writer/director: Thomas Wilson-White (Master of Screen Arts, 2017; Graduate Diploma in Directing, 2014)
Producer: Lizzie Cater
Associate producer/production manager: Jemma Douglas
Executive producers: David Gilbery, Spencer McLaren, Marlon Vogelgesang
Composer: Freya Berkhout (Graduate Diploma in Screen Music, 2013)
Cinematographer: Daniel Bolt (Graduate Certificate in Cinematography Fundamentals, 2011)
Editor: Christine Cheung
Additional editing: Kelly Cameron (Master of Screen Arts, 2017; Graduate Diploma in Editing, 2012)
Production design: Isabella Andronos
Costume design: Ellen Stanistreet
Hair stylist/makeup designer: Ali Robertson
First assistant director David Burrowes, Ryan Osmond
ADR Recordist: Ryan Granger, David McCarthy
Dialogue editor/re-recording mixer/sound designer: Ben Vlad
sound recordist: Michal Zoltkowski
Stunt coordinator: Igor Breakenback
Post-producer: Emily Tathem
Colorist: Justin Ngy Tran
Post-production assistant: Joyce Escuadro (Graduate Certificate Screen: Editing, 2017)
Why Did She Have To Tell The World?
Dir. Abby Pobjoy
EP: Sue Maslin (Master of Screen Arts and Business, 2013)
The Test
Director: Jessica Smith
Composer: Thomas Rouch (Graduate Certificate: Screen Music, 2009)
Call History
Director/producer/screenwriter: Lillian Patterson (Foundation Diploma, 2011)
Producer: Rachel Argall (Graduate Certificate in Screenwriting Fundamentals, 2012)
Editor: Amalia Walker (Foundation Diploma, 2011)
Her Own Music
Director: Olivia Aleksoski
Cinematographer: Carina Burke (Graduate Certificate Screen: Cinematography, 2017)
