The Kenyan film RAFIKI closes the 23rd annual TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival on October 21, 2018

Summer must be over-ish (we’re sitting here sweating like pigs in this delicious balmy weather) because Three Dollar Bill Cinema has started making announcements for its upcoming TWIST: SEATTLE QUEER FILM FESTIVAL happening October 11 through the 21st. It’s the 23rd installment of $3 Bill’s annual LGBTQ fall film festival and once again, they’ve programmed a delicious array of films for the LGBTQ community.

Today, festival passes go on sale as well as announcing the 4 Gala films to be screened; the opening and closing night galas and the 2 Centerpiece events. Individual tickets for the galas are also on sale and will include access to the after party events for each event.

Heading up the fest for the Opening Night Gala on Thursday, October 11th, will be the Oscar Wilde biopic THE HAPPY PRINCE directed and starring out gay actor Rupert Everett who portrays the brilliant Victorian playwright and novelist who was forced into exile after being convicted of “gross indecencies” (being gay). The film examines Wilde’s life living in Europe and trying to maintain relationships with his wife, child and former gay lovers.

There are two centerpiece galas, one featuring a documentary film, and the other a fiction/narrative film. The documentary gala for 2018 will be TRANSMILITARY on Sunday, October 14th that not surprisingly explores the Trump Administration’s efforts to remove transgender military personnel from serving.

The documentary TRANSMILITARY screens Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at the Egyptian Theater on Capitol Hill-Seattle

On Wednesday, October 17th, the narrative centerpiece focuses on the true story of Australia’s fight for LGBTQ rights. RIOT is a narrative film based on the efforts for LGBTQ equality in its largest city, Sydney in the 1970s and the creation of Sydney Mardi Gras, one of the largest and most popular LGBTQ Pride events in the world.

Finally, on Sunday, October 21, the festival wraps with RAFIKI, a Kenyan film banned in its own country about a pair of star crossed female lovers who are prevented from being together by community objections to queer love.

Early bird individual tickets for the Opening and Closing films are available NOW…the two Centerpiece films are NOT available for single ticket sales.  However, early bird Party Passes are on sale which gets you into ALL the gala films/parties. Also available, early bird Full Series Passes which will get you into the enter festival. Go HERE to snag those tickets and passes before the pricing goes up on September 20th!

It’s not explicitly stated in the below press release but ALL individual tickets will also go on sale on Thursday, September 20th!

More info below:

SEATTLE, Wash. (September 4, 2018) – Three Dollar Bill Cinema has announced the four gala screenings for the 23rd TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival taking place October 11-21. The largest festival of its kind in the Pacific Northwest will also start selling early-bird discounted tickets and passes Wednesday, September 5.

For the first time in more than 15 years, all four festival gala screenings will take place on Capitol Hill. Opening Night, Closing Night and both Centerpiece screenings will be at the Egyptian Theatre. “We are very excited to return to Capitol Hill for Opening Night and to experience these premier screenings and parties in Seattle’s historically queer neighborhood,” said Ben McCarthy, Three Dollar Bill Cinema’s new executive director. “I have been a fan of Three Dollar Bill Cinema and avid TWIST attendee since I moved to Seattle, and I look forward to meeting the many supporters of this fabulous organization at this year’s festival.”

This year’s gala screenings are THE HAPPY PRINCE, written, directed and starring Rupert Everett; RAFIKI, a Kenyan film banned in its home country; TRANSMILITARY, the 2018 SXSW audience award winner for best documentary; and RIOT, an Australian film from multi award-winning director Jeffrey Walker.

“I am eager to share this lineup of diverse, powerful gala films with our audience,” said Kathleen Mullen, TWIST Festival Director. “There is so much talent represented in these films both in front of and behind the camera.” Mullen was previously Twist Festival Director in 2015 and 2016.

Early-bird discounted tickets and passes go on sale Wednesday, September 5. Full Festival Passes, Ultimate Party Passes and Opening Night and Closing Night tickets will all be discounted through September 19th. Early-bird pass prices range from $72.00 to $195.00, Gala ticket prices range from $15.00 to $28.00. Prices will increase on September 20.

 

Rupert Everett directs and stars in THE HAPPY PRINCE as Oscar WIlde, the opening gala film for the 23rd annual TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival on October 11, 2018

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Opening Night: THE HAPPY PRINCE

Rupert Everett; UK/USA; 2018; 105 min.

 “To deny one’s own experiences is to put a lie into the lips of one’s own life,” wrote Oscar Wilde from his prison cell, after being convicted of sodomy and “gross indecency” and falling from grace in London’s haughty literary circles.

THE HAPPY PRINCE focuses on the last years of the life of the infamous poet, author, and playwright (Dorian Grey, The Importance of Being Earnest). Now suffering from the effects of two years of hard labor, poverty stricken, and alienated from his wife Constance (Emma Watson) and children, Wilde (Rupert Everett, who also directed) finds his way back to his playboy love Lord Alfred Douglas, better known as Bosie (Colin Morgan); his devoted former lover Robbie (Edwin Thomas); and loyal friend Reggie (Colin Firth). Traveling from Dieppe to Naples to Paris, Wilde survives thanks to his wit and a bohemian, streetwise underground he entertains with panache. Still getting into trouble in his final days, Wilde is depicted with the affection and dark tragedy fitting of the gay king of nineteenth-century English literature.

THE HAPPY PRINCE, a labor of love for openly gay actor and first-time director Rupert Everett (MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING, AN IDEAL HUSBAND), took over ten years to come to fruition. Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival to much acclaim, Everett’s directorial debut is both a humorous and moving biopic of Wilde’s genius and eccentric later life, during which he lived and loved unabashedly.

Closing Night: RAFIKI

Wanuri Kahui; Kenya; 2018; 82 min.

On a sunny afternoon in Nairobi, Kena is hanging out with her friends in a local café when she spots Ziki—and is instantly smitten with her vibrant, free-spirited energy. Turns out, though, that Ziki’s father is running against her own father in a local political campaign. Despite their families’ rivalry, the two young women start to meet up and get closer. Keeping their attraction secret, they spend time discussing their dreams and ambitions, soon finding intimacy in a little camper away from prying eyes in the gossipy neighborhood.
As their relationship develops, family pressure and danger lurk for the two lovers. In a place that does not want to admit that queerness exists and love is love, Kena and Ziki are destined to be wives and mothers. Both must choose how to survive in this coming-of-age story where the stakes are high.

This remarkable achievement by director Wanuri Kahiu—the first LGBTQ Kenyan film to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival (in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section)—received a 10-minute standing ovation but has been banned in Kenya for its “clear intent to promote lesbianism.”

Closing The Seattle Queer Film Festival with a moving, sexy, and unapologetically queer film about fighting for love is a reminder that our work continues. Through Kena and Ziki’s strength, we find the hope we need so much today.

Centerpiece: TRANSMILITARY

Fiona Dawson & Gabriel Silverman; 2018; USA; 93 min.

“I served in the Middle East. I served in Korea. And yet, none of it was as harrowing, as perilous, as wearying, as the fight every day to push down and keep inside the person that I knew that I was. The person that I knew in my heart of hearts that I was and that I knew I needed to become.”

With these simple words, Allyson Robinson poignantly and eloquently puts a human face on the issue of transgender Americans serving in the armed forces. By coming out publicly as transgender, Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace, and First Lieutenant El Cook put their careers on the line to fight for their right to serve in the United States military, the nation’s largest employer of transgender people. While the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in the military was lifted in 2016, given the current administration’s stance, the futures of these warriors (as well as an estimated 15,500 others) remain uncertain. This timely, powerful documentary debut won the Audience Award at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and opened Frameline42: The San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival.

RIOT, an Australian LGBTQ film explores the birth of Australian LGBTQ Pride

Centerpiece: RIOT

Jeffrey Walker; 2018; Australia; 105 min.

The streetlights hum. Music wafts around those gathered like a gentle, rolling breeze. The sound of marching footsteps grows into a thunderous staccato. The faces of men, of women, of everyone in between and beyond, are expectant, poised for the important fight ahead. A bigoted police officer tells Lance Gowland (Damon Herriman), activist and lead organizer of the assembled group of protesters, that this night will end in suffering. Gowland snaps back: “You’ll get shamed out of beating us long before we stop being able to take it.” And so it begins.

Jeffrey Walker’s RIOT shines a light on Australia’s gay rights movement in the 1970s, chronicling the creation of Sydney’s LGBT Mardi Gras—but more importantly, illustrating why it was needed and vividly bringing to life those passionate individuals who were unwavering in their fight for recognition and equality. The powerful camerawork and expert sound design puts you right there on Oxford Street, where, amidst the brutality of the police, brave people of all genders marched, people like Gowland, Marg McCann (Kate Box), Peter de Waal (Luke Mullins), and Robin Plaister (Jessica De Gouw). RIOT is the story of the birth of a revolution, and a celebration of a victory not yet won but—much like justice—inevitable.

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About Twist: Seattle Queer Film Festival

Beginning as the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival in October 1996, TWIST has grown into the largest event of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, gaining industry and audience recognition for showcasing the latest and greatest in queer film, from major motion picture premieres to emerging talent. An important venue in the Seattle film scene, the festival provides unique opportunities for visiting and local filmmakers to engage and entertain the greater Seattle region’s LGBTQ and allied community. For more information, visit threedollarbillcinema.org/twist.

About Three Dollar Bill Cinema

Three Dollar Bill Cinema is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides access to films by, for, and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and a forum for LGBTQ filmmakers to share and discuss their work with audiences. Annual programs include TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival, Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Three Dollar Bill Outdoor Cinema and Reel Queer Youth. For more information, visit threedollarbillcinema.org.

Tags: African LGBTQ Film, Rafiki (film), Riot (film), The Happy Prince (film) Oscar Wilde, Three Dollar Bill Cinema, Transmilitary (film), TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival