GAZE Film Festival 2016: Interview with Festival Director Noel Sutton

This August bank holiday weekend will see the start of GAZE 2016, the 24th year of Dublin International LGBT Film Festival.

The long-running festival is central to Irish LGBT history as every year its line-up invites audiences to reflect and examine queer culture past and present. As a platform for both Irish and international LGBT cinema, GAZE delivers a diverse selection of new and older forward-thinking LGBT themed or made films that are intended to entertain and challenge its viewers.

Held in the Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema, GAZE 2016 features anticipated highlights including; Strike A Pose (a documentary on the seven dancers who featured in Madonna’s 1991 tour documentary Truth Or Dare), Viva (the Irish-produced story of drag performance in Cuba) and The Ghost of Roger Casement (a documentary exploring the legacy and personal life of the leading figure in the 1916 Rising). Dublin’s Film Qlub will host a special screening of Michael Curtiz’s 1950 classic Young Man With A Horn starring Lauren Bacall and Kirk Douglas. Andrew Darley spoke with festival director, Noel Sutton, about the significance of the festival in Irish culture and the role of cinema within queer culture.  

You’ve been leading GAZE since 2011, when deciding on the selection for the festival, what are the key things you have in mind?

The key thing is that we can only program from the content that is available. We want to bring the best of international LGBT cinema to Dublin and highlight Irish LGBT film too. We’ve travelled to other film festivals in Berlin, London and Cardiff to spread our wings in finding the best that there is.

What trends have you noticed in recent queer cinema and how much are they reflected in the festival?

Last year, one of the major trends was sport. When you talk about LGBT people, sometimes sport is not necessarily the top thing you think of but you just have to look at what’s happening here in Ireland – we have a gay rugby teams, soccer teams, hockey teams, basketball teams and so many others. We have gay representation everywhere. There’s now a fair representation of LGBT culture being presented in film now by both LGBT filmmakers and mainstream cinema. In a nice and sympathetic way, mainstream cinema and general releases are now dealing with LGBT lives. This was at the forefront of the festival when it started 24 years ago. Back then, there wasn’t a representation of queer culture on screen. Now it’s starting to trickle through but there’s still a need for GAZE in its shared collective experience. It’s about a group of people coming together to laugh, to cry, be entertained and be challenged. It’s also a platform for people to discuss and debate where we’re going in terms of queer culture.

Do you see GAZE as an opportunity to push people’s boundaries and perceptions of queer culture then?

I think firstly it’s an opportunity to push our own boundaries. We’re in a nice place here in Ireland following the marriage referendum, as well as the gender recognition bill. Yet, we still have young LGBT people committing suicide and there is still a lot of stigma and bullying. We’ve got to challenge that. Bringing our brothers, sisters, neighbours or colleagues, we’re sharing our stories and there’s lots of entertainment too. You don’t have to be queer to watch a queer film. Our audience is growing and developing, they want to see good cinema.

How important is it for you to show films that are experimental either aesthetically or in their narrative? 

We’ve now got LGBT horror and vampire films which we didn’t have before. It’s really important to challenge even in terms of how film is being made. A young person with a mobile phone can film a short movie, edit it and produce it and we’ve screened films like that. There has to be a space for exciting, new cultures to develop. GAZE wants to allow people to share their story through a range of different mediums.

In terms of experimental filmmaking, what are the most radical films in this year’s lineup?

One of our features this year is ‘GAZE On The Fringe’. All around Europe there’s a pretty radical film movement and a feminist movement happening again, which is great to see. We’ve invited some of these film festivals to show their work and have a conversation with our audience about where we’re at and what we’re doing.

It’s great to see you hold a focus on Irish filmmakers too.

We pride ourselves in trying to bring the best of Irish film. A few years ago it may have been difficult to get a narrative that was Irish-made but we’ve been really lucky recently. The whole crew of Viva were Irish, even though it was made about Venezuelan drag queens. We also have a documentary that tells the story of LGBT people before decriminalisation which is really important piece for future generations.

Is there one film or director that you’re particularly excited about?

Where do I start? The opening night begins with Strike A Pose which is about Madonna’s five dancers, who featured in her Truth Or Dare documentary, and tells their story. We have Kevin Stea coming, who was one of the choreographers, to share his story on the night. Most films throughout will have an introduction by a filmmaker or director.

What sets this year apart?

Every year there’s always something different. This year is more about fun, even though that’s always been a big part in what we do. We have chosen enchanting films that have great stories. We hope people will come and join us over the weekend.

The GAZE film festival runs from July 28th – August 1st at Light House Cinema, Dublin. Tickets for all shows can be bought here.