August cinematic rundown: the month of queer and feminist films

While early summer was all about big blockbuster movies hoping – often vainly – to earn back their $100 million-plus budgets, late July and August are all about small, independent films, women-focused documentaries and queer cinema. There are lots of gorgeous offerings, making this the perfect month to camp out at a cinema.

Ireland’s largest LGTBTQ+ film festival GAZE proved to be one of the summer's highlights. Some features of note included the Opening Night film, the high-octane lesbian cheerleader drama Backspot, starring Evan Rachel Wood. The film is directed by DW Waterson and executive-produced by Elliot Page, who also stars in Closing Gala film Close To You, an emotive drama in which Page plays a trans man in a feature film for the first time.

Canadian musician Merril Nisker, best known for her song ‘Fuck The Pain Away’, was in attendance for the screening of Teaches Of Peaches, a blistering documentary about her journey to becoming a queer cultural powerhouse.

Elsewhere, Layla is a British romance film about a non-binary, British-Palestinian drag queen living in London, received great  reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. After seeing in at GAZE, it's clear what all the fuss was about.

The historical and cultural importance of Lesvos, the Greek Island known as the birthplace of Sappho, was explored in Tzeli Hatjidimintriou’s beautiful documentary Lesvia, about Eressos, Lesbos. It was a lost paradise for gay women who flocked there from the ‘70s to the ‘90s, to create a place of natural, co-habiting hedonism – all while fighting homophobia from locals and the creeping influence of commodification and gentrification.

Irish filmmakers will also showcased their their work via a beautifully curated selection of New Irish Shorts. Andrew Haigh, director of the Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal-starring All Of Us Strangers, attend a screening of the hit film and shared some wisdom by in-depth conversation with Russell Tovey.

Apart from GAZE, this summer’s cinema releases also feature some wonderfully queer offerings, including I Saw The TV Glow, Jane Schoenbrun’s stunning, dreamlike, Lynchian suburban horror that might just be a quiet masterpiece. Neon-lit, with fantastical imagery and a hair-splintering sound design, I Saw The TV Glow focuses on two misfit teenagers, who become obsessed with a kids’ horror show that’s somewhere between Buffy and Goosebumps.

The show has a villain called Mr. Melancholy, who may have already got his hands on Owen, a Black teen in the suburbs who begins to question his identity. With big stylistic swings and a powerful blend of conscious and unconscious worlds, this is going to become not just a queer cult classic, but one of the films of the year.

Some gorgeous independent Irish films are also showing this month, including Cara Holmes’ stylish and playful documentary about multi-disciplinary artist Orla Barry, who spends her time both creating mixed media art and tending to her sheep farm. Notes On Sheepland is both witty and thought-provoking, as Barry’s interactions with the sheep lead her to reflect on art and loneliness, but also bigger issue such as global warming, capitalism and the future of Irish farming. Shot beautifully, with a striking soundscape, it’s a revelation.

On August 23, Aoife Kelleher releases her documentary Mrs. Robinson, where former Irish President and UN High Commissioner Mary Robinson recounts her life and career, which has always been marked by a commitment to justice and equality. The film explores both her presidency and her current work as chair of The Elders – the independent group of global leaders, founded by Nelson Mandela, who work for peace, justice and human rights – and Project Dandelion, a women-led climate justice campaign.

Following July’s anniversary screenings of Kathryn Ferguson’s Sinead O’Connor documentary Nothing Compares, Mrs. Robinson will be a welcome addition to the growing body of cinema exploring the influential Irish women who pushed this nation towards progress.