GAZE International LGBTQIA film festival to return for its 32nd edition this August

GAZE International Film Festival today have announced their  line-up of queer film screenings for 2024 including an Opening Gala screening of Backspot which was produced by Elliot Page.

This year’s festival runs for five days over the August Bank Holiday from August 1-5 at the Irish Film Institute and Light House Cinema, Dublin, whilst continuing their digital festival offering ‘GAZE Online’ for the whole of Ireland to also take part.

With 100 films from across the world, GAZE 2024 will screen 25 international feature films, ten eclectic shorts programmes, seven world premieres, a dozen European premieres and over 50 Irish premieres across the five-day festival.

Opening GAZE 2024 is director D.W. Waterson’s high-octane lesbian cheerleading drama, Backspot, which has been dubbed as the biggest queer cheerleader adventure since But I'm a Cheerleader?.

D.W. will join the festival in person to introduce the film and will host a DJ set following the screening.

To bookend the festival, the Closing Gala feature sees Elliot Page starring in Close To You; a drama in which Page portrays a trans man in a feature role for the first time.

Also at the festival, Berlinale award-winning documentary Teaches Of Peaches, which follows the iconic queer musician twenty five years into her astonishing career.

Contemporary gay screen icon Felix Maritaud (120 BPM, Knife & Heart, Sauvage) stars in the thrilling new drag dramedy, Solo.

The groundbreaking feature film Photo Booth makes an artistic plea for Palestine solidarity with a blend of satire, activist documentary and fantasy.

Elsewhere, the shorts programme variously centres queer black artistry in Axé, as well as Irish language queer short film Homofonía by Alana Daly Mulligan.

Greg Thorpe, Festival Director, GAZE International LGBTIA Film Festival commented on this year's line up saying: "With almost 100 films in the programme, I'm hopeful there's something for all cinemagoers at GAZE 2024, from both inside and outside the LGBTQIA community.

"I'm proud that our programme can support high-profile makers like Andrew Haigh, incredible emerging talents like D.W. Waterson, and the next generation of filmmakers via our vibrant shorts programme. Thanks to all our supporters, old and new, I can't wait for us all to be together again in the cinema."

This year, will run a professional development programme: starGAZE which will support six emerging LGBTQIA filmmakers, giving them access to the festival and providing them with a year-long mentorship programme.

starGAZE is supported by The National Talent Academy Film & TV Drama, is an initiative of Screen Ireland and is managed by Ardán. Screen Ireland is also a new sponsor for the festival this year.