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NewFest · 2024

NewFest 2024

Documentary Features

Programme

12 films · 8 reviews

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Alok

Review preview for Alok

Hedison’s lens cannot show us everything. The film requires viewers to be as open as possible, to really listen and reflect.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A documentary portrait of Alok Vaid-Menon, the internationally acclaimed non-binary author, poet, comedian and public speaker.

(Country: South Africa, US; Year: 2024; Director: Alex Hedisen; Stars: Alok Vaid-Menon, Dylan Mulvaney, Chani Nicholas)

Full review

Dalton's Dream

Review preview for Dalton's Dream

It’s tribute to the collaborative feel of this film that the documentary continually takes its lead from what Harris is saying rather than pushing him this way and that.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The story of Dalton Harris' rise to X Factor fame and what happened next.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Kim Longinotto, Franky Murray Brown; Stars: Dalton Harris)

Full review

Dressed In Blue

Lunch with six trans women in post-Franco Spain, as they tell their life stories and discuss the practical details of social transition.

(Country: Spain; Director: Antonio Giménez Rico; Writer: Antonio Giménez Rico; Stars: Lorenzo Arana Orellano, Rene Amor Fernandez, Jose Antonio Sanchez Sanchez, Francisco Perez de los Cobos Avila, Juan Muñoz Santiago, Jose Ruiz Orejon Casado)

Fanatical: The Catfishing Of Tegan And Sara

Review preview for Fanatical: The Catfishing Of Tegan And Sara

This is a powerful example of the phenomenon because it has affected so many different individuals, lending itself to a deeper analysis than is often possible.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The story of how indie rock star Tegan's identity was stolen and weaponised in a complex catfishing scheme.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Erin Lee Carr; Stars: Tegan Quin, Sara Quin, Erin Lee Carr, Jenny Eliscu)

Full review

A House Is Not A Disco

Review preview for A House Is Not A Disco

There is a sense of living in the moment but for the future, a deep connection with nature and a willingness to face whatever happens together.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
What if you really did put all the gays on an island? In this vibrant portrait of queer paradise Fire Island Pines, past and present blur as the iconic beach town bands together to celebrate its legacy and redefine itself for a new, inclusive era.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Brian J Smith; Stars: Doug Harris, Scott Bromley, Marc Christensen, Crayton Robey)

Full review See: Interview with Brian J Smith about A House Is Not A Disco

I'm Not Everything I Want To Be

Spanning from the Prague Spring of 1968 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this documentary reveals what it meant to be a queer artist during a tumultuous time in European history, based on the archival work and diaries of Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková.

(Country: Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia; Year: 2024; Director: Klára Tasovská; Writer: Klára Tasovská, Alexander Kashcheev; Stars: Libuše Jarcovjáková)

Lady Like

London-born San Francisco-based drag queen Lady Camden is catapulted into the spotlight when she becomes a contestant on season 14 of RuPaul's Drag Race. As she struggles to manage the demands of her newfound fame, she must come to terms with a traumatic childhood

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Luke Willis; Writer: Luke Willis; Stars: Lady Camden, Nina West, Tye Olson, Shiloh Brody-Clarke, Adriana Roy, Rosie Petals)

Lesvia

Review preview for Lesvia

An assured feature debut that’s confident enough to explore the sometimes complex dynamics at work while celebrating the community at its heart.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The history of the lesbian community that sprang up on Lesbos in the 1970s.

(Country: Greece; Year: 2023; Director: Tzeli Hadjidimitriou)

Full review

Life Is Not A Competition, But I'm Winning

Review preview for Life Is Not A Competition, But I'm Winning

Takes a team approach to the material, using a group of documentary participants as a collective.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Consideration of the historic bias against female Black and queer athletes.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Julia Fuhr Mann; Writer: Julia Fuhr Mann)

Full review See: Julia Fuhr Mann on scrutinising sporting bias in Life Is Not A Competition, But I'm Winning

Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

Review preview for Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

If you don’t have a clear sense of who she is when you go in, you may come out feeling none the wiser.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A documentary about Liza Minelli and the key individuals who influenced her career.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Bruce David Klein; Writer: Bruce David Klein; Stars: Judy Garland, Mia Farrow, Liza Minnelli, Joel Grey, Bob Fosse, Lorna Luft, Ben Vereen, Gwen Verdon, Vincente Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Kay Thompson, Peter Allen, John Kander, Michael Feinstein, Fred Ebb)

Full review

Meanwhile

Review preview for Meanwhile

Gund’s poetic approach enables this documentary to go where others could not, to capture the existential effects on people of colour of day to day life in a white supremacist culture.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A poetic, non-linear journey that explores the impact of white supremacy on connection, relationships, and life.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Catherine Gund)

Full review

This Is Ballroom (Salão De Baile)

On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the city’s top ballroom houses convene in a sweaty, euphonic competition, in this portrait of contemporary queer Brazil.

(Country: Brazil; Year: 2024; Director: Juru, Vitã)