#queer sff film

[fiercynn]

queer short film: "gay werewolves in space"

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i'm featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not

united states | 40 seconds | 2021 | animated narrative short no dialogue

gay werewolves in space, a micro-short created by cora mckenna, with backgrounds by jana ribkina, does exactly what it says on the tin, and it is too cute not to include! It was created for studio meala’s series of meala minis. - deepa's other space-themed queer film recs, including content notes at the end

check out more of creator cora mckenna's work!

[lesbianboyfriend]

can i ask for lesbian book recommendations 🥹🕺

yeassss ofc my love <3

erm and obligatory disclaimer for any who might read that i don’t think “queer” or “lesbian” is a necessarily coherent category of books or adequate descriptor for a novel which is why i’ve also provided the actual genres here (sorted into which ever one i felt best fit) and descriptions. and these books have much more going on than just being about lesbians. however all books are undeniably awesomer with lesbians so yayyyyy

FANTASY:

-the salt grows heavy by cassandra khaw: fantasy horror; murderous mermaid and plague doctor come across a cult of children (could be read as not lesbians bc one character is nonbinary but i choose to read as. lesbians)

-the empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo: political fantasy; monk unravels the tale of exiled empress’ rise to power

-when the the tigers came down the mountain by nghi vo: political fantasy; monk unwinds the tale of a tiger and her scholar lover to prevent other tigers from eating them (stand alone sequel to empress of salt and fortune)

-ship of smoke and steel by django wexler: ya fantasy; girl has to steal a ghost ship to save her sister’s life

-the mermaid, the witch, and the sea by maggie tokuda-hall: ya fantasy; pirate falls in love with one of the ship’s hostages, a girl being sent to an arranged marriage against her will

-tremontaine created by ellen kushner: political fantasy; there’s a lot going on in this one okay just trust me that it’s really good esp if you love political intrigue (this was released serially and is easiest to acquire an electronic version)

-the deep by rivers solomon: fantasy/spec fic; African slave women thrown overboard gave birth to mermaid-esque descendants. one holds these traumatic memories for her whole people and must grapple with that pressure

-wild beauty by anna-marie mclemore: ya magical realism/fantasy; a family of women who can create flowers and whose lovers always tragically vanish fight to keep their land and to unravel the mystery of a strange boy who appeared

-siren queen by nghi vo: historical magical realism/fantasy; girl’s rise to stardom amidst the monsters of hollywood back in the days of the studio system

-gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir: sff; um. how to explain briefly. gideon wants nothing more than to leave the ninth house, but her nemesis harrowhark needs her sword skills to pass the emperors trial and become immortal. sure. (caleb i know you’ve read this just adding for any other viewers yayyy)

HORROR:

-white is for witching by helen oyeyemi: horror fantasy/magical realism; a house with women in its walls calls to miranda silver while the people she leaves behind struggle to make sense of what happened to her

-plain bad heroines by emily a. danforth: historical horror; when filming a movie about the macabre history of a boarding school, its past starts to become the reality for the stars and author of the novel it’s based on

LITFIC:

-girl woman other: contemporary litfic; the intersecting stories of Black british women told in verse

-nightwood: classic literary; i feel like i can’t describe this one well but nora and jenny are obsessed with robin, whose penchant for wandering and inability to commit drives them crazy. toxic dyke drama at its best

-the thirty names of night: lit fic; transmasc syrian american unravels the history of artist laila z who encountered the same rare bird his mother saw right before her death and realizes their pasts are intertwined

-under the udala trees: historical lit fic; coming of age set against the backdrop of civil war in Nigeria, two girls from different ethnic communities fall in love

-everyone in this room will someday be dead: contemporary lit fic; that moment when your ocd lands you a job at the catholic church even though you’re an atheist and also your relationship is falling apart

-stone butch blues: historical lit fic; butch lesbian realizing and grappling with her identity throughout the 40s-70s

-the color purple: classic lit fic; story of two sisters separated in their youth—one is forced into an abusive marriage and falls in love with her husbands mistress, wondering what became of her sister

-oranges are not the only fruit: semi-autobiography with slight fantasy elements; exploring growing up lesbian in a deeply religious pentecostal sect

SCI-FI:

-the weight of the stars: ya sf romance; aspiring astronaut is forced into friendship with a girl who waits on the roof every night for radio signals from her mother in space

-the seep: sci-fi/spec fic; what if aliens invaded and formed a hive mind of everyone and also your girlfriend turned into a baby again. wouldn’t that be fucked up

-the stars are legion: political science fiction; an awakes with no memory amid a group of people calling themself her family who claim she is the only one who can save their world

-not your sidekick: ya sci-fi; superheroes are real and they fucking suck

SHORT STORIES:

-sarahland: contemporary/spec fic short story collection; various stories about people named sarah

[livvywritesworld]

livvywritesworld

livvy, 20, they/she, writer

weird girl literary fiction, literary horror, literary sff, & speculative fiction

subgenres: folk horror & light sci-fi

religious imagery, eldritch horror, mean weird lesbians, complex mother/daughter relationships, body horror, character studies, explorations of the body (chronic illness & queerness), and being ukrainian diaspora in the united states

longform wips, short fiction, & poetry

this page supports palestine and believes in a free, autonomous palestine

horror/film/hist/anth catch-all account: @deciduousangel please feel free to follow

ᯓ★ i’ve been writing and revising a literary horror book called the lambs, screaming for a couple years now. there’s a lot of religious imagery, body horror, vague supernatural/eldritch fuckery, and a complex homoerotic friendship between two despicable, grieving girls casey and bethan.

ᯓ★ i have been intermittently writing and planning out two full-length novels based on unpublished short stories of mine. the first is a modular novel following multiple people’s lives as they are impacted by an alien invasion except the aliens aren’t here to invade, they’re here to learn. the second is another literary speculative fiction following two main characters: a young neanderthal woman that has been jurassic park’d by a lab in northern california (this is a real thing scientists are trying to do btw), and one of the female anthropologists that contributed to this experiment. i refer to this project as unironically planet of the apes for phoebe bridgers enjoyers.

ᯓ★ i am a history and anthropology student with a minor in creative writing, and i am almost always at the mercy of a research paper deadline or two. my interests are medical history in ciudad de mexico, indigenous andean gender systems, historical epidemiology, and paleopathology (my one true love). i firmly believe in decolonizing anthropology and making academic anthropological writing more accessible.

ᯓ★ besides writing, i love horror, david cronenberg movies, joni mitchell, the x files, the locked tomb, baldur’s gate 3, any media with substantial body horror, playing video games, and reading when i get the chance. my favorite movies include: the fly, longlegs, humanist vampire seeking consenso ring suicidal person, sucker punch, little miss sunshine, dinner in america, and a girl walks home alone at night. my favorite book of all time is patrícia melo’s the simple art of killing a woman. i am also a massive fan of julia armfield, carmen maria machado, and steven graham jones.

ᯓ★ i am a published writer with multiple poems and some short stories floating around the online space, look out for any link postings of recently published work. i am also a staff writer for a very cool zine, and am an experienced and established writer.

ᯓ★ the standard dni applies. dni if you are under 17.

ᯓ★ i stand firmly with palestine 🇵🇸

links to my wips will go here:

[ryttu3k]

Trans Rights Readathon

The Trans Rights Readathon starts tomorrow! From the 22nd to the 29th of March, the aim is to read and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, gender-nonconforming, and 2Spirit authors and characters. You can find more information on it here!

I'll be donating AU$20 for every book I read to the Gender Centre. Want to help out? Use the comments of this post to pledge a per-book or lump sum - I'll contact you once the Readathon is over.

Here is my book list, including books I already own, books on my TBR I may be picking up, and a list of recommendations of books I've already read. You can find the books I've read for the Readathon under the cut!

Trans Rights Readathon 2024 Book List

RB Lemberg - The Unbalancing. Fantasy, 244 pages, 9/10. A beautiful queernormative fantasy with a bittersweet ending. 22nd March.

Nevo Zisin - The Pronoun Lowdown. Nonfiction, 96 pages, 9/10. A bright, informative primer on all things gender. 22nd March.

Ryka Aoki - Light From Uncommon Stars. SFF, 372 pages, 9.5/10. A love letter to music, food, found families, and outsmarting Hell. 23rd March.

Anthology - Kindred: 12 Queer LoveOzYA Stories. Collection, 320 pages, 7/10. A mixed bag of stories, with not all having trans characters. 24th March.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, with Daniel Sousa - Kapaemahu. Children's history/nonfiction, 40 pages, book 8/10, film 9/10. A beautiful and lyrical retelling of a story traditionally told orally. Check the short film here! 25th March.

Akwaeke Emezi - Content Warning: Everything. Poetry, 47 pages, 8.5/10. I'm not good with poetry (this is going in the Out Of Your Comfort Zone category) but this feels lovely and lyrical and dark and affecting. 25th March.

Rivers Solomon - The Deep. Fantasy, 166 pages, 9/10. Dark but with a beautiful sense of hope at the end, and also I want to go sit in the ocean right now. 26th March.

Gabe Cole Novoa - The Wicked Bargain. YA fantasy, 361 pages, 8.5/10. An adventurous historical fantasy with fab characters (there's a book focused on Dami and I Need it). 27th March.

Callum Angus - A Natural History of Transition. Collection, 200 pages, 8/10. Delightfully weird collection of short stories involving transition in unexpected ways. 28th March.

[just0nemorepage]

Shout-Out Saturday is a weekly feature on my blog to promote one randomly picked lesser-known book blog in order to help it receive a little more attention. Please consider checking them out, following them, or maybe even sending a message! Every URL featured here will be added for good in the top half of my fellow bookish blogs page. If you are interested in being featured, please fill out this form.

This week’s bookish blog: @lilareviewsbooks

Name: Lila.

Age: 20.

Lives in: Brazil / USA.

Favorite books: Nevermoor ; A Song of Ice and Fire ; The Scholomance Trilogy ; The Monk & Robot Duology ; The Poppy War.

Unique blog features: Book Reviews ; Reading Wrap Ups ; Themed Lists.

Also found on: Goodreads.

“Hey guys! My name is Lila, I’m a Brazilian film student living in the US! Over here, I mostly review SFF books - especially the queer ones! : )”

[pedropascal24-7]

Sunday, June 18!

[canmom]

Feel free to ignore considering it’s a very messy topic. Why do you think SFF communities (especially book communities) attracts so many bad faith actors?

my apologies anon, I took a minute to answer this one.

I think the most parsimonious answer is that they don't, especially, it's just that bad faith actors are basically everywhere. like, is it really true that there are more bad faith actors in SFF than in say, music? film? 'literary' fiction, or other genres like crime or erotica? i think if I was as immersed in any of those worlds as I am in SFF, I'd know about just as many stories of petty cruelty, exploitation, bizarre dramas...

still, some speculations about factors playing into it, that aren't necessarily specific to sci-fi.

the thing about SFF is that it's a subculture, and one that's pretty niche. not quite as niche as like, BASE jumping or something lol - most bookshops around here will have an SFF shelf, and obviously SFF films and games are almost as mainstream as entertainment gets - but for dedicated sci-fi fans it's seen as a sort of refuge of 'people like them' (generally some variety of autistic nerd archetype), and there is a lot of anxiety that comes with maintaining that.

this sort of attitude is commonly associated with the old guard of reactionary fandom - the infamous Puppies - but I think by now we've seen that the current overtly queer/progressive/whatever you wanna call it generation is just as capable of lashing out at perceived intruders. (for an obvious example, this kind of sentiment was a major factor in the Isabel Fall incident.)

besides that, what are people fighting for anyway? what are the 'stakes' of scifi/fantasy fandom? intuitively, they're tiny. but...

within any niche subculture, it is possible to achieve a certain degree of fame and influence. if you can play the rhetorical game, you can establish yourself as a microcelebrity/tastemaker, promote your friends and make a show of casting out the enemies, and set up the rules of the discourse... in your small bubble. until sooner or later the wind changes and you get knocked off the pedestal, anyway. so part of it is just people wanting to rule an insular little fiefdom.

but then there's also like... 'being an author'. SFF lit is not especially popular these days. you can't really make a living from short stories anymore (too few magazines that pay, too hard to get in, too little reward). however, if you get very, very lucky, make the right connections (probably at Clarion), you might just be able to get some novels published, and maaaybe they will find an audience and earn out their advances... and if everything goes perfectly, you might just manage to make a reasonable middle class sort of income.

and that's not nothing! especially if other forms of work are inaccessible. i have a friend whose circumstances were changed very dramatically when they got a big advance on their novel. but ultimately I don't think it's about that, nobody would sensibly try to become an author for the money, it's an obviously terrible gamble.

however, within the subculture, being a published author is a still big deal. it's a sense that you've 'made it', people will look up to you, or resent you if they don't feel you deserve it. there is a strong divide between 'authors' and 'fans' that structures interactions between the two. I don't get the impression that this is actually very fun for the authors, but it's easy to see that from outside and think "I wish I was worthy of that kind of respect too".

much the same applies in other fields - for example animation. maybe it pays shit and demand insane hours with zero job security... but for the fans, you come to have immense admiration for the 'real animators' and want to feel you could be their equal one day. and people are willing to sacrifice a lot for the sake of that idea of accomplishment, even if it's still very unlikely.

so with all that in mind... science fiction authors are usually science fiction fans. there's not really any other reason you'd write it lmao. so could speculate that for the ones who have 'made it', the situation is still precarious, or seems like it. there's little guarantee you'll get published again if a book doesn't sell. and you depend on a good reputation to stay in the game. so you have a bit of power (enough to go to your head) and fear of losing that power and sense of accomplishment... that's probably sufficient to motivate a whole lot of horrendous behaviour that would seem incomprehensible from outside.

none of this is really specific to science fiction/fantasy. but then I don't think SFF is really all that unique.

[franklymyqueeridontgiveadamn]

sapphic fantasy with a badass lead recommendation please

Queer SFF in general is a huge thus-far-largely-missed opportunity for the film industry—the people want it, and there is very little of it. The only rec I have that really fits this particular prompt is The Carmilla Movie (2017), a vampire movie with sapphic romance and a strong Buffy-style found family element (content notes for typical vampire bloodiness/spookiness and brief animal harm). It's based on a web series I haven't seen, so if you like it there's more to check out.

There's also Nimona (2023), which is a fantastic movie and fits the badass/fantasy part of the request; I'm not sure I'd label it sapphic exactly, but I think people looking for sapphic fantasy will likely find it worthwhile.

And there's My Animal (2023), a very dark gritty Canadian movie about a lesbian werewolf hockey goalie falling for a figure skater (I didn't take down detailed content notes, but it's not for the squeamish). I did end up liking this movie, but I'd say it's more artsy allegory than fantasy.

If anyone knows of any badass sapphic fantasy movies I've missed, please let me know!

[sweetthingshavesharpteeth]

@threefolddefencespeech's worldcon report inspired me to write up what I've been reading recently, so here's the books I've read in roughly the last year (at least, what i recall). Let's start with the Hugo-nominated ones:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty

The blurb hooked me on this, and I wasn't disappointed. To be clear, it's not going to give great insights into the human condition or anything - it's a getting-the-gang-back-together heist movie, fun but not terribly deep. I do think "bad-ass older woman" is an underutilised protagonist archetype, though.

Witch King, by Martha Wells

This was not my favourite book by Wells - I enjoyed it enough, and the world and magic was interesting, but I think @threefolddefencespeech was right that the book sacrifices too much in character development to achieve its parallel-past-and-present narrative structure.

The Greenhollow Duology, by Emily Tesh

I actually read Silver in the Wood years ago on ao3, and when I saw that there was a sequel, I had to read it (after re-reading Silver in the Wood, of course). It has some great, and distinctive, characters, and some deliciously otherworldly vibes. I will have to read Tesh's Hugos-nominated novel (Some Desperate Glory) now.

Notorious Sorcerer and Shadow Baron, by Davinia Evans

Notorious Sorcerer is possibly my favourite book from the last year. It uses the trope of "outsider achieves what the indoctrinated don't even think is possible", but - in contrast to a lot of other examples of this trope - the protagonist doesn't magically stumble on the exact right thing to do the first time. He really doesn't know what he's doing, and uses a lot of trial-and-error. Evans sacrifices some smoothness of plot to demonstrate this, but I think it's worthwhile. It's also a book about corrupt power structures, but doesn't try to suggest that changing those structures is simple, or without consequences.

Shadow Baron is clearly the second book in a trilogy, and - as is typical with such books - doesn't really feel like it has a coherent plot of its own. I still enjoyed reading it, and I'm looking forward to the final book in the trilogy coming out.

The Archive Undying, by Emma Mieko Candon

This is exactly the sort of thing I love from SFF - it throws you in the deep end of a complex, alien world (for all it's ostensibly Earth), and you just have to trust that the author will make things clear in time. Stylistically, it felt a lot like the Machineries of Empire series by Yoon Ha Lee, one of my all-time favourite book series. I would highly recommend to anyone who liked that series.

Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to reading this classic short story collection (that includes the story the film Arrival is based on). In some ways, I think short stories are the ideal format for sci-fi - they can explore an idea without being overly weighed down by the need to have an engaging plot. Chiang does a good job of wielding short stories in this way, and explores some interesting concepts.

The Adam Binder Novels, by David R Slayton

There are surprisingly few novels with queer male protagonists that are written by queer men. I actually bought these books for a pound each, expecting to get holiday-worthy trashy reading, and was pleasantly surprised. They're well-written, with some interesting worldbuilding, and were definitely worth the price!

Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien

I re-watched the films last Autumn, and followed up by re-reading the books. I enjoy seeing how adaptations change a story, and thinking about why those changes were made. Also, every time I read LotR I'm more aware of the white supremacy woven into the heart of the worldbuilding.

Bunt!, by Ngozi Ukazu and Mad Rupert

Ngozi has a fantastic grasp of visual humour, and thematic parallels, and knowing when to be silly and when to be serious. It's something I loved about Check, Please!, and it's on display here as well.

Into the Tower, by Hari Conner

Claiming I've "read" this is a bit of a push - it's a choose-your-own adventure book, and I've played a handful of different paths, but there are still many more to explore. I love the world Conner has built - the weird, metaphysical world of the tower is perfectly suited to this style of piecemeal exploration, where a linear narrative couldn't hope to encompass the breadth of strange goings-on.

The Simon Snow trilogy (Carry On, etc), by Rainbow Rowell

This was sold to me as "a massive fuck-you to JK". This was inaccurate. It clearly started as Drarry fanfiction - the characters that were formerly Draco, Harry, Hermione, Hagrid and Dumbledore are plain to see - but it doesn't really engage with the themes or flaws of that book series in any meaningful way, rather using it as set dressing. Instead, it attempts to take on the broader genre of Chosen One stories - digging into themes of manipulation, being used as a tool, whether a Chosen One is actually doing Good, and what happens after their part is fulfilled.

I think it does a reasonable job of this - better than several others I've read, at least - although I didn't enjoy it enough to want to re-read it, or to make a particular recommendation of it.

Books I failed to get into

Raising Steam, by Terry Pratchett

Lesser Known Monsters, by Rory Michaelson

[dreamingmappist]

Media Challenges

Saw a post on how reading should be quality over quantity.

On the one hand I totally agree. On the other hand, I can’t read anything I don’t want to read unless I’m grinding and I get into ruts, so I try to trick myself by setting arbitrary goals and challenges. It’s what works for my weird brain. At least some of the time.

I usually aim for 100 books a year. This year I also aimed for 20,000 pages on Storygraph, and I had a Reading Bingo I devised for myself.

I am in fact always reading but this way I make sure a) I’m not just rereading faves, b) I’m not just reading fanfic or web novels, and c) I’m trying a variety of genres and authors.

So how am I doing so far? I am actually well beyond the goal on paper but a lot of the stuff I read (danmei) I decided not to record on Storygraph or Goodreads, just in my notebook so I still have one to read to make my goal in Storygraph. The pages are done. The Reading Bingo I relaxed some categories so I only miss one but the category is Tagalog and I’m giving up on that. It’s hard and I hate that it’s hard. (Or maybe I’ll read one of my Tagalog comic books and mark that off…)

The Reading Bingo was enough of a success that I made up a new one for next year AND made a smaller movie bingo as well (3 by 3 rows) coz I find it difficult to sit through them.

Book categories include literary classic, children’s classic and sci fi classic, friend’s rec, 2023 release, cottage core, cozy fantasy and solarpunk/cli-fi, among others.

Movie categories are campy horror, mystery, classic, queer romance, SFF, foreign language, animated, short film and documentary.

It’s just a way to make it more fun. I can get a bit competitive with the books but 100 is sort of a natural number for me. If something happens and I am far behind I would adjust my goal accordingly.

I just have to say that it’s really difficult to devise rewards for myself since I indulge myself anyway. So for next year I have to restrain myself to just buying 10 books for the whole year and then any bingo line I finish I can add another book to that number. I’m not sure I won’t just lose my head and splurge but we will see.

There’s no reward for the movie bingo except being able to hit the categories I set for myself.

Aside from these I also aim to watch at least one movie in theatres and one live performance—usually a play—per year. I actually watched 2 of both this year. Dungeons & Dragons and Spiderverse 2, and for the plays The Addams Family Musical and a raunchy comedy called The Birds and the Bees.

[nancydrewwouldnever]

Anyone on my blog also in Sydney and into Pedro? You have a chance to see Strange Way of Life at the upcoming Sydney Film Festival on June 18th!

Tickets are still available, but "selling fast" according to the website.

[fiercynn]

queer short film: "auroras"

queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i'm featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not

united states | 6 minutes | 2017 | narrative short no dialogue but text in english and japanese; english closed captions available, as well as subtitles in german, portuguese, and spanish

auroras, created by niles heckman, is a short but powerful film in which an engineer known as the occupant (jess dela merced) is forced to leave her loved one (also played by jess dela merced) for a mission at a space gate that will take her away for years. despite logistical limitations, the film has frankly impressive special effects. “[auroras] was literally shot with a 3-person crew in my living room on a tiny green screen stage using hacked gh2 & canon 5d cameras,” said creator niles heckman in an interview with directors' notes. there was also an original version of the film that had a voiceover by samatha cutaran, but that appears to have been deleted, with only the instrumental version left online. - deepa's full review, including content notes at the end

for more sci-fi short films (queer and otherwise), check out other films hosted by dust!

[lilareviewsbooks]

✧*̥˚ About Me *̥˚✧

Hey guys! My name is Lila, I'm a Brazilian film student living in the US! Over here, I mostly review SFF books - especially the queer ones! : )

My tags:

#lila's wheel of time adventure ⤳ tracking my first read through of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan!

#lila's reading wrap ups ⤳ tracking my reviews of all the books I read in a certain month!

#lila's standalone review ⤳ tracking my reviews of specific books!

#lila's themed lists ⤳ tracking lists of books I make along a certain theme!

I hope you'll stick around!

Thank you for your visit!!

[diebullydie]

City Hub: Die Bully Die – Interview With Directors Nick and Nathan Lacey

By Mark Morellini / June 5, 2024

What happens when a man who was bullied at high school for being queer bumps into the bully 17 years later – the same bully who ironically has come out as queer himself? This 16-minute horror/comedy LGBT short film is captivating viewing and redefines the word karma in the deliciously evil twist in the finale.

Die Bully Die was written by Matthew Backer and Drew Weston, inspired by Matthew’s real-life experiences while at high school at his all-boys, Catholic High school in Brisbane. Matthew and Drew also play the two pivotal characters who find themselves in this rather complicated situation.

Astutely directed by Nick and Nathan Lacey, this short film will be having its world premiere at the 71st Sydney Film Festival and is in competition in the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films category.

“This film is an exploration of trauma and overcoming our past experiences, difficulties and how those things can come back to haunt us, but it’s also a film about letting go and embracing forgiveness in a kind of twisted way!” explained Nick Lacey. “Whilst this film is specific to homophobia and to people who have experienced prejudice, we also think it’s universal to everyone who has experienced moments of trauma and bullying.”

Underlying the comedic and horror aspects of the film, Nathan said there are powerful universal messages that resonate. “A message of forgiveness, letting go of the past and also coming to terms with who you are, but even though the messages are serious, the film doesn’t take itself too seriously – there are moments of light with dark.”

Die Bully Die for comedy/horror aficionados, LGBT community

Nick explained that this film was made with the intention of embracing not only an LGBT audience, but also for lovers of comedy and horror to share the enjoyment in a darkened cinema.

Funding for films is universally a long-drawn-out procedure but thanks to the Australian Cultural Fund production to completion was possible as Nick explained, “Without them and the support of the donors, films like this wouldn’t happen. We were blown away by the support and we hope that everyone who donated their money and their time, really sees that paid off on screen.”

When asked which feelings were triggered when they discovered their short film would not only be screening at the SFF but would also be in competition for a major award, Nathan was quick to respond.

“It was an honour for us, and we’ve just been over the moon with it,” he says. “Getting your film into these festivals helps get your film an audience and get eyes on the film and that’s exactly why you make the film in the first place – you want people to experience it and meet the people who are watching it.”

And what’s the future for Die Bully Die? “There will be a 12-month festival run at the very least and we’re still waiting to hear from a majority of upcoming film festivals,” concluded Nathan.

Screens on June 15th at the Sydney Film Festival. 

[ryttu3k]

...so clearly I have a thing for nonbinary SFF, haha.

Overall, didn't go too bad! Read nine things, although three of them were under 100 pages; with my pledge for $20 per book, that's $180 for the Gender Centre! And what the hell, I'll just round it up to $200 anyway. Technically, I could still get some more in there, it's only Friday afternoon, although I'm quite tired so I may just leave it at that.

Favourite book of the bunch: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Just a beautiful, uplifting story. Really, I enjoyed pretty much all the reads, although some of the individual stories in Kindred were a bit of a slog. Such is the risk of an anthology, I guess! I also thoroughly enjoyed The Unbalancing by RB Lemberg (although I already know and enjoy their work), The Deep by Rivers Solomon, and my main nonfiction read, The Pronoun Lowdown by Nevo Zisin.

Hope everyone participating read some great books!

The final book list:

RB Lemberg - The Unbalancing

Nevo Zisin - The Pronoun Lowdown

Ryka Aoki - Light From Uncommon Stars

Anthology - Kindred: 12 Queer LoveOzYA Stories

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, with Daniel Sousa - Kapaemahu. Check the short film here!

Akwaeke Emezi - Content Warning: Everything

Rivers Solomon - The Deep

Gabe Cole Novoa - The Wicked Bargain

Callum Angus - A Natural History of Transition

[monstrousproductions]

Looking at the notes it looks like we might have quite similar tastes! I don't really watch TV or films if I can help it so I've got nothing on that front but for books:

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin; set in a world with one continent, where earthquakes are a fact of life. Society is split into different castes and communities, and the "untouchable" class equivalent are people with the ability to magically control earthquakes. Some CWs apply - it's a heavy, brutal series - so hmu if you need any more info before diving in. But it's absolutely wonderful, and the audiobooks are amazing, read by Robin Miles. I also recommend The City We Became (lighter SF about the city of New York developing avatars of each of its boroughs to fight an external threat) and How Long Til Black Future Month (collection of SFF short stories) by her.

Flux by Jinwoo Chong - another great audiobook, read by David Lee Huynh. A young man obsessed with an outdated TV detective takes on a job at a strange organisation where he doesn't really know what he's doing or why. Really beautiful writing and a fascinating exploration of identity and technology.

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb - I obsessed about this so much when I first read it, I don't think I'll ever stop recommending it. Riffing on Jewish folklore, it tells the story of an angel and a demon travelling from the Pale of Settlement to America in c.1911 to follow after the young people of their shtetl. Wicked funny, queer and joyful, and Donald Corren's performance in the audiobook is perfectly dry and sharp.

The Heavens by Sandra Newman - a woman in an ideal future timeline dreams about being another woman in Elizabethan/Jacobean England. She realises that the events in her dreams are affecting her waking reality, changing time and bringing that timeline closer and closer to our own. Made me cry (complimentary)

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - rec depends on how up to it you're feeling re. pandemic fiction. Written before COVID but weirdly prescient, it follows a travelling group of actors in a world decimated by a virulent coronavirus outbreak, hopping back and forth in time to bring different characters from past and present and tie them all together.

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie - a fantasy retelling of Hamlet, clearly inspired by the use of second-person in the Fifth Season. A world where gods are a fact of life, and where gods speak reality into being. One of Leckie's stronger efforts since Ancillary Justice (first of the Imperial Radch series which I loooove), I remember gasping out loud at a particular reveal at the end. Protag is a trans man which is fun, and the audiobook is read by Adjoa Andoh who can do no wrong.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant (I think just called The Traitor in the UK edition) by Seth Dickinson - about a woman in a "fantasy" world (I don't think there's any actual magic??) whose culture is dominated by an expansionist empire and who vows to take the empire down from within. Totally gripping, can't wait to read the rest in the series.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke - I saw you'd read Piranesi, and idk if you've read this one yet but I loved it. Set in an alternate Regency England where magic has long been part of British culture, but has all but faded by the time the novel starts. It's a pure brick of a book with nested footnotes and stories within stories, so not for the faint-hearted, but the world is rich and realised and it's brilliantly funny in places. Audiobook is wonderful!

Looking for media recs. Any format. Any genre that isn't romance or erotica.