Beverley Ditsie at Queer Lisboa.

Beverley Ditsie talks about the rules of gender, sexual politics in South Africa and why always being yourself is the best form of activism there is.

“Gender roles are very strictly enforced in South Africa. Even though we’re all urbanised and we’re born in cities we all identify with whatever tradition or culture we come from, to a large degree. Even if you don’t you’ll be forced to acknowledge it by those around you.”

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Released July 21, 2014
With Shatter Me, Lindsey Stirling has upped her game and transports her music past the dinner party and straight into the club.

“Everything seems to have been upped a notch, and while the videos for her first album and EPs were engaging and sweet, the video for ‘Beyond The Veil’ is a full on MTV baiting, thunder-and-lightning dramatic piece of film.”

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70 min • Brixton Academy • September 19, 2014

Azealia Banks kicks up a storm at Brixton Academy, and the promise of her upcoming album Broke With Expensive Taste is even sweeter for it.

“The music mostly moves at a ferocious speed, all being mixed by an onstage DJ, with her dancers voguing and waacking their way through her set, feeling more like a long club PA than a rock concert – which to me is a good thing. “

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630 pages • Queer Lisboa • September 13, 2014
A brilliantly informative compendium of catalogue essays, interviews, plot summaries and images, as well as new material from Queer Lisboa.

“Queer Lisboa is not only a lens, it is a prism that allows for a detailed examination and enquiry into the nature of queer cinema, its influences and experiments and the conversations and controversies it sparks.”

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Cert: 15 • US: 1637 min • Paramount Home Entertainment • July 29, 2014

Twin Peaks – The Entire Mystery is a comprehensive and fitting collection that will mostly delight the fans of the maverick and groundbreaking television series.

“The sound and picture quality have been further upgraded and each frame now looks truly beautiful – crisp but dreamy, as they were meant to be.”

Queer Lisboa Turns 18.

Michael Langan talks to João Ferreira, Queer Lisboa’s Festival Director, about the film festival Queer Lisboa on the advent of its 18th birthday.

“The John Waters retrospective has been a long time in the planning, but we really wanted it for our 18th birthday. Our slogan this year is taken from Waters: 18 years of Filth.”

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75 min • Summerhall • August 1-2, 2014

Sister is a brutally honest, confrontational and intelligent piece that challenges us to think about how women are perceived by society.

“Amy and Rosana share with each other, and with the audience, some very personal stories of growing up in a world in which children are exposed to sex from an early age and yet sex and sexuality are still often seen as shameful or taboo – particularly where women are concerned.”

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Released August 15, 2014
Stokeley’s Father EP features lush soundscapes studded with youthful melancholy. Rarely does ambient music portray the isolation and loneliness of young men.

“Rather than being the spearhead of change, this EP is the silent scream in your head that soundtracks your day to day life… especially as a gay man who doesn’t want to conform.”

Hook up … or not!

Dame Effie Sprinkle casts an eye over Grindr, the hook-up of app that makes it possible to put cruising at the centre of your life, whenever and wherever.

“While I suspect Grindr has caused gay men to have a lot more sex than ever before in history, for every successful hook-up, there will have been at least 10 failed ones.”

September 17, 2014

In which the cartoonist looks away from the Scottish referendum and toward an Edinburgh minimart. Polari Safari by David Shenton.