A Queer Review of the Austin Film Festival (2023)
Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.

The film tells the story of two brothers who fall in love with the same woman. Murat, who lost his father at a young age, takes on the entire burden of his family. He takes care of his mother by sending his brother Metin to school. Years later, he starts running a casino and takes over a new one. He turns Emine, who works as a waitress at the casino, into a singer. Over time, he falls in love with Emine. However, Emine falls for Murat's brother Metin, whom she meets on a vacation. Murat will have to choose between his brother and Emine.
Highlighting the many ways in which AFF 2023 illustrated that the queer experience is not a monolithic one.
Endgame not only did not drop the ball, but it delivered for fans so much that it went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time!
'Blonde' commits a relentless assault on the autonomy of Marilyn Monroe, reducing the icon to nothing more than a victim of the director's whims.
In Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It (1986), we follow the love life of powerful female protagonist Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) and explore the relationship dynamics she has with her partners. She sees three men simultaneously: Greer Childs, (John Canada Terrell) Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee), and Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks). Though an 80’s film, She’s Gotta Have It is surprisingly progressive with its themes of female sexuality, although at some points in the film it is handled clumsily. Overall Nola is an incredibly compelling character especially for modern women, as we as a society acknowledge female sensuality more and more without the negative stigma.
The newest in a long line of Cinderella adaptations, Amazon’s Cinderella (2021) prizes girlbossification above the very story it tries to adapt.
Though 'Bound' technically falls under the genres of crime and thriller, the film's heart is a romance between two women.