LIVING ARTS CANBERRA: ALL ABOUT MY SISTERS

Stronger than Fiction Documentary Film Festival
Dendy Canberra
Sunday 16 October 2022 at 3pm
Friday 21 October 2022 at 6pm

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW: https://www.livingartscanberra.com.au/all-about-my-sisters/

Twenty years ago, when film director Wang Qiong’s parents, who were desperate for a boy, learned that they were instead expecting another daughter, they made a series of decisions that have haunted the family ever since.

Stronger Than Fiction’s co-director, Deborah Kingsland, discusses All about my Sisters

In her debut film made over seven years, Qiong digs into her family’s dramas and traumas, exploring the complexity of politics, gender, sex, birth control and social-political power over women’s bodies. The film explores the universal need for love and belonging.

Bookings: https://www.dendy.com.au/movies/stronger-than-fiction-documentary-series-2022-all-about-my-sisters

SOURCE: https://www.livingartscanberra.com.au/all-about-my-sisters/

MEDIA RELEASE：INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL

MEDIA RELEASE

13 September 2022

STRONGER THAN FICTION DOCUMENTARY SERIES 

PRESENTS

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL

Stronger than Fiction Documentary Series presents Instructions for Survival—

A love story about Sasha a trans man and his partner Mari and their dream of a

 more equal existence.

Sasha is a trans man living in Tbilisi, Georgia – a place where many LGBTQIA+ people do not feel safe to live openly. Sasha’s transgender identity means he is must lead a life of secrecy.

The consequences of Sasha being recognised on the street by friends, family and colleagues who knew him pre-transition could be life threatening. In Georgia, a former Soviet country, equality and basic human rights for trans people is challenged. An experience shared by many in the LGBTQIA+ community in other former Soviet countries. 

Sasha and his partner Mari are forced to live on the fringes; faced with the suffocating secrecy of their life and the ever present lack of freedom. The couple find acceptance, dignity and humour in the flat they share with Mari’s siblings and mother.

Not having met the state’s surgical requirements, Sasha is unable to change his ID which means he constantly has to deal with clashing identification in a country where ID cards are needed for everyday mundane activities. Trapped, unable to move on with his life, he and Mari dream of moving to another country where they will be free to be themselves.

“It is a salutary lesson in why the struggle for equality matters in day to day life.” - Eyeforfilm

“In its quietly powerful and deeply humane way, Instructions for Survival captures both the heartbreak and profound joy of ordinary love in extraordinary circumstances.” – Frameline

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SURVIVAL Screenings

3pm Sunday 18th September6.30pm Friday 23rd September

Dendy Cinemas, Canberra Centre

TICKETS AVAILABLE here

WATCH TRAILER here

PRESS PACK here

ABOUT STRONGER THAN FICTION DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

Since 2013, Stronger than Fiction has been screening the finest documentary cinema from around the world in Canberra, giving audiences unique insights into the lives of people from all corners of the globe. Often made over several years by passionate independent filmmakers,the films tell local stories that connect with national and international issues. These films are ‘Stronger Than Fiction’: the emotion, the suspense, the humour and the deep truths about human nature that we expect from great movies are all there, while staying factual. Engaging with these superbly crafted under-marketed gems, audiences have the chance to get behind the headlines and better understand the big stories of our time.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Deborah Kingsland & Hannah de Feyter, STF Co-Director

E: hi@strongerdocs.com

MEDIA RELEASE: SPECIAL SCREENING OF THIS YEAR’S MOST MOVING FILM, FIRE OF LOVE

MEDIA RELEASE

8 August 2022

SPECIAL SCREENING OF THIS YEAR’S MOST MOVING FILM, FIRE OF LOVE

Stronger Than Fiction Documentary Series, in partnership with Dendy Cinema present a sneak preview screening of this year’s most celebrated documentary, FIRE OF LOVE, this August.

Banner Image of Fire of Love.

If there is one movie to see on the big screen this year, FIRE OF LOVE is it. A captivating true story of two of science’s greatest lovers - geochemist Katia Krafft and geologist Maurice Krafft. Intrepid and unconventional, these volcanologists devoted their lives to two shared obsessions: volcanic activity, up close, and one another.

Stronger than Fiction Documentary Series, in collaboration with Dendy Cinemas is bringing FIRE OF LOVE to Canberra, for a special pre-release screening, on Sunday 21 August, at 3pm.

The film, narrated by Miranda July, opens with a warning; the pair’s epic love story will come to an end at the foot of a volcano. This feeling of sadness quickly lifts as Maurice and Katia’s authenticity takes over the screen. Both of them, so clearly beguiled by the primordial nature of their greatest love: the volcano.

With footage that could be mistaken for that of a Hollywood great, the pair filmed volcanos from every angle, point of view and perspective. Drawing from 20 years of their expeditions and 200 hours of spectacular up close footage captured by Katia and Maurice.. The footage has symmetry similar to a Wes Anderson film and the story, akin to that of the tragic obsessive characters of  Grizzly Man, and Free Solo. 

A homage to their pioneering research and life saving educational outreach. FIRE OF LOVE is a perfectly curated collage of the elements in action, and love, on molten rocks.

“A singular romance blazing with jaw-dropping imagery … [and] a drama with poetic expressiveness that emanates from the choreography of all the elements.” – The Playlist

“The greatest lava-fuelled love story ever told.” – Rolling Stone


FIRE OF LOVE Screenings

3pm Sunday 21st August

6.30pm Friday 26th August

Dendy Cinemas, Canberra Centre

TICKETS AVAILABLE here

Poster Image of Fire of Love.

ABOUT STRONGER THAN FICTION DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

Since 2013, Stronger Than Fiction has brought the finest documentary cinema from around

the world to Canberra, giving audiences unique insights into the lives of people from all

corners of the globe. Often made over several years by passionate independent filmmakers,

the films tell local stories that connect with national and international issues. These films

are ‘Stronger Than Fiction’: the drama, the humour, the deep truths about human

nature that we expect from great movies are all there, while staying factual. Engaging with these superbly crafted under marketed gems, audiences have the chance to get behind the headlines and better understand the big stories of our time.


MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Deborah Kingsland, STF Co-Director

Hannah de Feyter, STF Co-Director

Email: hi@strongerdocs.com