Films I watched in 2020

Got nowhere to track my movie-going so I get to put together an annual list. Some of these I’ve reviewed (hyperlinked).

At the cinema

1. The Gentlemen
2. The Rise of Skywalker
3. Jumanji 2: The Next Level
4. Little Women – twice
5. Farmageddon
6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (French)
7. Birds of Prey – twice
8. Bit
9. Queer Doc Shorts (Mardi Gras Film Festival collection)
10. Out Here Shorts (Mardi Gras Film Festival collection)
11. Sell By
12. Trans Shorts (Mardi Gras Film Festival collection)
13. Asia-Pacific Queer Shorts (Mardi Gras Film Festival collection)
14. Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt) – twice
15. My Queer Career (Mardi Gras Film Festival collection)
16. Distance (Tagalog)
17. Aniara (Swedish/English)
18. Babyteeth
19. Tenet
20. Coffee or tea? (Mandarin)
21. Flash Gordon
22. Happiest Season
23. Warrior Queen (Hindi/Marathi/English)
24. Persian Film Festival Shorts Collection (Farsi)
25. A Hairy Tale (Farsi)
26. The Chess of the Wind (Farsi)
27. Wonder Woman 1984

Released* online

1. In my blood it runs (via Vimeo/inmyblooditruns.com)
2. Enola Holmes (via Netflix)
3. Disclosure (via Netflix)
4. Proud (French) (via Queer Screen Film Festival/Ferve)
5. Holy Trinity (via Queer Screen Film Festival/Ferve)
6. Gossamer Fields (via Queer Screen Film Festival/Ferve)
7. Gay Shorts (via Queer Screen Film Festival/Ferve)
8. Lesbian Shorts (via Queer Screen Film Festival/Ferve)

*Widely released/first available in Australia in 2020. Older films and TV shows streamed online not listed.

You can see the effects of Queer Screen in the heavy queer content of these lists; not only was the Mardi Gras Film Festival the last major festival before pandemic caution hit my movie-going, they were also hella organised about running the Queer Screen Film Festival online in September.

By contrast, my viewing of foreign films really took a hit because the various festivals didn’t offer a streamed version; ironically three Queer Screen-curated films were foreign language and one of the British Film Festival movies I watched was in Hindi/Marathi as well as English.

I also saw more films that catered to the female gaze/with a feminine lens – in particular Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Little Women, Birds of Prey and Ellie and Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt) – and they were truly the better films of the year.

Alongside that, I learnt to appreciate more whacky filmmaking from Bit and Holy Trinity to Coffee or Tea? and A Hairy Tale. Not sure what it says about mainstream movies that these four films were queer and foreign language.

I’m looking forward to going back into cinemas this year and I hope it will be safe sooner rather than later.