'Nothing to Lose – The Documentary' was awarded $8000. (Photo: The Aperture Club)
Body positive doco Nothing to Lose – The Documentary and web series Jade of Death are winners of this year’s Queer Screen’s Completion Fund.
The fund was established to provide independent LGBTIQ filmmakers with support to tell stories that reflect the diversity of their lives. To have been eligible, projects must have already completed principal photography and now be in post-production.
Nothing to Lose – The Documentary, was awarded $8000 to help bring it to screens after four years in post. The doco charts the creation of Force Majuere and Kelli Jean Drinkwater's 'Nothing to Lose' dance theatre show, which aimed to challenge stereotypes by featuring performers with large bodies. Drinkwater also directed the doc, produced by Jain Moralee and Ciny Rodriguez.
Accepting the grant at the Mardi Gras Film Festival launch, Drinkwater said: “I'm sure you know that indie filmmaking is a labour of love and without the support of our community and organisations like Queer Screen so many of our stories would go untold.”
“We believe that a film which centres on body politics and queerness is long overdue and this Queer Screen support is absolutely essential to getting this film to the big screen.”
Drinkwater's previous film Aquaporko! won the award for Best Documentary at the 2013 Mardi Gras Film Festival.
Runner up Jade of Death, from writer-director Erin Good, was awarded $4,000. The six-part series, workshopped at Berlinale’s Project Lab’s Short Film Station, follows small town girl Jade who has a powerful ability to see when and how people will die. Bernie Van Tiel leads the cast with Jordan Cowan (Wolf Creek 2), Yoshi Washington and guests Susan Prior (The Rover, Animal Kingdom, Muriel’s Wedding) and Sara West (Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, The Daughter, Winter).