The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Director: Stephan Elliott
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Bill Hunter
Runtime: 103'
Year of production: 1994

What happens when two drag queens and one trans begin to cross the Australian desert in a friable bus, in order to perform at the nightclub of a small town right in the middle of the steppe? The phantasmagoric and very humorous answer was given in 1994 by Stephan Elliott, thanks to his «Priscilla» which won an Oscar for the Best Costume Design and achieved grand commercial success. He turned his outrageous plot into a road movie, he most cleverly entrusted the intricate leading roles in three actors mostly known for their masculine profile (Hugo Weaving from the «Matrix» trilogy, Guy Pearce from «L. A. Confidential» and legendary Terence Stamp from «The Collector») and he granted his story with an adorable combination of wit and tenderness. 

Through its course, behind the hilarious scenes, the virulent lines told by the heroes, the euphoric musical-dancing bits and the carnivalesque disguises, this incessantly entertaining film manages to convince even the most conservative spectators to look beneath the stereotypes and prejudices and hop along for a fabulous and fabulously proud cinematic trip that they wish it would never end. In the role of the older Bernadette, Terence Stamp achieves one of the greatest acts in his career as well as one of the most fascinating make-over ever seen in the cinema. Loukas Katsikas

Screening hosted by the Athens Pride 2022, in collaboration with the Australian Embassy in Greece