The NFSA is honoured to host prominent LGBTQIA+ activist Barry Charles and screenwriter, director and multidisciplinary visual artist Samuel Leighton-Dore. This In Conversation event will unpack the challenges of times past, the power of activism, the impact of legislative change and transformations in how gender and sexuality is understood.
The conversation will include a video message from author, academic and activist Dennis Altman.
This event commemorates the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexual acts between men in New South Wales. The conversation will be followed by screenings of Land of Storms (Ádám Császi, 2014) and Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016). A Progress 1984: Men in Love Day Pass is available for all three events via the website.
Part of Progress 1984: a series of special events that coincide with the 40th anniversary of the NFSA’s founding and commemorate significant moments of change in Australia in 1984.
Arc Cinema
National Film and Sound Archives
Saturday 18 May
Event Speakers
BARRY CHARLES
Barry Charles has been an active member of the Sydney gay community since the 1970s. He participated in the June 1978 march along Oxford Street, which became the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Charles subsequently co-convened the Gay Rights Lobby and was a key campaigner for law reform in the early 1980s. Also known as Troughman, Charles remains a significant cultural figure in Sydney’s gay scene, particularly as a proponent of sexual expression, including kink and fetish. Charles was the subject of Kellie Henneberry’s 1998 documentary short Troughman, and appeared in Season 7 of ABC series You Can’t Ask That.
SAMUEL LEIGHTON-DORE
Samuel Leighton-Dore is a screenwriter, director and multidisciplinary visual artist based on the Gold Coast, Queensland. He is passionate about telling stories that are equal parts emotionally intelligent and silly, with a particular love for young adult comedy and complex queer, neurodiverse characters.
Leighton-Dore is the co-creator and writer of Willy, the latest animated series from Ludo Studio, the production company behind Bluey. Other credits include animated horror-comedy series Other Half (co-creator, writer); animated sketch Sensitive Gym Bros (writer, director, co-producer); and live action short film Showboy (writer, director). Leighton-Dore is also the author of How To Be A Big Strong Man (Smith Street Books) and Wow It’s All A Lot (HarperCollins) and has had four solo exhibitions.
DENNIS ALTMAN
From the early years of activism in the 1970s to the present day, Dennis Altman has been a formidable force in Australia’s LGBT rights movement. His seminal work, Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation, was published in 1972. It was the first of 15 books that have established Altman as a key voice on gay liberation and the politics of sexuality in Australia and internationally.
Part of Progress 1984: To coincide with the 40th anniversary of the NFSA’s founding, we’re presenting a series of special events throughout the year that commemorate significant moments of change in Australia in 1984.
Of an Age — A Stirring Aussie Gay Romance
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