Outrageous: The Queer History of Australian TV
Description
To celebrate the release of the book Outrageous: The Queer History of Australian TV, join us for the first screening of the documentary short film on which it is based since it premiered at Queer Screen during World Pride 2023. Since then, it has won Best Feature at the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival.
Starring Shane 'Courtney Act' Jenek, Benjamin Law, Sarah Walker, Carlotta, Keiynan Lonsdale and The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG.
‘How amazing that Australia once led the world in LGBT representation on TV.’ – Courtney Act
Hosted by the author, TV Historian Andrew Mercado, who will introduce the screening. Louise Crawford, councillor and former mayor of the City of Port Phillip, will officially launch the book at the start of the Q&A, she is in Outrageous for playing two lesbians on TV. The Q&A will be moderated by Robbie Molinaro from JOY FM.
Lineup
Andrew Mercado
Andrew Mercado is a writer/producer/presenter who specialises in Film and TV, particularly with soaps and queer content. Andrew is the co-host of the TV Gold podcast with James Manning and has a weekly spot on several ABC radio stations. He writes a monthly TV column for DNA magazine and hosts his own YouTube channel called TV Icons. Andrew was one of the first openly gay people to be seen on Australian TV when he began appearing on music network Channel [V] from 1999. He became the first VJ on Max, was a regular on Australian Story, Mornings With Kerrie-Anne, Studio 10, A Current Affair and SBS World Movies, and hosted The Buzz, The Know, The Playlist and Foxtel Movie Show. As a TV Historian, he curates and produces material for Umbrella Entertainment/Brollie and Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive. As a writer, he has been published in The Australian Women’s Weekly, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Guardian and has written regular columns for Sydney Star Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, TV Week and TV Soap. His first book Super Aussie Soaps, a history of Australian TV dramas, was published in 2004. Since then he has contributed chapters to the books The 100 Greatest Films of Australian Cinema, and Very Special Episodes: When TV Sitcoms Sometimes Got Serious. Andrew also owned and operated the South West Roxy Cinema in Northern NSW. He now hosts Trivia every Wednesday and Music bingo every Thursday at Newcastle’s iconic Lowlands Bowling Club.
The Book
Outrageous - The Queer History of Australian TV
This book is a history of queer Australian TV from its earliest days to the late 1990s. This was a time that saw the dominance of just four broadcast channels dictating what the public watched and when. It was a time of scheduled viewing that led to the introduction of home VHS, but which was yet to see the explosion of cable television, the internet, and streaming services. As Andrew Mercado recounts this history - from some significant early programs to Number 96, The Box and beyond - he explores how the queer and broader communities responded, and some of the reasons why Australia went from being the first country in the world to show queer people on TV, to then having none, and pretending it never happened.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
