Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt)

This heartfelt lesbian rom-com, shot entirely in Sydney by writer-director Monica Zanetti (Skin Deep) and based on her beloved play, is the first Australian feature to open Queer Screen's Mardi Gras Film Festival in its 27 year history.

Sophie Hawkshaw plays school captain Ellie, who is seriously crushing on her rebellious classmate Abbie (Wentworth’s Zoe Terakes). Determined to ask her first love to the year 12 formal, Ellie devises a plan to go public with the invitation but before she can go through with it, her dead aunt Tara (Julia Billington, Starting from...Now) reappears from beyond the grave. Believing she’s been brought back from the dead to be Ellie’s fairy godmother, Tara dishes out unwanted dating advice based on her life as an out lesbian in the 80s.

Marta Dusseldorp (Stateless, Janet King) plays Ellie’s high strung mother whose concern about Ellie’s coming out is more than it seems, and Rachel House (Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) gives a wonderfully deadpan performance as Ellie’s adopted aunt with secrets of her own.

Trailer...