Award-winning documentary explores disability, sexuality and love

An award-winning Australian documentary is coming to Stan this December 3rd – International Day for People with Disability.

Thomas Banks’ Quest For Love shines a spotlight on the life of Thomas Banks, a well-known author from Melbourne who is living with cerebral palsy, and his search for a man to fall in love with.

Directed and produced by Aussie filmmaker Pip Kelly over the last six years, the film follows Banks as he “looks for love in all the wrong places, and at the same time performs in a play voicing his frustrations and the challenges he has faced in finding a partner.”

“It’s been an honour getting to know Thomas intimately and sharing a deep story that will touch everyone’s heart,” Kelly says.

“I hope more understanding and acceptance will result from people watching this film.”

The film dives into Banks’ experiences with bullying, one-night stands, trips to the gay sauna and counselling sessions with his psychologist. These moments are all tackled head on as the film balances real-life observational, comic and playful dream sequences, memories of past dates gone wrong and inner dialogues of hidden truths.

Thomas’s overarching aim is to be accepted by the gay community wholeheartedly and to be acknowledged as a person who is in touch with his own sexuality.

“I want to make people understand that people with disabilities can be gay, can be sexual,” Banks says.

“A lot of people think that people with disabilities should be asexual. But it’s really important for me to challenge that.”

Thomas Banks’ Quest For Love won Best Short Film at Mardi Gras Film Festival 2019 and received the Director’s Choice Award at Melbourne Queer International Film Festival and a special mention at Antenna Documentary Short Film Awards 2019.

Thomas Banks’ Quest for Love – Teaser from Pip Kelly on Vimeo.

Thomas Banks’ Quest For Love comes to Stan on Thursday 3rd December.

OIP Staff

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