At the Cannes film festival in 1994 Australian film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert had it’s premiere.
Over the last 30 years the film has become one of the most popular and enduring Australian films. After its May debut at the film festival in France, it would open in the USA in August, and Australian audiences love affair with the movie would begin in September.
Made with the low budget of just AUD$2.3 million, it went on to make over AUD$18 million at the local box office.
The film tells the story of a transgender woman and two men, who are drag performers, who leave the safe surroundings of inner-city Sydney to head to a cabaret booking in Alice Springs. They make their journey to the red centre on an old silver bus dubbed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was director and writer Stephan Elliot’s second film after his 1993 debut Frauds.
He’s gone on to create Welcome to Woop Woop, Eye of the Beholder, Easy Virtue, A Few Best Men, Rio, I Love You and Swinging Safari. None have echoed the success of his best-known film. It has been announced that Elliot is now working on a sequel with all surviving stars of the original film interested in taking part.
The film created iconic roles for English actor Terrence Stamp, who played transgender woman Bernadette Bassenger, Hugo Weaving who played Anthony ‘Tick’ Belrose ala Mitzi Del Bra, and Guy Pearce who portrayed the sassy Adam Whitely aka Felicia Jollygoodfellow.
