Cicada

“Cicada was the secret I never really wanted to tell, but the film I always knew I’d make,” says co-writer and co-director Matthew Fifer. Based on the newcomer’s personal experiences, Cicada follows Ben, a bisexual thirty-something New Yorker wrestling with deep trauma who is - as his sister puts it - “back on the dick” after recently being engaged to a woman.

Following a string of meaningless hookups, Ben forms an immediate connection with Sam (fellow co-writer Sheldon D. Brown), a closeted data analyst suffering with PTSD after being hospitalised in a drive-by shooting. Cicada delicately deals with complex themes rarely seen in queer cinema as Sam dives into the intersectionality of being a Black gay man in the United States while Ben reveals that his promiscuity and trauma stems from being molested by his step-father as a child.

“Writing it was cathartic, and then filming it, it was tough to take down these walls that had taken so many years to build,” Matthew explains. “But, just having another person reach out and say, ‘I’m going through this’ is a gift.” Sheldon, who, like Sam, was shot months before Cicada started shooting, adds: “These are experiences that many people face, whether you're queer, or whether you're