GELBOYS Documentary

Nic, Leo, Andrea and Raff determine their own gender identities. Each of their gender biographies is different, but the societal barriers to their social, physical and legal changes are the same. Together they are strong.

May 2, 2024. Amidst big names from São Paulo's drag scene, a young filmmaker dives into the experience of becoming a drag queen for one night.

Sanctuary explores queer spirituality and utopian sexualities through the figure of Purusha Androgyne Larkin (1934–1988), a monk, pioneering gay filmmaker, and self-proclaimed cosmic-erotic mystic. Larkin’s 1981 book, 'The Divine Androgyne According to Purusha', challenged repression with a spiritual vision rooted in eroticism and presented a radical path to cosmic-erotic consciousness through ‘extreme’ forms of sexual pleasure. Sanctuary explores Larkin's attempt to form a utopian, pleasure-based spiritual community, and considers the complex legacies of his ideas in queer culture. Shot on 16mm, the film weaves together the voices of Larkin’s friends and followers, creating a portrait in absentia of a figure ahead of his time.

A film about a special friendship between the film's director Nur, who has moved from Kurdistan, and Rashan who, because of his sexual orientation, lives as a refugee in his own country. Two women from the same village who were both forced to flee but for widely different reasons.

Åke was a priest in the Swedish church. He lived a normal life with his wife and children. But inside he was someone else. At the age of 57, he decided to show his true self. Åke became Ann-Christine. This is her personal story of what it is like to come out as a woman in the workplace, in the family and in society. About gender identity, own and others' prejudices and the longing to be oneself. For three years, filmmaker Helena Isaksson Baeck follows her on the revolving journey from Åke to Ann-Christine.

In the summer of 2014, a historic love celebration took place during Pajala Market, Tornedalen's first pride festival. It was a success. But why were people surprised? The documentary follows the enthusiasts David, Johanna and Andreas who start the world's northernmost and Tornedalen's first pride festival in Pajala. In a society of 2000 people where macho culture and Laestadianism have a strong foothold, organizers may face both cheer and pure threats. On the internet, bad comments are written like "gay or moose, he just shoots" and that the Pride Board chooses to place the parade under the very Pajala market, the highlight of the year is like swearing in the church. Tornedalen's Pride is a documentary that touches on no matter what language you speak, what sexual orientation you have or where you live. It is a documentary about some young people struggling to contribute to a more open Tornedalen. A proud Sweden.

From the accounts of lesbian artists and militants, frequenters of Ferro's Bar, we are led to an episode central to the formation of the Brazilian lesbian movement in the early 1980s, the "uprising of Ferro's Bar". The film shows how lesbians are no longer a figure found only at night, inside apartments, and become a political subject that rises up against censorship of one of the lesbian periodicals with the largest circulation in the 1980s, "ChanacomChana". Ferro's Bar represents a space for the political-affective memory of its frequenters and a way of updating this collective and political history that is still pulsating.

Music feeds the soul, and a queer chorus raises hearts and visibility. Queer voices from all over Austin, Texas join together to sing, to compete, to protest.

Tobin, a transgender teen living in Squamish, BC, prepares for his acting debut where he’ll be playing a male leading character in the youth play. While rehearsals are in progress, his friends and chosen family band together to help remove him from a difficult living situation and connect him the support he needs.

Drag Race star Peppermint takes center stage in this up close and personal documentary about her journey with fame, identity, and the art of drag. Sharing her story alongside a close network of trans individuals, one of the world’s favorite drag performers takes you inside her rise from humble beginnings to her current reign as outspoken trailblazer for the trans community.

Behind an unassuming "We Buy Gay Stuff" sign in San Francisco's Castro district - complete with a striking leather daddy illustration - lies an unexpected treasure trove of queer history. AutoErotica's proprietor Patrick Batt has spent decades curating this living museum, packed with artifacts from shuttered gay bars, vintage leather magazines, activist pins, and rare 8mm films.

Award-winning film director Kurtz Frausun captures a gay couple's relationship struggles and the death of a parent, set in the backdrop of their Plano, TX apartment during a snow storm, in the new documentary, "Candid Love."

This inspirational documentary follows a number of LGBTQ athletes, including Robbie Rogers (Major League Soccer), Layana White (NCAA basketball player), Gus Kenworthy (freestyle skier and Olympic silver medalist), Megan Rapinoe (soccer, Olympic gold medalist), and Trevor Betts, a trans high school athlete, charting their social and legal challenges within the schools, sports leagues, and within their own families, as well as their triumphs in the face of great adversity.

In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Three years on, same-sex couples still face challenges that heterosexual couples do not: some have trouble becoming legal guardians for their children; others must travel abroad to start a family; some are even rejected when applying for legal marriage status. As such, legalization was just another small step forward in the fight for equality. This 90-minute documentary shows how different same-sex couples fight for the life they desire and deserve. They may be fighting different battles, but they share one thing in common: the belief that the sun will shine after this rain.

Pride Prom is a short documentary that follows the story of E Tejada III, the organizer of the first LGBTQ+ Pride Prom at Marquette University. The film weaves together exclusive interviews and footage from event planning and the dance itself, and news coverage of public controversy surrounding the event-- all while exploring the burnout E experiences along the way. In the end, Pride Prom is about the emotional toll of fighting for inclusion at an institution torn between progressive optics and traditional values... and the moments of joy and community that make it all worthwhile.

A scream amid so many silences, an attempt to rescue the human's gaze upon himself.

Eccomi ... Eccoti unfolds as a virtual road trip navigating between Italy and Lebanon. Conditioned to live in a long-distance relationship with his partner because of strict European visa regulations, the director patches together the shared moments in an attempt to create a possible day-to-day reality for their couple. With a lyrical, ambient soundscape set atop a dreamy, atmospheric visual style that oscillates between still photography and moving images, the film explores what it means to be gay in contemporary Beirut and existential discomfort that blocks one from reaching a sense of complete-ness. Does such in-completeness have to do, in particular, with being gay? Or is it related to a grander malaise endemic to the human condition?

Chayna Moor is the stage name of Edgardo Inguance, a man who lives in a state of austerity and makes a living working in drag. Despite all kinds of circumstances, he tries to be resilient and happy with what he does. The documentary is about the transition from a fly to a fox.

THE FANDOM dives headfirst in the imaginative world of “furries,” the often-misunderstood internet subculture of fans of the anthropomorphic arts. Using a bountiful collection of archival tapes and images, this documentary traces the evolution of the furry fandom from its roots in the 1970s to the expansive, international community it has become today. Join a host of charming characters (including the grandparents of the fandom itself) on this heart-warming journey through the decades; witness the many triumphs and challenges that shaped “furry” into the most unique fandom of all time.

An intimate look at pioneering artist George Platt Lynes, who took radically explicit photographs of the male nude. The documentary reveals Lynes’ gifted eye for the male form, his long-term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.