In the coffee-growing village of Santuario, Colombia, lives an indigenous transgender community. That is where Juliana and Berómica were banished due to the prejudices of their own strongly Catholic community.
The Robert Mapplethorpe documentary, from 1988--one year before he died--is an excellent examination of one of the most controversial of American photographers. British documentarian Nigel Finch does an outstanding job fusing interviews with Mr. Mapplethorpe himself, with critic and author Edmund White, and with several of Mapplethorpe's subjects as well, with numerous shots of the man's work. Mapplethorpe, gay, did not hesitate to photograph what he wanted to without fear of reprisal or censorship. Indeed, a good number of his pieces were not shown in the documentary at its original airing on PBS with the comment, "Considered Unsuitable for Viewing On This Transmission." His openly sexual work can at times be more than shocking, but it is always powerful and direct; as critic Lynn Davies says in the documentary, he did not pose people but photographed them doing what they would normally do in the course of their lives.
Rick "Jim" Cassidy and Bob Mizer, one of the founders, and head, of the Athletic Model Guild, profile the A.M.G., its history, and how it operates. The purpose of the A.M.G. is to prepare (mostly gay) young men who meet its specifications for careers in modeling and showing themselves off as "gay-boy beefcake" (the male gay equivalent of young female models as "cheesecake"). Questions arise as to where these young men come from, how they are recruited, what it is like to work for A.M.G., and if all the young men who apply and are accepted are, indeed, gay.
Céline Dion : une voix, un destin
A documentary about Peanuts creator Charles Shulz.
Juan Carlos I: 25 años de reinado
A history of the political and social repression carried out by the ruthless regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco between 1936 and 1975 that focuses on the lives of gays and lesbians during those dark years and the death of the Spanish gay poet Federico García Lorca.
In 1962, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring opened America's eyes to the dangers of pesticides and man's place in nature. This episode of the "Before/After" series dives into the genesis of a poetic and powerful text, which inspired modern environmentalist thought.
Mylène Demongeot, la milady du cinéma
An Unreasonable Man is a 2006 documentary film that traces the life and career of political activist Ralph Nader, the founder of modern consumer protection. The film examines Nader's advocacy for auto safety features, such as federally mandated seat belts and air bags, as well as his rise to national prominence following an invasion of privacy lawsuit against General Motors.
With commentary from Hollywood stars, outtakes from his movies and footage from his youth, this documentary looks at Stanley Kubrick's life and films. Director Jan Harlan, Kubrick's brother-in-law and sometime collaborator, interviews heavyweights like Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen and Sydney Pollack, who explain the influence of Kubrick classics like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," and how he absorbed visual clues from disposable culture such as television commercials.
From Star Trek to The Sound of Music, award-winning director Robert Wise was dedicated, inventive, and ready to tackle any genre. He helmed everything from B movies to award-winning blockbusters, all while managing to live a quiet life amid the scandal of Tinsel Town.
Celebrates the stories of eight female vocalists in the heavy metal genre. Through personal interviews, behind the scenes insights, and concert footage, these women describe in their own words, their choices, their lives, and the hardships and triumphs of being center stage in what is widely perceived as a male-dominated music scene.
An hour long interview with Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek made by Russia Today for his 70th birthday. In this documentary Žižek answers questions from the public in regards to politics and ideology, gender and sex, philosophy and psychoanalysis, hardcore pornography and sexual liberation in the West, in his usual style of polemics and comedy.
A cruise ship and 3,000 men – it is a universe without heteros and women that usually remains a mystery to the outside world. Once a year the Dream Boat sets sail for a cruise exclusively for gay men where most passengers are united by the wish to live life authentically as themselves in a protected place.
Tina Turner overcame impossible odds to become one of the first female Black artists to reach a mainstream international audience. Her road to superstardom is an undeniable story of triumph over adversity. It’s the ultimate story of survival – and an inspirational story of our times.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is credited as being the World’s Greatest Living Explorer. Among his extraordinary achievements, he was the first to circumnavigate the world from pole to pole, crossed the Antarctic on foot, broke countless world records, and discovered a lost city in Arabia. He has travelled to the most dangerous places on Earth, lost half his fingers to frostbite, raised millions of pounds for charity and was nearly cast as James Bond. But who is the man who prefers to be known as just ‘Ran’?
The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.
This short film reveals the inspiration, motivation and political challenges at San Francisco City Hall during the frantic days leading up to the first government-sanctioned same-sex marriage.
Documentary from Kiwi filmmaker Florian Habicht on the most successful haunted attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, Auckland’s Spookers.