This highly controversial documentary, aired as part of the CBS Reports series, ostensibly covers the growing influence of the LGBT community in San Francisco circa 1979. Critics have rebuked the program for its characterization of the sexual practices of gay men, while organizations such as the Moral Majority referenced it in campaigns against gay rights ordinances.
Homophobia didn’t just happen. Orchestrated campaigns by cultural institutions and public figures have systemically instilled anti-LGBTQ prejudice into American culture by shaping public opinion.
Sebastién is a gay acrobat living for the thrill of the circus. Now the oldest acrobat in the troupe, he fears each show could be his last, as an uncertain future awaits. This beautifully languid documentary catches the final leap of a long, idyllic youth.
As a result of the Holocaust and later, AIDS, the male homosexual community has sustained bitter losses and, according to Praunheim, lesbian women have now placed themselves at the head of the so-called queer movement. The female protagonists in the film represent two different generations; they also incorporate the past and present status of homosexuals in society.
A video diary from Xmas 2023 New Years to awards season, the filmmaker's personal cinema, and a tribute/time capsule of their cat Fox, their movie-loving friends and film community of Portland, and the actresses they love -- with Annette Bening's Nyad Oscar campaign as its political backdrop.
Short docudrama exploring the history of sex in the homosexual community from the 1970s to the present day, and how the internet has changed the way gay men meet forever.
Poet, rapper, playwright and recording artist Kae Tempest is one of the most viscerally exciting artists working in Britain today. They are the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious Ted Hughes prize and have been nominated for both the Brit and Mercury music awards. Tempest has always found support and respect within the queer art scenes, a place close to their heart. In July 2020, they came out as non-binary, announcing that they would publish and perform under the name Kae. This film delves deep into their creative process and gains rare, intimate insights into Kae’s life throughout a period of profound personal and artistic change.
CHASING CHASING AMY explores the transformational impact of a ‘90s rom-com on a 12 year old kid from Kansas, coming of age and contending with queer identity. For young Sav Rodgers, the Kevin Smith cult classic, CHASING AMY, became a life raft. As Rodgers examines the film and its making as a cornerstone of LGBTQ+ cinema, he finds himself at a complicated crossroads.
In this film, Laerte conjugates the body in the feminine, and scrutinizes concepts and prejudices. Not in search of an identity, but in search of un-identities. Laerte creates and sends creatures to face reality in the fictional world of comic strips as a vanguard of the self. And, on the streets, the one who becomes the fiction of a real character. Laerte, of all the bodies, and of none, complicates all binaries. In following Laerte, this documentary chooses to clothe the nudity beyond the skin we inhabit.
German iconoclast filmmaker and gay-rights activist Rosa vonPraunheim examines his own life and career in the documentary Phooey Rosa! With a quickly paced editing style, the film is a mix of personal banter, candid interviews, and clips from his filmography. It also includes footage from his early film Bed Sausage to his later work Neurosia. At the age of 60, vonPraunheim reveals intimate details about his past relationships and his childhood growing up after WWII. He also implicates some of his friends and inspirations, including Luzi Kryn and Rainer Kranach.
Outrage kiss-in at Bow Street police station in London, with a demonstration against homophobic government bills clause 25/28.
Um Documentário Brasileiro
As a sci-fi obsessed woman living in near isolation, Beverly Glenn-Copeland wrote and self-released Keyboard Fantasies in Huntsville, Ontario back in 1986. Recorded in an Atari-powered home-studio, the cassette featured seven tracks of a curious folk-electronica hybrid, a sound realized far before its time. Three decades on, the musician – now Glenn Copeland – began to receive emails from people across the world, thanking him for the music they’d recently discovered.
An experiment and a dialogue about recording, the act of filming and the colors available to whoever points the camera somewhere.
Kazuo Hara follows Ayumi Yasutomi, a transgender candidate, who is also a Tokyo University professor, as she embarks on a national campaign for a seat in Japan's Upper House.
Traveling back to the places where he grew up, Dustin Lance Black explores his childhood roots, gay identity and close relationship with his mother, who overcame childhood polio, abusive marriages and Mormon dogma, while becoming Black’s emotional rock and, ultimately, the inspiration for his activism. With a wealth of personal photographs and candid memories from Black’s family, colleagues, and friends, this documentary embraces the personal to tell a universally hopeful tale of resilience and reconciliation through the power of love and shared stories.
The film unfolds an atmospheric symphony of violence over Beirut, revealing the haunting fusion of incessant Israeli military flights and the hum of generators during blackouts. This 45-minute video essay plunges viewers into a chilling chronicle of daily life transformed by the weaponization of the air, where the terror of repeated incursions becomes a disconcertingly banal backdrop.
"A l likeness is a gift... it avoids... or confuses time if your prefer." said John Berger. Following this premise, 81.92 is a structuralist inquiry into the notion of presence and absence as it reveals archival radio broadcasts from former Montreal radio host Mike Wolkow. The former (the audible) is left invisible while the later (the visible) seeks to find the missing elements that trace the passage of this vocal presence. Past and present interplay in this piece that shifts between epochs, thus mimicking a radio signal that is being tuned in.
New York based fashion illustrator Richard Haines talks designing the cover art for The Criterion Collection's release of Tom Jones (1963).
A documentary exploring the vibrant ballroom scene in Viçosa, Minas Gerais. Through the lives of local performers, it highlights how queer, trans, and non-binary communities create spaces of self-expression, creativity, and resilience. The film captures the energy of balls, the art of voguing, and the deep sense of community, while also examining the challenges participants face in a society that often marginalizes them. By documenting this unique subculture, the film celebrates LGBTQ+ identity, pride, and the transformative power of performance in shaping belonging and visibility.