Exclusive Interview: Nomi Ruiz on her new movie Haymaker “we were passionate about pushing the needle forward, not only with the trans narrative, but also with cis men who are trans amorous”

Born and raised in Brooklyn, singer-songwriter, actress, and essayist Nomi Ruiz has blazed a trail as the first Latinx trans woman to perform at major international music events like the Montreax Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, and Lovebox. In 2005 she released her debut album, Lost In Lust, a gritty blend of 90s hip-hop, R&B and soul,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: 9-1-1 Lone Star’s Brian Michael Smith “there are all different kinds of trans people in the world & we should see all different kinds of trans people on screen”

Brian Michael Smith is not only living his dream as a successful actor, but he's also creating the mainstream trans masculine representation he didn't see growing up in the 80s and 90s in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Having already landed recurring spots on high profile dramas like Ava DuVernay’s Queen Sugar and The L Word: Generation... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: Supernova ★★★★

As writer-director Harry Macqueen's Supernova opens we're invited into the old, now seldom used camper van of pianist Sam (Colin Firth) and writer Tusker (Stanley Tucci), who've been together as a couple for decades, as they head to the Lake District. The rich history of their years together is immediately apparent in their rapport and... Continue Reading →

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All in the Queer Family: Circus of Books filmmaker Rachel Mason in conversation with Transparent creator Joey Soloway

This Thursday January 21st at 5:30m pm PST / 8:30pm EST, join Newfest and Emmy-nominated Circus of Books filmmaker and artist Rachel Mason and the Peabody and Emmy-winning creator of Transparent, Joey Soloway, in conversation. Rachel and Joey will discuss the importance and dynamics of LGBTQ families, Jewish identity, and the cathartic and complex art... Continue Reading →

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LGBTQ+ highlights at Sundance 2021

This year's week-long Sundance Film Festival, which opens on Thursday January 28th, will run digitally via a custom-designed online platform (festival.sundance.org) alongside drive-ins, screenings at independent arthouses, and a network of local community partnerships. All films in the program will be available online in the United States, with certain titles opting for global availability. The... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: David Färdmar on his gay breakup movie Are We Lost Forever “I wanted to challenge viewers to think for themselves”

Breaking up is hard to do as Swedish filmmaker David Färdmar explores in his brooding bittersweet debut feature Are We Lost Forever premiering in the UK and Ireland via Peccadillo Pictures on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital on Monday January 18th. When we first meet protagonists Adrian (Björn Elgerd) and Hampus (Jonathan Andersson) they're sitting up... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Veneno star Lola Rodríguez “there were thorns still buried in me that doing this series helped pull out”

November saw the US premiere of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's stunning limited series Veneno which lovingly and masterfully weaves an epic tapestry based on the life of Spanish trans icon Cristina “La Veneno” Ortiz. At the heart of the series, alongside the figure of La Veneno herself, is a compelling, beautifully layered performance by... Continue Reading →

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TV Series: Veneno ★★★★★

Creators Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrosi, who also direct six out of the eight episodes in this stunning HBO Max co-production limited series, lovingly and masterfully weave an epic tapestry of the life of Spanish trans icon Cristina "La Veneno" Ortiz (Daniela Santiago, Isabel Torres), based on her memoirs, Not A Whore, Not A Saint,... Continue Reading →

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And Just Like That…SJP, Cynthia Nixon & Kristin Davis to reunite for new Sex & the City series for HBO Max

With a video posted to her instagram account on Sunday that's already had over five million views, Sarah Jessica Parker made it official, the Sex and the City chronicles will continue on HBO Max with a new series And Just Like That... https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ4c3MDpU1f/ The Max Original series is based on both Candice Bushnell's book and... Continue Reading →

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TV Review: Pretend It’s A City ★★★★

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese and fellow New York icon, writer, wit, and public speaker Fran Lebowitz can't recall when they first met. When asked about their friendship during an on-stage interview seen in an archive clip in their new Netflix docu-series Pretend It's A City, Marty suggests it might have been at John Waters' 50th birthday... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: photographer Magnus Hastings on his new book Rainbow Revolution “I wanted to do something that was about the entire community”

Los Angeles-based British photographer, Magnus Hastings, has spent the last spent three years shooting images for his latest book, Rainbow Revolution, in London, LA, New York, and San Francisco. Hastings' elegantly simple concept—each subject was asked to strike a pose in a custom made white box—allowed for a wealth of creativity and individual expression of... Continue Reading →

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Theatre Review: Rent – 25th Anniversary Production (Sydney Opera House) ★★★1/2

Jonathan Larson’s iconic musical Rent is 25 years old this year and this 1990s period-piece is suddenly feeling sharply contemporary again. Forced evictions, gentrification, art vs. commerce, love and drugs - all told against the backdrop of a community managing a pandemic…welcome to 2021. Kicking off this anniversary year, a new production has settled into... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: erotic artist Sam Morris on his debut book Don’t Fall In Love, Sam – “usually my work is very carefully constructed but this is the reality of who I am & what I feel”

This month saw the publication of gay erotic artist Sam Morris' tender, intimate and emotional debut book Don't Fall In Love, Sam. Morris' unguarded personal essays take us behind his hugely popular online image as constructed by his visually sumptuous and carefully composed photography and video work, as he contemplates anxiety, sex, and sexuality as... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Timothy Ware-Hill & Arnon Manor on their powerful Netflix animated short film Cops and Robbers “Black Lives Matter can’t just be a saying it has to be an act”

The gut-wrenchingly powerful, deeply moving and ultimately hopeful animated short film, Cops and Robbers, directed by Arnon Manor and Timothy Ware-Hill, was written and performed by Ware-Hill in response to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year. Ware-Hill had initially filmed himself reciting his own impactful poem and posted the video to social media... Continue Reading →

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The Queer Review 2020 – LGBTQ+ highlights of the year

With so many queer spaces, bars, clubs, live venues, theatres, and cinemas closed for much of the year, and festivals cancelled or reimagined as virtual editions, we asked some of friends, including prominent culture makers and performers, to tell us their favourite LGBTQ+ art or events of 2020. Get in touch via social media using... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: real life husbands Ben Lewis & Blake Lee on starring in Lifetime’s LGBTQ holiday movie The Christmas Setup “the weight of it being part of television history didn’t immediately dawn on us”

Was there a convention where TV and film executives decided that this was the year to make the Yuletide gay? There have been a raft of queer-centred movies this season, including the heartwarming The Christmas Setup, Lifetime's first LGBTQ holiday romance, starring the adorable real life couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee. The film, which... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Drag legend Lady Bunny on clickbait, RuPaul, Larry Kramer & her holiday comedy show What Child is This? “it captures the essence of a Christmas where we’re supposed to feel festive but we’re in dire straits”

Certified drag legend, Wigstock creator and emcee, DJ, actress, singer-songwriter, and RuPaul's oldest friend, Lady Bunny, helps us to celebrate this socially distant holiday season with such aptly festive numbers as Santa's Spreadin' Covid Around, All I Want for Christmas (Is a Vaccine), and It's Beginning to Look Apocalyptic in her new comedy show What... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: The Prom ★★★★

While Broadway remains dark after more than nine months, with the help of a little movie magic and an impressively detailed set (production design by Jamie Walker McCall), The Prom, lights up 42nd street once more and delivers a joyous, thoroughly uplifting movie musical where the dialogue scenes pop just as much as the song... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Gay Chorus Deep South filmmaker David Charles Rodrigues, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir’s Terrance Kelly & San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Artistic Director Tim Seelig “the whole point of this tour was for us to lift up our brothers & sisters across the South”

In the wake of the 2016 election and the heightened divisive climate, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) was joined by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir (OIGC) on a 2017 tour of the Southern States with the most discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws. The tour was documented in the emotionally potent, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting Gay... Continue Reading →

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The Queer Review meets Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star Colman Domingo “she was fighting so many systems at that time being a gay woman in a male dominated industry”

This Friday December 18th sees the global Netflix release of the hotly awards-tipped Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, adapted from Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's 1984 play, starring Viola Davis as the trailblazing “Mother of the Blues”. The film, which marks Chadwick Boseman's final powerhouse screen performance, takes place during a recording session with Ma and... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: Queer Japan ★★★★1/2

Graham Kolbeins' documentary, Queer Japan, is packed with accounts of experiences and ideas from members of the LGBTQ community in Japan, the result of more than 100 interviews over three years. It gives insight into the lives of interesting and unconventional people who are challenging social norms for themselves and others. For all its outward... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Queer Japan クィア・ジャパン filmmaker Graham Kolbeins on exploring “the breadth & originality of Japanese queer culture in the contemporary moment”

LA-based Canadian queer filmmaker, writer, and designer Graham Kolbeins spent four years directing and editing his vibrant and frequently fascinating debut feature documentary, Queer Japan (クィア・ジャパン), which introduces us to a diverse range of contemporary LGBTQ+ artists and activists through 100 interviews. It is released in the US and Canada on Friday December 11th. Kolbeins'... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: The Prom stars Jo Ellen Pellman & Ariana DeBose on queer representation, LGBTQ+ role models & what they’d like to see in a sequel

With director Ryan Murphy’s joyous romantic comedy musical The Prom landing on Netflix this Friday December 11th, The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann had an exclusive chat with two of its stars, Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose. With screen legends like Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington, and Nicole Kidman involved, Pellman who's making her feature... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Half Brothers star Juan Pablo Espinosa on becoming the gay role model he never had “growing up in Colombia in a very macho culture there was always this stigma around being gay”

Los Angeles based Colombian actor—and let's face it major heartthrob—Juan Pablo Espinosa, who turned 40 in October, was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. Over the past two decades, since graduating from his drama studies at Emerson College in Boston, he's established an impressive career spanning theatre, television and movies. On stage he's taken on... Continue Reading →

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Ryan Murphy takes us to The Prom with his stellar cast Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Jo Ellen Pellman, Ariana DeBose, Keegan-Michael Key, James Corden & Andrew Rannells

With director Ryan Murphy's joyous queer romantic comedy musical, The Prom, landing on Netflix this Friday December 11th The Queer Review caught up—virtually of course—with the film's stellar ensemble cast and Murphy himself at the recent global press conference. Based on Chad Beguelin, Bob Martin and Matthew Sklar's Tony-nominated Broadway production, the screen adaptation sees... Continue Reading →

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Crunch Time – Film Review: Sound Of Metal ★★★

A good friend of mine, who has a disability, often shares with me his opinions of how cinema has looked at the various challenges as something to fix. He speaks about how through ableism, people get categorized as suffering from a disability rather than living with one. Some in the deaf community, for example, consider... Continue Reading →

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Meet Mateo Oxley under the mistletoe for “a touch of festive sparkle after a gruelling year” with his Christmas EP

Actor, singer, expert selfie-taker, and The Queer Review contributor, Mateo Oxley has leant his dreamy, soothing vocals to four festive tracks for the Mistletoe EP, just in time to make our Yuletide a little more gay. Based in the UK, Mateo's impressive stage credits include working with Punchdrunk and The National Theatre on their groundbreaking... Continue Reading →

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Sundance Film Festival 2021 expands reach with nationwide & global elements & a virtual Festival Village

The Sundance Institute has just unveiled its plans for the seven-day Sundance Film Festival, which will take place January 28th through February 3rd 2021. It will run digitally via a custom-designed online platform (festival.sundance.org) alongside drive-ins, independent arthouses, and a network of local community partnerships. The online expression of the Sundance Film Festival will provide... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: drag superstar BenDeLaCreme on her Holiday Special with Jinkx Monsoon “this is a hard time of year but we’re in it together”

Legendary drag superstars BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon have ruled Christmas the past two seasons with their tour of sold out live show spectaculars, To Jesus, Thanks for Everything! and All I Want for Christmas is Attention. This year, to save us from tears, they're giving us something special, and delivering their distinctive brand of festive... Continue Reading →

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Visual AIDS presents Day With(out) Art 2020: TRANSMISSIONS premieres November 30th at 6pm EST

For Day With(out) Art 2020, Visual AIDS presents TRANSMISSIONS, a program of six new videos considering the impact of HIV and AIDS beyond the United States. The video program brings together artists working across the world: Jorge Bordello (Mexico), Gevi Dimitrakopoulou (Greece), Las Indetectables (Chile), George Stanley Nsamba (Uganda), Lucía Egaña Rojas (Chile/Spain), and Charan Singh (India/UK). The program does not intend to give a comprehensive account of... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Bronze Avery on his new folk-pop disco track Sea Salt “there’s a great sense of pride when other queer people are inspired to live their truths because I’m doing it in my music”

Yesterday saw the release of LA based queer singer-songwriter-producer Bronze Avery's latest single Sea Salt, featuring Miss Benny. It's a folky fall slow dance anthem to warm the soul with beautifully smooth and sultry vocals and emotional lyrics that cut deep. The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann had an exclusive chat with Bronze Avery about... Continue Reading →

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Lesbian Actually – Emily Garside on why queer festive film Happiest Season is an important early Christmas gift

**Contains potential spoilers** Happiest Season, which arrives on Hulu in the US today Wednesday November 25th, ticks all the Christmas film and rom-com boxes. It’s got awkward family encounters and secrets. It’s got festive set ups from ice skating to Christmas parties. It has ghosts of Christmases past (and relationships past) and a healthy dose... Continue Reading →

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Who’s Afraid Of Aubrey Plaza? – Film Review: Black Bear ★★★★

Most aspiring writers, at one point or another, receive the advice to “write what you know”. Clearly, filmmaker Lawrence Michael Levine has taken that to heart with his tricky, startling, engaging feature, Black Bear. Transposing himself, possibly onto more than one character, Levine has made a film about filmmaking, artistic control, identity, marital fidelity, feminism,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Peter Macdissi on his Uncle Frank role “a Muslim from Saudi Arabia who was able to reconcile his religion with being gay, I thought that was refreshing to see”

Ahead of the release of Oscar-winner Alan Ball's latest feature film as writer and director, Uncle Frank, which lands on Amazon Prime Video this Wednesday November 25th, The Queer Review's editor James Kleinmann spoke exclusively with the movie's cast including Peter Macdissi. Peter plays Wally, the longterm partner of Paul Bettany's NYU professor character Frank... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Uncle Frank star Lois Smith on being Tony nominated for The Inheritance “it’s just a delight at this time when everything has gone splat”

Actress Lois Smith, who turned 90 earlier this month, received her third Tony nomination in October for her deeply moving performance in Matthew Lopez's epic gay play The Inheritance. Born in Kansas, Smith moved to New York City in 1951, making her Broadway debut the following year in Time Out for Ginger and her auspicious... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: as Paul Bettany takes on a gay role in his latest film Uncle Frank he shares a touching story about his father coming out late in life

Paul Bettany, the British born BAFTA and BIFA nominated star of acclaimed films such as Gangster No. 1, A Beautiful Mind, and Master &Commander: The Far Side of the World, made his stage debut in 1993 in London's West End in the Stephen Daldry directed production of An Inspector Calls. His first big screen role... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: Happiest Season ★★★★

There's a touching speech towards the end of Happiest Season, beautifully delivered by multiple Emmy-winner Dan Levy revitalising the gay best friend role, that eloquently makes the point that when it comes to coming out there's no one-size-fits-all experience. It's typical of Clea DuVall and Mary Holland's smart, funny, heartwarming and unsentimental screenplay which goes... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: Born to Be ★★★★

In 2015 New York became the ninth US state to require all health insurance plans to cover gender-affirming surgery. The following year New York City's Mount Sinai hospital opened its Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, with a medical team headed up by the cisgender Dr. Jess Ting. Tania Cypriano's compelling and moving feature documentary... Continue Reading →

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TV Review: The Crown season 4 ★★★★

The fourth season of the Golden Globe, Emmy and BAFTA-winning Netflix series The Crown, which launches globally on Sunday November 15th, spans the eleven and half years of Margaret Thatcher's time in 10 Downing Street from 1979 to 1990. Baroness Thatcher of course was no friend of the LGBTQ community. Growing up in Thatcher's Britain,... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: Ammonite ★★★★

Writer-director Francis Lee's follow up to his stunning 2017 debut feature God's Own Country, immerses us in the imagined day-to-day life of an often overlooked historical figure, English fossil collector and palaeontologist Mary Anning, in the absorbing, exquisitely crafted Ammonite. Mary (Kate Winslet) shares a humble but well-kept home with her ailing widowed mother Molly... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: filmmaker David Freyne on his queer comedy Dating Amber “it’s pretty autobiographical, all the really bad bits are true, all the really embarrassing stuff happened unfortunately!”

David Freyne returned to his hometown in Country Kildare in Ireland last summer to direct his semi-autobiographical screenplay, set in 1995, just two years after the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the country. The film, Dating Amber, which is released on demand and digital in the US today, is a platonic romantic comedy that sees two... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Dating Amber star Lola Petticrew “playing Amber helped me come to terms with my own sexuality – my sort of second coming out has been the most liberating thing”

Writer-director David Freyne's semi-autobiographical comedy Dating Amber, which recently delighted virtual audiences at both Toronto's Inside Out and New York's NewFest LGBTQ film festivals, focuses on the platonic love story between two queer teenagers, Eddie (played by Normal People's Fionn O'Shea) and Amber (rising star Lola Petticrew). Coming to terms with their own sexuality and... Continue Reading →

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Tonight: Brian Belovich’s Boys Don’t Wear Lipstick 20th anniversary virtual reading fundraiser featuring Jacob Tobia, Peppermint, Jonny Beauchamp & Margaret Cho

Brian Belovitch's GLAAD Award-nominated autobiographical play Boys Don’t Wear Lipstick celebrates its 20th anniversary with a virtual benefit playreading tonight, Monday November 9th at 8pm ET. Boys Don't Wear Lipstick, directed by Everett Quinton, details the writer's journey "from boyhood to manhood – by way of a 15-year detour through womanhood." The event will feature an all-star... Continue Reading →

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NewFest 2020 Film Review: Tahara ★★★1/2

Following the suicide of one of their peers, best friends Carrie (Madeline Grey DeFreece) and Hannah (Rachel Sennott) are forced to spend the afternoon at their upstate New York Hebrew school reflecting on the passing of a classmate they apparently hardly knew in this queer dark comedy. Unfurling compellingly more or less in real time,... Continue Reading →

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NewFest 2020 Film Review: Alice Júnior ★★★★

Gil Baroni's Alice Júnior is a neon pink filled delight that stylishly puts the T in teen movie. The dynamic, fast-paced opening sequence, with some great aerial shots by cinematographer Renato Ogata, immediately takes us into the coastal city of Recife in North Eastern Brazil and into the bedroom of the charismatic and self-assured titular... Continue Reading →

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LGBTQ+ highlights at virtual DOC NYC 2020

The virtual 11th edition of America’s largest documentary festival, DOC NYC runs from November 11th to 19th and will be available online throughout the US. The 2020 lineup of over 200 films, includes 107 features, with 23 world premieres and 19 US premieres. Over half of the features are directed or co-directed by women and... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Hugh Nini & Neal Treadwell on their book LOVING A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s “love is not straight, it’s not gay, it’s not bi, it’s just love & we all feel it the same way”

Hugh Nini and Neal Treadwell's stunning new book, LOVING A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s, is a collection of previously unpublished vernacular photography depicting romantic love between men that powerfully and movingly reasserts both that love is love and that we've always been here. A married couple themselves, Neal, who works in the... Continue Reading →

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32nd NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Festival jury award winners announced

The winners at the 32nd NewFest the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival were announced at a virtual ceremony on Sunday October 25th with top honours going to writer/director Anna Kerrigan for Cowboys which took the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize; director Assel Aushakimova for Welcome to the USA, which won the Grand Jury Prize for International Feature; director... Continue Reading →

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NewFest 2020 Film Review: Sublet ★★★★

Veteran Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox's outstanding new feature Sublet, co-written with Itay Segal, opens with the arrival of a jetlagged and disorientated fifty something gay man, Michael (The Inheritance's John Benjamin Hickey) to bustling Tel Aviv. He's a travel writer for The New York Times who has come to uncover the "real" city over a... Continue Reading →

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Theatre Review: Circle Jerk ★★★★

Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley's frequently hilarious high camp queer absurdist dark comedy Circle Jerk is very 2020. It's confronting, chaotic, unrelenting, far-fetched, deranged, and overstimulating. The theatrical equivalent of spending 100 minutes or so multi-screen doom scrolling yourself down a wormhole of alt right conspiracy theory threads punctuated with viral TikTok lip sync videos... Continue Reading →

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NewFest 2020 Film Review: Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story ★★★★

Posy Dixon's debut feature documentary Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story is a delicate, nuanced and life-affirming tribute to the experimental folk-jazz turned synth singer-songwriter. With an interview with the musician, who now goes by Glenn Copeland, at its centre, the film paints an intimate biographical portrait focused on his emotional and creative journey, with... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: historian, activist & Instagram creator Blair Imani “being a Black queer Muslim woman in America today means being strategic about how I show up & when I show up”

Historian, activist, and public speaker Blair Imani is fast approaching an audience of 300,000 Instagram followers whom she educates on topics that centre women and girls, Black communities and LGBTQ+ folks through her regular bite-sized Learn O’Clock and Smarter in Seconds Reels features, while offering more in-depth lessons on Patreon. In 2017, Blair came out... Continue Reading →

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TV Review: Equal ★★★★★

Equal is an ambitious, fast-paced, dynamic, creatively told, often gripping and frequently moving four-part docu-series landing on HBO Max this LGBTQ History Month to remind us that queer history in the USA did not begin and end with the Stonewall riots in June 1969. The final episode though, Stonewall: From Rebellion to Liberation, directed by... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Stephen Kijak showrunner of HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal “there was queer history in the image making as well as the actual storytelling”

The Max original LGBTQ+ civil rights docu-series Equal premieres on HBO Max today, Thursday October 22nd. Dynamically and stylishly breathing life and potent emotion into queer history, the series recontextualises the Stonewall riots in the final episode, having set out in the previous three episodes the long, often hidden, fight for equality that came before... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: director Kimberly Reed on episode 2 of HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal “to tell these stories about trans resistance was powerful”

The second episode of HBO Max's impactful four-part LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal, focuses on stories of trans pioneers and trans resistance. Bookended by the Compton's Cafteria riot, we're presented with figures that might already be familiar like Christine Jorgensen as well as names we're far less likely to have encountered, such as Black trans socialite,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: cinematographer Ava Benjamin Shorr on HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal “it’s a deeply emotional experience to recreate these people from the past”

Following her work as director of photography on Sam Feder's groundbreaking documentary Disclosure, Ava Benjamin Shorr has now lensed the dynamic and stirring four-part LGBTQ+ civil rights docu-series Equal, which premieres on HBO on Thursday October 22nd. Her work on the series saw her collaborate with directors Stephen Kijak and Kimberly Reed to create visually... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Yvie Oddly on her debut album Drag Trap “I wanted to carve out a space for queer people in hip hop”

Experimental drag queen and fine artist Yvie Oddly, aka Jovan Bridges, releases her sickening debut hip hop album Drag Trap on Friday October 23rd. Her unconventional, unpredictable and endlessly creative approach to drag, along with that signature deliciously dirty cackle, and gag-worthy physical contortions, saw her crowned the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 11... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: filmmaker Vivian Kleiman & curator Ashley Clark on Race, Sex & Cinema: The World of Marlon Riggs

This month, the Criterion Channel is celebrating the groundbreaking work and enduring legacy of the late queer Black filmmaker, activist, poet and educator Marlon Riggs. Race, Sex & Cinema: The World of Marlon Riggs features a complete retrospective of his still searingly urgent, provocative, nuanced, and beautifully crafted video work exploring Black identity and representation,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: queer film historian, archivist & filmmaker Jenni Olson “it’s kind of an amazing achievement to make a sexy 16mm urban landscape film”

This month sees the work of queer experiential filmmaker Jenni Olson celebrated on the Criterion Channel, with a five film retrospective, plus a new insightful interview. Included in the collection are Olson's two features, The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015), which both world premiered at Sundance. These, along with her 1998... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Grand Army star Amir Bageria “sexuality is obviously a very dominant part of this character but it’s not the only thing about him, there’s just so much going on”

The search for your latest Netflix binge ends right here. Gripping, nuanced and urgent, Brooklyn-set high school drama Grand Army, adapted from creator Katie Cappiello's own 2013 play Slut, follows the lives of a diverse group of students navigating contemporary teenage life. Among them is Indian-American Sid Pakam, played by Degrassi: Next Class star Amir... Continue Reading →

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Matthew Lopez’s queer two-part epic The Inheritance nominated for 11 Tony Awards including Best Play

The Broadway production of Matthew Lopez's epic two-part queer play The Inheritance has received 11 Tony Award nominations, while Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play featuring prominent queer characters has received 12 Tony nods, with both receiving Best Play nominations, alongside Grand Horizons and Sea Wall: A Life. The 2020 Tony nominees for Best Musical are... Continue Reading →

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Inside Out 2020 Film Review: Ahead of the Curve ★★★★

The experience of watching Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow's feature documentary Ahead of the Curve, which just played Toronto's Inside Out film festival before heading on to New York's NewFest, is much like spending an hour and half getting lost in the pages of your favourite queer magazine; insightful, stimulating, empowering, with a deep-dive... Continue Reading →

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Joe Biden, Angelica Ross, Jennifer Lopez, Carmen Carrera & Isiah Thomas to appear at QueerX Live! on October 11th part of Revry’s 5th annual QueerX fest

Joe Biden, Jennifer Lopez, Angelica Ross, Karamo Brown, Carmen Carrera, Isaiah Thomas, and GLAAD’s Sarah Kate Ellis, are among the many advocates and artists set to appear on Revry’s QueerX Live! awards show on National Coming Out Day, October 11th. The show will include screenings of the winners from QueerX’s film festival competition, along with performances by VINCINT, ROB.B, Debby Holiday, and... Continue Reading →

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Iris Prize LGBT+ Film Fest 2020 winners announced

The winners at this year's LGBT+ Iris Prize film festival were announced at a special awards ceremony on Saturday October 10th night including performances by Casi Wyn and Heather Small. Victoria Warmerdam's Short Calf Muscle (Kote Kuitspier) is the winner of the Iris Prize 2020, Cardiff’s International LGBT+ Short Film Prize, supported by The Michael... Continue Reading →

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LFF 2020 Film Review: I Am Samuel ★★★★

Peter Murimi's I Am Samuel, which has its European premiere at the London Film Festival on October 10th, is an intimate portrait of Samuel, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya, and his partner Alex. Shot in verité style, the documentary opens with footage of the two men visiting a beauty spot, a waterfall in a forest,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost talks Angels in America fundraiser & lessons from AIDS in the time of COVID-19 “it’s clear that prejudice & racism are again playing a role in the disastrous response from our government”

During this current global health crisis, amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research), has been working to identify gaps in current COVID-19 research efforts and to quickly mobilize resources to fill them. Drawing on 35 years of funding HIV research and working to find a cure for the 38 million people worldwide living with HIV, amfAR have... Continue Reading →

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Queer The Vote: National LGBTQ Task Force Launches Month of Action “2 million people identify as LGBTQ+ & are not registered to vote”

Today the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund announced an on-going Queer the Vote multi-faceted campaign to inform, educate and mobilize LGBTQ+ communities as we approach the November 3rd 2020 elections. Tonight, Wednesday October 7th at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT, there will be a Queer the Absentee Vote Text Party. The National LGBTQ Task Force... Continue Reading →

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Glenn Close, Jeremy O. Harris, Brian Tyree Henry, Laura Linney & Patti Luopne to appear in The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America online benefit for amfAR’s Fund to Fight COVID-19

The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) will present The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America this Thursday October 8th at 8:30p.m. EST. on Broadway.com’s YouTube channel to benefit amfAR’s Fund to Fight COVID-19. Working with playwright Tony Kushner, director Ellie Heyman has enlisted an impressive array of performers, who filmed themselves remotely, for this... Continue Reading →

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Inside Out 2020 Film Review: Jump, Darling ★★★1/2

This year’s Inside Out Toronto LGBTQ+ Film Festival opened with Jump, Darling, the feature debut of writer/director Philip J. Connell. On the surface, the tale of a young gay man escaping the big city to live with his grandmother in the countryside, reeks of every fish-out-of-water story ever conceived. The beauty of this film, however... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: No Ordinary Man filmmakers Chase Joynt & Amos Mac on reclaiming & reframing the narrative of jazz musician & trans icon Billy Tipton

One of the highlights of last month's Toronto International Film Festival was the extraordinary No Ordinary Man, which world premiered at TIFF's semi-virtual 45th edition. The thought-provoking and emotionally potent feature documentary takes an innovative approach to reclaim and reframe the life story and legacy of popular 1940s and 50s jazz musician—and transmasculine icon—Billy Tipton,... Continue Reading →

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Salem Horror Fest 2020 Review: Roommate Wanted ★★1/2

Horror-comedy Roommate Wanted, from director Michael McCartney, is a classic case of housemates-gone-bad. It’s a tale of all of the different ways white male privilege runs wild; it’s a typical horror story about a man with many personalities in his head; and it’s also a surprisingly sweet look at a young woman coming to terms... Continue Reading →

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Salem Horror Fest 2020 Review: Hunger ★★★

Judah (Judah Vivancos) is a dancer. He’s a beautiful dancer and a beautiful man, lithe and muscled and with perfect razor-angled stubble. He dances primarily with the alluring Rebekah (Leonor Campillo), and while their choreographer and director have a lot to say about how they can improve, director Manu Herrera’s camera captures their performance with... Continue Reading →

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Salem Horror Fest 2020 Review: The Strings ★★★★

One of the more esoteric films premiering this weekend at the digital Salem Horror Festival is director Ryan Glover’s debut The Strings. I’d call the film a slow-burn, except The Strings doesn’t burn at all. Instead, it’s a deeply unsettling film that sticks to your bones like a deadly winter chill, seeping under your skin... Continue Reading →

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30th anniversary Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival launches with David Bowie biopic Stardust drive-in premiere, plus fest highlights

The 30th annual Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, Canada’s largest LGBTQ film festival, opens today Thursday October 1st with the drive-in premiere of David Bowie biopic Stardust. Set in 1971, a 24 year-old David Bowie (Johnny Flynn) embarks on his first road trip to America with Mercury Records publicist Ron Oberman (Marc Maron), only... Continue Reading →

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Big Gay Energy – Exclusive: Jayse Vegas unveils his latest music video & new version of his trap pop single Energy “I wanted to bring people back to the experience of being at one of my shows”

Brooklyn-based queer musician Jayse Vegas has just unveiled his latest music video, his fifth in as many months, for his single Energy, shot at NYC LGBTQ+ nightlife venue 3 Dollar Bill. "I really miss performing, and passing along great energy through my art on stage," the 25 year-old New York native singer-songwriter told The Queer... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Tony-nominated The Boys in the Band star Robin de Jesús “being a part of this cast really helped me find that pride & that gay ancestral power to step into”

Robin de Jesús received both critical acclaim and his third Tony nomination for his show stealing, hilarious yet soulful, performance as the fabulously flamboyant Emory in the Ryan Murphy produced 2018 Tony-winning Broadway revival of Mart Crowley's groundbreaking play The Boys in the Band. He's now reprising that role, alongside his all-star, all publicly gay... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Queen of Bounce Big Freedia on her new documentary Freedia Got A Gun “there’s an epidemic happening here in New Orleans with gun violence & it needs some serious attention”

New Orleans local hero, international hip hop legend, and the undisputed Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia, is using her massive platform to explore the complexities of the epidemic of gun violence in her city which disproportionately impacts Black communities, and to light a new way forward with the documentary Freedia Got A Gun. Following a... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: The Boys in the Band ★★★★★

Premiering Off-Broadway in April 1968, Mart Crowley's groundbreaking play The Boys in the Band was a hit with queer and straight theatregoers alike. Two years later it was adapted for the screen by Crowley, and upon the playwright's insistence the William Friedkin directed movie featured the entire cast from the original stage production. Initially hailed... Continue Reading →

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64th BFI London Film Festival LGBTQ+ highlights

The 64th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) runs from October 7th-18th, and like many other festivals, Covid-19 restrictions mean that it's taking a different form this year. Given current circumstances the 2020 programme offers a reduced number of feature films, just 58, plus collections of short films and experimenta, but with an expanded reach across... Continue Reading →

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TIFF 2020 award winners announced

The 45th Toronto International Film Festival closed last night with a drive-screening of Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy. “TIFF 2020 was a year we won’t soon forget,” said Cameron Bailey, TIFF Artistic Director and Co-Head. “Overthe last 10 days, we have experienced community in the truest sense. The pandemic hit TIFF hard and we responded... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: New Queer Cinema digital pioneer Todd Verow on his latest feature Goodbye Seventies “all of my films have led up to this one”

Todd Verow's 1995 feature debut Frisk elicited strong reactions, resulting in a near riot, when it world premiered on as the closing night of the 19th San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (now Frameline) at the iconic Castro Theatre, before going on to screen at Sundance, Berlin and Toronto. Based on Dennis Cooper's... Continue Reading →

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“He would say to me over & over again, ‘Step into your power'” – Ratched star & exec producer Sarah Paulson talks collaborating with Ryan Murphy, alongside her co-stars Sharon Stone & Cynthia Nixon

The Queer Review had a very special Zoom conversation, along with some other members of the press, ahead of today's launch of season one of Ratched on Netflix. The virtual press conference was attended by lead actor and executive producer Sarah Paulson, along with some of her co-stars including Cynthia Nixon and Sharon Stone. Created... Continue Reading →

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Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival marks 38th year with virtual event Sept 24th – Oct 4th

The world's second-oldest queer film festival, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival, will mark its 38th anniversary next week with its first virtual edition. Reeling38's programme will include 30 features and 54 short films from 21 countries, along with more cast and filmmaker Q&As than ever. As there will be no in-person screenings, over... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: alt-pop newcomer Luke Baron on his peachy Call Me By Your Name inspired debut single Summer Of ’83 (Call Me By Your Name)

Today, Friday September 18th, sees the release of peachy pop newcomer Luke Baron's debut single, inspired by one of the most beloved queer movies of recent years (or ever), Luca Guadagnino's 2017 Oscar-winning Call Me By Your Name, based on the novel by André Aciman. The dreamy anthem, Summer Of '83 (Call Me By Your... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Bright Light Bright Light takes us on a guided tour of his new album Fun City “for queer people pop music has always been a kind of safe haven”

The Welsh-born New York City-dwelling queer prince of indie electro pop, Bright Light Bright Light, aka Rod Thomas, is about to unleash his latest album, Fun City. The Queer Review's James Derek Dwyer calls it, "a slick, heartfelt dance floor masterpiece that wears its purple influences as proudly as its star-studded features". And for an... Continue Reading →

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TIFF 2020 Film Review: Falling ★★★1/2

Thrice Oscar-nominated actor and Renaissance man Viggo Mortensen makes his writing and directing feature film debut with the poignant family drama Falling, also composing the film's beautiful piano led score. Currently in the running for Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF, Falling had its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance. Mortensen plays John Peterson,... Continue Reading →

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Madonna will direct, co-write & produce movie based on her life story “who better to tell it than me”

After Madonna teasing the project on social media in recent weeks, Universal Pictures announced today that the studio is developing an all-new untitled movie based on the "untold true story" of groundbreaking artist and LGBTQ ally and activist Madonna, who will direct the film and co-write the screenplay with Oscar-winner Diablo Cody (Juno, Tully). Oscar-nominee... Continue Reading →

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Sydney’s Queer Screen kicks off virtual festival September 17th with 90% of lineup available nationally

Following the lead of other film festivals, Sydney's Queer Screen is delivering its 8th edition lineup of over 40 narrative features, documentaries and shorts, including 29 Australian premieres, digitally - making 90% of the programme accessible nationally online from Thursday September 17th to September 27th. “This festival, we get to queer up screens and devices... Continue Reading →

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When one of us shines, all of us shine! Schitt’s Creek wins big at LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ inaugural Dorians TV Awards

The inaugural GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics' Dorians TV Awards were celebrated in style on Sunday night with a two-hour virtual event broadcast on LGBTQ+ streamer Revry: The Dorians TV Toast 2020. Hosted by talk radio personality and GALECA member Karel, the night included special guest appearances and acceptance speeches from the likes... Continue Reading →

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TV Review: Ratched ★★★★

Netflix's Ratched is just what the doctor ordered: a pulpy, twisty, hugely entertaining thrill-ride with layered, complex characters matched by some nuanced, phenomenal performances. It's lavishly stylish yet emotionally potent. No wonder it's already been greenlit for a second season. Created by Evan Romansky and developed by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Ratched is inspired... Continue Reading →

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TIFF 2020 Film Review: No Ordinary Man ★★★★

Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt take us on a thought-provoking and emotionally potent journey as they track the life and legacy of trans masculine icon American jazz musician Billy Tipton, who enjoyed a successful career in the 1940s and 50s. When he died in 1989 his story was co-opted and sensationalised by the media,... Continue Reading →

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TIFF 2020 Film Review: The Way I See It ★★★1/2

You might know the name Pete Souza from from his Instagram account that has amassed over 2.3 million followers with images of Barack Obama being presidential; showing human empathy, dignity, grace and a concern for others, traits rarely, if ever, evidenced by the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Souza doesn't need to mention the... Continue Reading →

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TIFF 2020 Film Review: Shiva Baby ★★★★★

The 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) got underway today in true 2020 style with a mix of virtual and socially distanced in-person screenings, remote video Q&As, press conferences and in-depth actor and filmmaker conversations. The first film I screened, from the comfort of my own sofa in New York, saw my TIFF-at-home get off... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: queer pop musician Aish Divine on his throbbing new track BBC “we can’t discuss sexuality without discussing porn’s role in how we understand, consume & express it”

Get those eggplant emojis ready. New York based queer pop singer, writer and composer Aish Divine has just unleashed his throbbing BBC. The video for this pulsating new track has already racked up nearly a quarter of a million views on YouTube in just a few weeks and marks the second offering from his forthcoming... Continue Reading →

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Billy Porter, Janelle Monáe, Laverne Cox & Dan Levy among the stars set to appear at LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ virtual first Dorians TV Awards Winners Toast

Janelle Monáe, Regina King, Billy Porter, Hugh Jackman, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy are among the nominees appearing in GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics’ inaugural Dorians TV Awards Winners Toast 2020, on LGBTQ+ streaming service revry this Sunday September 13th at 5pm PT/8pm ET. During the epic two-hour virtual event, hosted by Karel... Continue Reading →

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TIFF 2020: LGBTQ+ highlights at 45th Toronto International Film Festival

The 45th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) gets underway this Thursday September 10th and will run both virtually and with limited socially distanced in-person screenings until Saturday September 19th. The Queer Review is looking forward to bringing you news, reviews and interviews from this year's TIFF, which features a number of LGBTQ+ related shorts, documentaries... Continue Reading →

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TV Review: Away ★★★1/2

New space drama Away, which launches on Netflix today Friday September 4th, feels like a show out of time. The series focuses on mankind’s first mission to Mars, with a crew of international astronauts led by an American, Commander Emma Green (Hilary Swank). In her crew are a Russian cosmonaut and engineer Misha Popov (Mark... Continue Reading →

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Slip And Die – Film Review: Class Action Park ★★★1/2

In 1978, Gene Mulvihill, a Wall Street penny stock scammer, created New Jersey’s infamous Action Park. Featuring insanely dangerous water slides, go-carts, boats and more, which skirted regulations and safety laws, the park added many injuries and some deaths to its roster before closing in 1996. Seth Porges and Chris Charles Scott’s documentary, Class Action... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Closing Night Film Review: Two Eyes ★★★★★

This year’s Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival came to a close tonight with the world premiere of writer-director Travis Fine’s exceptional Two Eyes. Fine, who also serves as editor, effortlessly weaves an ambitious, rich cinematic tapestry with a triptych of narratives that explore and celebrate the spectrum of queerness and gender identity over more than... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: trans non-binary trailblazer Kate Bornstein on her new film Two Eyes “doing this role taught me a lot about how I want to act in the world”

The world premiere of writer-director Travis Fine's stunning queer cinematic tapestry Two Eyes will close this year's Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival tonight, Sunday August 30th, with both drive-in and virtual screenings. Set over three time periods - 1860s, 1970s and present day - we're introduced to a diverse range of characters at different... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: star of Outfest 2020 Closing Night film ‘Two Eyes’ Nakhane “I’m drawn to the whole idea of play in queer identity”

This year's Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival closes on Sunday August 30th with both drive-in and virtual screenings of Travis Fine's exceptional Two Eyes. It's an ambitious, stirring, rich cinematic tapestry that weaves a triptych of narratives exploring the spectrum of queerness and gender identity over more than a hundred years. Set in the... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: Minyan ★★★★

A gay Brooklyn teenager (The Inheritance’s Samuel H. Levine) charts his own sexual awakening and the complexities of his Russian Jewish family in documentarian Eric Steel’s narrative debut Minyan. The work of James Baldwin is certainly in the zeitgeist again as, much like Tomasz Jedrowski's brilliant debut novel Swimming in the Dark, Giovanni’s Room provides... Continue Reading →

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Outfest Film Review: T11 Incomplete ★★★★

According to the Institute on Disability, “If people with disabilities were a formally recognized minority group, at 19% of the population, they would be the largest minority group in the United States.” They would, in fact, be the largest minority group in the world, but in terms of representation, among many other issues, the world... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: Monsoon ★★★★

Handsome Henry 'handsome' Golding stars in this drama by Hong Khaou (Lilting) about a man returning to his home country and trying to come to terms with his past and all the things he’s lost. But don't think this is Crazy Rich Gaysians, Khaou has something more rewarding in store. Lilting was one of the... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Bill & Ted Face the Music star Brigette Lundy-Paine “most of my generation has a nuanced understanding of gender that means I don’t have to spend time justifying myself”

Yes, way! We got to have a most excellent conversation with queer non-binary actor, musician and Waif magazine co-founder Brigette Lundy-Paine (they/them) about starring opposite Keanu Reeves as Ted's daughter Bille in Bill & Ted Face The Music, on demand and in theatres this Friday August 28th. The Atypical star also appears alongside Samara Weaving... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: Dramarama ★★★★

Jonathan Wysocki’s debut feature Dramarama is about the last summer after high school, after the curtain has fallen in the high school auditorium for the last time, just before the cast is about to split up and head their separate ways, everyone going off to college to pursue their dreams. Gene (Nick Pugliese) has decided... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: teen comedy Dramarama filmmaker Jonathan Wysocki – “I feel like there’s a secret society of us.”

One of the best films so far at this year’s Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival is Dramarama, a sweet comedy about five drama club friends getting together for one last murder-mystery dinner party before they all go off to college. It’s an unconventional teen flick, one where the characters are largely resistant to change instead... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: The Carnivores ★★★1/2

Over the years, too many LGBTQ+ films have relied on tired tropes to tell our stories. Coming out angst, U-haul lesbians, and drugged out circuit queens have seemingly been done to death. Imagine my surprise while watching writer/director Caleb Johnson’s The Carnivores, which on the surface trots out the old chestnut of Lesbian Bed Death,... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: Gossamer Folds ★★★★

Director Lisa Donato’s Gossamer Folds focuses on the heartwarming friendship between two Kansas City suburban neighbours in 1986. When his parents decide to move the family away from the city in an attempt to salvage their marriage, ten year-old Tate (Jackson Robert Scott) is ordered by his prejudiced father Billy (a suitably menacing Shane West)... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: Cicada ★★★★

In New York City in the hazy summer of 2013, Ben (Matthew Fifer) is finally coming into his own. He’s told his mother that he’s bisexual — she’s fine with it and reassures him that “a mother always knows.” As his friend puts it, Ben is “back on the dick,” filling his days and nights... Continue Reading →

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Outfest 2020 Film Review: Two of Us (Deux) ★★★1/2

Two pensioners, Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Madeleine (Martine Chevallier), living across the hall from each other are at the centre of Filippo Meneghetti’s debut feature film, Two of Us (Deux). These women are not just neighbours, friends and companions as Madeleine’s children believe, they are long-term lovers. But when Madeleine is rushed to hospital, Nina... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Stage Mother star Allister Macdonald “not only is it such a queer story, but it was so queer making it”

One of the standout performances of Thom Fitzgerald's uplifting comedy Stage Mother, which opens in select US theatres and on demand this Friday August 21st, comes from queer Canadian actor Allister MacDonald who portrays a talented San Fransisco drag queen with an inspired name, Joan of Arkansas. MacDonald appears in the movie alongside Oscar-nominee Jacki... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Alexandra Grey on her new film Gossamer Folds “I hadn’t seen a lot of roles specifically written for Black trans women”

Lisa Donato's heartwarming drama Gossamer Folds, produced by Yeardley Smith, played in competition at last week's Bentonville Film Festival and will be available to stream for a limited time from this Thursday August 20th as part of the 2020 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. Set in 1986 in the suburbs of Kansas City, the... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: drag queen legend Jackie Beat & award-winning Tangerine actress Mya Taylor on their new movie Stage Mother

An audience favourite at January's Palm Springs International Film Festival, Thom Fitzgerald’s Stage Mother is in select US theatres and on demand from Friday August 21st. The uplifting comedy stars Oscar-nominee Jacki Weaver as a small town Texas choir director, Maybelline, who unexpectedly inherits her estranged son's struggling gay bar in San Francisco and decides... Continue Reading →

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EP Review: Show Pony by Orville Peck ★★★★

Enigmatic gay country star Orville Peck released his debut album Pony last year. Peck famously wears a showy, fringed mask in all of his public appearances. Sometimes it’s glittery and bedazzled; sometimes it’s made of leather, and paired with the right pair of chaps, works almost like a kink object. He refuses to say why,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Coree Woltering on competing in World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji – “I hadn’t realised that I was going to be the openly gay Black trail runner, but I am & I’m totally fine with that”

The Amazon Original Series World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji premieres on Amazon Prime Video this Friday August 14th 2020. As well as being an epic, often genuinely inspiring and nail-biting thrill-ride, Toughest Race, presented by Bear Grylls, is also the perfect chance to see determined humans at their most active in some breathtakingly exotic locations... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: the ACLU lawyers at centre of The Fight for LGBTQ, abortion & immigration rights – Chase Strangio, Joshua Block, Brigitte Amiri & Lee Gelernt

The filmmaking team behind 2016's critically acclaimed, BAFTA nominated Weiner, proved that they were adept at capturing rivetingly unselfconscious, humanising, and often very funny, footage of the former Congressman turned New York mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner. Next for The Fight, directors Eli B. Despres, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, joined by executive producer Kerry Washington,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: HBO’s I May Destroy You star Paapa Essiedu on his groundbreaking queer character “me & Michaela Coel wanted to create someone that felt real & truthful”

I May Destroy You, a co-production between HBO and the BBC, is fast becoming one of the most talked about television series of the year on both sides of the Atlantic. Centring authentic Black voices and exploring frank and nuanced questions around sexual consent and exploitation it is compelling and essential viewing. Written and created... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: John Lewis: Good Trouble ★★★★

Dawn Porter’s feature length documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble is both an up close and personal biographical study of the activist and longstanding public servant, as well as a compelling examination of the history of the Civil Rights movement, through Lewis’ vital role in it. What results is a fascinating and inspiring chronicle of an extraordinary life... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Disclosure filmmaker Sam Feder “Trans people are the experts on their own history & we don’t need anyone talking about us or for us”

In the spirit of the landmark documentaries The Celluloid Closet and Ethnic Notions, Sam Feder’s ambitious, ground-breaking and nuanced Disclosure, which launches globally on Netflix on Friday June 19th, examines over a hundred years of trans screen representation. Covering an impressive range of frequently damaging trans portrayals and storylines, Disclosure takes in Oscar-winning movies like... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Hulu’s Love, Victor showrunner & exec producer Brian Tanen “I think this kind of representation will really matter to kids who are questioning”

This Wednesday June 17th sees the mid-Pride month release of all ten episodes of the new Hulu Original series Love, Victor. Set in the world of the 2018 GLAAD award-winning movie Love, Simon, which was inspired by Becky Albertalli’s much-loved YA novel Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the series stars Michael Cimino as Victor, a... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: queer Mexican filmmaker Bruno Santamaría on his delicate portrait of gender expression Things We Dare Not Do “it was a very personal movie & it changed my life”

Selected to play at Mexico's cancelled Guadalajara Film Festival in March, queer director, cinematographer and co-editor Bruno Santamaría's hauntingly beautiful Things We Dare Not Do/Cosas que no hacemos finally premiered in the World Showcase section at the 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which ran online from May 28th until June 6th. Following his... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Navajo Drag Queen featured on HBO’s We’re Here Lady Shug “normally people who are not queer or two-spirit or part of our culture speak for us”

If you're a regular reader of The Queer Review you'll already know that we are big fans of HBO's We're Here, which has been helping to uplift us and give us some comfort and hope during self-isolation. And, without fail, making us cry! We've already spoken exclusively to We're Here's drag mothers, Drag Race alum,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: HBO’s We’re Here & Drag Race star Shangela “when things are going on in our society that are very heavy a lot of times people will look to drag queens to lift them up”

Can I get a Hallelloo up in here? Shangela Laquifa Wadley aka D.J. Pierce burst on to our television screens a decade ago competing in the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race. She might've been first to sashay away that year, but you can't keep a fierce queen down and she was back for the... Continue Reading →

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LGBTQ Organizations Unite to Combat Racial Violence

"How many Black people have to die before anti-Black violence is taken seriously? Our thoughts are with George Floyd’s loved ones for their untenable loss. And we support the ongoing protests underway in Minneapolis and St. Paul demanding that the four officers who were involved in this fatality be arrested and charged with murder. Today, Hennepin... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Drag Race’s blessed & highly favoured Heidi N Closet “it’s amazing how the drag community has been able to adapt in these difficult times”

She may not have made it to tomorrow night's RuPaul's Drag Race season 12 grand finale, but she has undoubtedly won an indelible place in viewers' hearts, and is likely to snatch this year's Miss Congeniality title. Hailing from the small country town of Ramseur, North Carolina, Heidi added some new phrases to the Drag... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: 1950s NYC drag queen doc P.S. Burn This Letter Please filmmakers Michael Seligman & Jennifer Tiexiera “gay history did not begin at Stonewall”

Due to world premiere at 2020's postponed Tribeca Film Festival, a stunning new documentary co-directed by Michael Seligman and Jennifer Tiexiera, P.S. Burn This Letter Please now streaming on Discovery+, looks back at the lives of several New York drag queens during the 1950s and '60s, and introduces us to some of them now in... Continue Reading →

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Film Review: Vote Neil ★★★★

Honora Talbott’s surprisingly moving documentary short Vote Neil was due to have its New York premiere at this month’s Tribeca Film Festival. It is an up close and personal portrait of two US Marine vets, Neil Rafferty who is running for a seat in Alabama's House of Representatives and his fiancé (now husband) Michael Rudulph,... Continue Reading →

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Exclusive Interview: Lithuanian LGBTQ+ activist & filmmaker Romas Zabarauskas on The Lawyer “people speak about diversity as if it’s something additional, but it’s not, it’s just reality”

August 2020 US RELEASE UPDATE: The Lawyer is available now on DVD via TLA Releasing and to stream via Dekkoo. For the last decade Lithuanian filmmaker and LGBTQ+ activist Romas Zabarauskas has been making provocative, genre-bending films underpinned by queer characters. His debut short Porno Melodrama, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, and his... Continue Reading →

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