Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer's riveting feature documentary Cured, which opens the fall season of PBS' Independent Lens on Monday October 11th, examines the fascinating chapter in queer history that saw gay liberation activists successfully overturn the US psychiatric profession's classification of homosexuality as a mental illness. Using archive photographs and video footage, recently discovered... Continue Reading →
Outfest LA 2021 Film Review: Rebel Dykes ★★★★★
Harri Shanahan and Sian Williams' feature documentary Rebel Dykes, which receives its Los Angeles premiere at Outfest LA 2021 on Saturday August 14th (also screening virtually August 15th-17th), is a rousing, celebratory, and considered examination of London's rebel dyke subculture of the 1980s and its legacy. The film's punky, DIY aesthetic captures the anarchic spirit... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Ailey director Jamila Wignot “I wanted the film to feel like an epic saga in the way that his dance works do”
Emmy-winning director Jamila Wignot's Ailey, a compelling and moving portrait of a towering figure in modern dance, Alvin Ailey, world premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. "Unlike many documentaries about artists, Ailey gives us a substantial insight into his creative process", writes James Kleinmann in his five... Continue Reading →
Film Review: North by Current ★★★★★
North by Current will show as part of POV’s 34th season, broadcasting on Monday, November 1st at 10 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) and streaming online at pov.org. The film will be available to stream until December 31st, 2021. Angelo Madsen Minax's remarkable documentary feature North By Current—which world premiered at the 2021 Berlin... Continue Reading →
Film Review: Changing The Game ★★★★★
Emmy-winner Michael Barnett's compelling feature documentary about transgender teen athletes Changing the Game, which launches on Hulu on Tuesday June 1st 2021, had its world premiere at Tribeca back in 2019, going on to be a hit at LGBTQ+ festivals across the US and internationally, winning audience awards at both Frameline and Outfest. The film... Continue Reading →
TV Review: Pride ★★★★★
Taking viewers on a journey through LGBTQ+ history, politics, and everyday life in the USA from the 1950s up until the present day, the ambitious six-episode docuseries Pride, which premiered on FX on Friday night and has begun streaming on Hulu, builds into something powerful, stirring, and monumental. Each episode is helmed by a different... Continue Reading →
LGBTQ+ highlights at Hot Docs 2021
North America’s largest documentary festival, Hot Docs, will present its 28th annual edition online at hotdocs.ca from April 29th to May 9th 2021, available for audiences across Canada to stream. With over 200 films from 66 countries in 12 programs, 50 per cent of the directors in the festival lineup are women. “Documentaries are vitally... Continue Reading →
SXSW Online 2021 Film Review: Disintegration Loops ★★★★
As someone who has lived in Manhattan throughout the pandemic, the black and white shots of the vacant city streets and landmarks which open David Wexler's Disintegration Loops—world premiering at SXSW Online 2021—struck me as one of the most evocative works I've seen so far that captures a sense of what being here was like... Continue Reading →
SXSW Online 2021 Film Review: Charli XCX: Alone Together ★★★★
UPDATE: Charli XCX: Alone Together is on Hulu and on-demand from Friday January 28th 2022. In the early days of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, global pop star Charli XCX announced that she would write and record an entire new album, along with creating the visuals, from self-quarantine in her home in LA, while promising... Continue Reading →
BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: Rebel Dykes ★★★★★
UPDATE: Rebel Dykes opens in UK cinemas and is released on digital Friday November 26th 2021. Harri Shanahan and Sian Williams' feature documentary Rebel Dykes, which receives its world premiere as part of the virtual 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival running March 17th to 28th and its Australian premiere at the Melbourne Queer... Continue Reading →