Director-producer-editor-colorist-composer Sterling Hampton IV's Merman is a poignant, beautifully layered portrait of André Chambers, a 58-year-old Black queer man living in Palm Springs, where the 11-minute short film was shot on location, featuring some stunning desert scapes. In its specificity about André's life, the Holly Shorts Social Impact Award-winning film is a powerful reminder of... Continue Reading →
Charles Lum (1958 - 2021) was a New York based artist and filmmaker who died of AIDS-related lymphoma on November 30th, 2021. As an HIV activist and long-term survivor, much of his work deals confrontationally with gay sexuality ethics and how the changing realities of HIV affect culture and personal experience. His shorts include Sex... Continue Reading →
Among the queer highlights at last month's SXSW Online 2021 was the short film Femme, by co-writers-directors Ng Choon Ping and Sam H. Freeman. The film stars I May Destroy You's Paapa Essiedu as Jordan, a femme queer man in London who leaves the safety of a night out clubbing with his friends and gets... Continue Reading →
I May Destroy You's Paapa Essiedu gives a captivating performance as the fiercely femme queer Londoner Jordan in Ng Choon Ping and Sam H. Freeman's gripping and unsettling short film Femme which world premiered at SXSW Online 2021 today as part of the festival's Narrative Shorts Competition. Beautifully dressed in a sparkly top and studded... Continue Reading →
Ahead of tomorrow's SXSW Online 2021 launch, we take a look at some of the LGBTQ+ feature, short, episodic, VR, and panel discussion highlights at this year's virtual festival. SXSW Online 2021 runs Tuesday March 16th to Saturday March 20th. Explore the full festival lineup at Online.SXSW.com. SXSW Online 2021 LGBTQ+ Panels: Expanding Queer Cinema... Continue Reading →
For many years, most LGBTQ+ festivals reserved their best short films for the Boys and Girls Shorts programs. Usually deemed the sexiest, funniest, or most cinematic of the bunch, they typically play to sold out audiences. Fortunately, shorts submissions have diversified and have showcased such incredible talent that festivals like Outfest offer a whole host... Continue Reading →
Peccadillo Pictures' hit LGBTQ short film series Boys on Film has introduced us to a wealth of emerging British and international queer talent over the past two decades. This Monday May 18th sees Peccadillo celebrate its twenieth birthday and the worldwide DVD and VOD (via Vimeo) release of Peccadillo's twenieth gay short film anthology, Boys... Continue Reading →
This Wednesday May 6th saw the YouTube premiere of a new LGBTQ short film from British renaissance man Leon Lopez, Hey Google, which addresses isolation and loneliness due to social distancing measures. The actor, filmmaker and musician, has directed 10 shorts, the feature Soft Lad, as well as multiple episodes of long-running British soaps Hollyoaks... Continue Reading →
Due to have its world premiere at Tribeca 2020, director Letia Solomon’s gripping short film The Cypher, written by Wes Akwuobi focuses on Khalil (Nigel Cox) as he prepares to face Yung Reap (O’Shay Neal) in a freestyle rap battle in Philadelphia. Wasting no time, the film opens mid-action with the semi-final of The Cypher... Continue Reading →
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 →
