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 →
Film Review: No Straight Lines – The Rise of Queer Comics ★★★1/2
Directed and produced by Peabody Award-winner Vivian Kleiman (a longtime collaborator of filmmaker Marlon Riggs), the beautifully crafted documentary feature No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics, which received its world premiere at last month's Tribeca Film Festival, chronicles the history of queer comics by focusing on five lesbian and gay trailblazing cartoonists, with... 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 →
LGBTQ+ highlights at SXSW Online 2021
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 →
BFI Flare 2021 Film Review: Cured ★★★★
Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer's riveting feature documentary Cured, which had its world premiere at Outfest and screens this month as part of the virtual 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival, examines the fascinating chapter in queer history that saw gay liberation activists successfully overturn the US psychiatric profession's classification of homosexuality as a... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
Out on Film Atlanta’s LGBTQ Film Festival goes virtual for 11-day event
Established in 1987, Atlanta's Out On Film LGBTQ Film Festival is in the midst of its 11-day 2020 virtual edition, which ends on Sunday October 4th. The 33rd Out on Film offers a diverse selection of LGBTQIA+ narrative features, documentaries and shorts, with 82 films from 20 countries. The festival opened on September 24th with... Continue Reading →
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 →
