'Tis the season for holiday movies, and filmmaker Christin Baker and Tello Films (an LGBTQ+ women's focused production, distribution company, and VOD platform launched by Baker in 2009) have been working to bring queer women to the forefront of the holiday rom-com over the past few years, with 2019's Season of Love and 2020's I... Continue Reading →
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 →
One of the queer highlights at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, where writer-director Filippo Meneghetti's debut narrative feature had its world premiere, Two of Us (Deux) went on to a successful international festival run including playing the BFI London Film Festival and Outfest, and winning the Outstanding First Feature Award at last year's Frameline.... Continue Reading →
Part of Sundance 2021's Spotlight program, director Mona Fastvold's Queer Lion-winning The World to Come, adapted from a short story by Jim Shepard, immerses us in the bleak daily life of a contemplative mid-nineteenth century woman, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), living on the stark, unforgiving Northeastern frontier with her husband Dyer (Casey Affleck). The film opens... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
