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 →
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 to involve her fans—or Angels as they're known—many of whom are LGBTQ+, via zoom and... Continue Reading →
While the drag queen presidential debate challenge on RuPaul's Drag Race might seem a little far-fetched, like so much on the show it is actually a homage to real queer history. Following an earlier bid for mayor of Chicago as detailed in the film Drag in for Votes, in 1992 Joan Jett Blakk announced, "We're... Continue Reading →
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 Film Festival on Friday March 19th, is a rousing, celebratory, and considered examination of London's rebel... Continue Reading →
With an overview of the ACT UP story having been told in compelling and detailed documentaries such as Jim Hubbard's United in Anger: A History of ACT UP and David France's How to Survive a Plague, it's pleasing to now see significant members being focused on individually, such as trans trailblazer Connie Norman, a broadcaster,... Continue Reading →
Golden Globe nominated screenwriter and playwright Susan Sandler makes her feature documentary directorial debut with Julia Scotti: Funny That Way—available to watch online until March 21st as part of this year's virtual Athena Film Festival at Barnard College—a tender and heartwarming portrait of the charismatic trans comedian. If you watch America's Got Talent you'll likely... Continue Reading →
At the start of each of the four episodes in the new docu-series Trans in Trumpland, streaming now on Topic, we hear the unsettling words of candidate Trump vowing, "I will do everything in my power to protect our L...G...B...T...Q citizens", as he struggles to utter those letters, followed by snippets of news reports of... Continue Reading →
Yana Ugrekhelidze's debut feature documentary Instructions for Survival opens with harrowing footage of an anti-LGBTQ mob on the streets of Georgia surrounding and attacking a minibus. The incident happened in May 2013 as a small number of LGBTQ Georgians gathered to mark the annual International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia and were met with... Continue Reading →
Over two decades after her award-winning documentary Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities premiered at the 1999 Berlinale, filmmaker Monika Treut returns to the festival to premiere Genderation, which sees her reconnecting with the pioneering trans, gender-diverse, and sex positive subjects she encountered in San Francisco in the late 90s for that film. With many... Continue Reading →
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 →
