The second episode of HBO Max's impactful four-part LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal, focuses on stories of trans pioneers and trans resistance. Bookended by the Compton's Cafteria riot, we're presented with figures that might already be familiar like Christine Jorgensen as well as names we're far less likely to have encountered, such as Black trans socialite,... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: cinematographer Ava Benjamin Shorr on HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ rights docu-series Equal “it’s a deeply emotional experience to recreate these people from the past”
Following her work as director of photography on Sam Feder's groundbreaking documentary Disclosure, Ava Benjamin Shorr has now lensed the dynamic and stirring four-part LGBTQ+ civil rights docu-series Equal, which premieres on HBO on Thursday October 22nd. Her work on the series saw her collaborate with directors Stephen Kijak and Kimberly Reed to create visually... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: queer film historian, archivist & filmmaker Jenni Olson “it’s kind of an amazing achievement to make a sexy 16mm urban landscape film”
This month sees the work of queer experiential filmmaker Jenni Olson celebrated on the Criterion Channel, with a five film retrospective, plus a new insightful interview. Included in the collection are Olson's two features, The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015), which both world premiered at Sundance. These, along with her 1998... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Tony-nominated The Boys in the Band star Robin de Jesús “being a part of this cast really helped me find that pride & that gay ancestral power to step into”
Robin de Jesús received both critical acclaim and his third Tony nomination for his show stealing, hilarious yet soulful, performance as the fabulously flamboyant Emory in the Ryan Murphy produced 2018 Tony-winning Broadway revival of Mart Crowley's groundbreaking play The Boys in the Band. He's now reprising that role, alongside his all-star, all publicly gay... Continue Reading →
Outfest 2020 Film Review: Minyan ★★★★
A gay Brooklyn teenager (The Inheritance’s Samuel H. Levine) charts his own sexual awakening and the complexities of his Russian Jewish family in documentarian Eric Steel’s narrative debut Minyan. The work of James Baldwin is certainly in the zeitgeist again as, much like Tomasz Jedrowski's brilliant debut novel Swimming in the Dark, Giovanni’s Room provides... Continue Reading →
Outfest Film Review: Nelly Queen: The Life and Times of José Sarria ★★★1/2
“They always forget the ones who were first,” someone says in voiceover in Joe Castel’s remarkable documentary, Nelly Queen: The Life and Times of José Sarria. After watching this essential record of an important life in the LGBTQ+ community, I doubt anyone will forget him. Sarria’s list of accomplishments include establishing the Imperial Court System,... Continue Reading →
Forbidden Letters and Passing Strangers: The Adult Film Romances of Arthur J. Bressan Jr.
In 1977, Arthur J. Bressan Jr. was promoting his landmark documentary Gay USA (1977) on the gay-centered New York City television program Emerald City TV at the height of gay liberation. He dressed unpretentiously in blue jeans and a t-shirt with long-hair and a mustache that made him look more 1960s San Francisco Haight Ashbury... Continue Reading →
New York’s oldest gay bar Julius launches fundraiser
As safety restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic continue to adversely effect many businesses across the US, Julius in New York's Greenwich Village, the city's oldest gay bar, has launched a fundraising campaign. "The bills are piling up, rent, utilities, insurance, etc. and there is no set date for indoor dining," says Julius' owner Helen Buford... Continue Reading →
Film Review: Kapaemahu ★★★★★
Due to world premiere at last month’s postponed Tribeca Film Festival, Kapaemahu was set to play as part of the annual animated shorts programme curated by Whoopi Goldberg. Written, directed and produced by Native Hawaiian educator and cultural practitioner Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, along with GLAAD and Emmy award-winning activists and filmmakers Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson,... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: 1950s NYC drag queen doc P.S. Burn This Letter Please filmmakers Michael Seligman & Jennifer Tiexiera “gay history did not begin at Stonewall”
Due to world premiere at 2020's postponed Tribeca Film Festival, a stunning new documentary co-directed by Michael Seligman and Jennifer Tiexiera, P.S. Burn This Letter Please now streaming on Discovery+, looks back at the lives of several New York drag queens during the 1950s and '60s, and introduces us to some of them now in... Continue Reading →