Chad Hahne’s undercover documentary, Transformistas, which had its Australian premiere at Queer Screen's Mardi Gras Film Festival earlier today, offers a heart-wrenching and eye-opening window into an unexplored chapter of LGBTQ+ history. The film shines a light on Cuba’s drag community, how the HIV/AIDS crisis was handled in the republic, and Cuba's oldest gay bar.... Continue Reading →
Sundance 2021 Film Review: Flee ★★★★
Jonas Poher Rasmussen's remarkable Flee world premiered at Sundance 2021, winning the festival's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize for Documentary. As the film opens a caption tells us that this a true story and that some of the names have been changed to protect the subjects' anonymity. In present day Copenhagen, Denmark we meet 36... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Gay Chorus Deep South filmmaker David Charles Rodrigues, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir’s Terrance Kelly & San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Artistic Director Tim Seelig “the whole point of this tour was for us to lift up our brothers & sisters across the South”
In the wake of the 2016 election and the heightened divisive climate, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) was joined by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir (OIGC) on a 2017 tour of the Southern States with the most discriminatory anti-LGBTQ laws. The tour was documented in the emotionally potent, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting Gay... Continue Reading →
Exclusive Interview: Queer Japan クィア・ジャパン filmmaker Graham Kolbeins on exploring “the breadth & originality of Japanese queer culture in the contemporary moment”
LA-based Canadian queer filmmaker, writer, and designer Graham Kolbeins spent four years directing and editing his vibrant and frequently fascinating debut feature documentary, Queer Japan (クィア・ジャパン), which introduces us to a diverse range of contemporary LGBTQ+ artists and activists through 100 interviews. It is released in the US and Canada on Friday December 11th. Kolbeins'... Continue Reading →
DOC NYC 2020 Film Review: Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker ★★★★★
In examining the life of artist, photographer, writer, actor, musician, filmmaker, and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz, using his own words, imagery, and music, director Chris McKim (Freedia Got a Gun, Out of Iraq) has created a rich and riveting work that captures Wojnarowicz's unapologetically queer spirit, and serves as a testimony to the enduring power... Continue Reading →
LGBTQ+ highlights at virtual DOC NYC 2020
The virtual 11th edition of America’s largest documentary festival, DOC NYC runs from November 11th to 19th and will be available online throughout the US. The 2020 lineup of over 200 films, includes 107 features, with 23 world premieres and 19 US premieres. Over half of the features are directed or co-directed by women and... Continue Reading →
NewFest 2020 Film Review: Keith Haring: Street Art Boy ★★★★
Despite its relatively short running time of just 53 minutes, or perhaps because of it, director Ben Anthony's made-for-television documentary Keith Haring: Street Art Boy, which premiered at NewFest, manages to cover a lot of ground. In fact a parallel emerges of a prolific artist with an intense creative drive, and the film's style which,... 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 →
64th BFI London Film Festival LGBTQ+ highlights
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 →
