A review of the wild New York City nightlife of the 90s. The cast of characters who made up the infamous Club Kids speak candidly about that era, culminating with Alig's release from incarceration.
29 Jan 2020
Kelet is a twentysomething black trans woman, whose greatest dream is to be on the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, such models as Naomi Campbell and Iman served as role models giving her strength – and during the darkest times, kept her alive. After coming out, then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family and she moved back to Finland on her own.
22 May 2018
From adoption and homelessness to navigating relationships and overcoming self-harm, the four transmen in MAN MADE all have something else in common: they are all bodybuilders. Through the lens of FTMFitCon, the world’s only FTM bodybuilding competition, we delve into the lives of Dominic, Rese, Mason, and Kennie as they define what it means to be a man while contextualizing that definition through the social, racial, and economic realities of their lives. For the men of MAN MADE, it’s not about winning—it’s about stepping on stage and being seen for everything they are.
28 May 2016
In 1984, Richard Fung released his seminal first documentary Orientations: Lesbian and Gay Asians. Featuring 14 women and men in Toronto of South, East and Southeast Asian backgrounds, Orientations was the first documentary to explore the experiences and perspectives of queer Asians in North America. Capturing pivotal moments in Toronto’s history, it presents an intimate portrait of the texture of gay live and politics at that time. Re:Orientations revisits seven of the original participants as they see anew the footage of their younger selves, and reflect on their lives and all that has changed over the intervening three decades. Their interviews are deepened and contextualized by conversations with six younger queer and trans activists, scholars and artists.
27 May 2008
A full-length documentary about a controversial evangelical movement that purports to convert gay people into heterosexuals. The film brings us inside this unusual Christian subculture and follows the lives of several young people whose homosexuality is at odds with their religious beliefs.
16 Jun 2016
Nude men in rubber suits, close-ups of erections, objects shoved in the most intimate of places—these are photographs taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, known by many as the most controversial photographer of the twentieth century. Openly gay, Mapplethorpe took images of male sex, nudity, and fetish to extremes that resulted in his work still being labelled by some as pornography masquerading as art. But less talked about are the more serene, yet striking portraits of flowers, sculptures, and perfectly framed human forms that are equally pioneering and powerful.
08 Mar 2013
The memory and testimony of two characters: Fernando García, known as Pinolito, who was a child actor in the seventies and Doña Lilia Ortega, his mother, an actress. Fernando came out as a transvestite, some years ago, and now calls himself Coral Bonelli. They live together in Garibaldi yearning for their past in the movies, while Coral bravely comes to terms with her gender identity. They both still perform.
06 Mar 2006
First there was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, then ‘My Brilliant Career’, and now best of all ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It is incomparably moving and powerful.
17 Sep 2016
From a young age, Natsuki knew she was a girl despite her sex assigned at birth. Against the backdrop of conservative Japanese society, this poignant docudrama tells her remarkable story of gender transition. Reflecting on her high school years, Natsuki interviews the supportive friends and family who supported her choices – and also confronts the people those who oppressed her freedom. Tracing Natsumi’s story to the present, this compelling portrait of gender identity in contemporary Japan offers insights of a layered experience in a complex society.
11 Nov 2015
GlitterBomb is a fantastic 32-minute documentary that showcases the best of the 2015 Mardi Gras season. It features interviews with Courtney Act, Bianca Del Rio, Nick Jonas, Alex Greenwich, Dan Murphy and Jake Shears, as well as local identities and international tourists, each sharing their experiences and perspectives on our fabulous Festival celebrations including Harbour Party, Pool Party, Parade and MG Party.
26 Jun 2013
Through the voices of Americans from all walks of life, The Out List explores the identities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in America. In this series of intimate interviews, a diverse group of LGBTQ personalities bring color and depth to their experiences of gender and sexuality. With wit and wisdom, this set of trailblazing individuals weaves universal themes of love, loss, trial, and triumph into the determined struggle for full equality.
07 Sep 2013
In 1972, John Wojtowicz attempted to rob a Brooklyn bank to pay for his lover’s sex-change operation. The story was the basis for the film Dog Day Afternoon. The Dog captures John, who shares his story for the first time in his own unique, offensive, hilarious and heartbreaking way. We gain a historic perspective on New York's gay liberation movement, in which Wojtowicz played an active role. In later footage, he remains a subversive force, backed by the unconditional love of his mother Terry, whose wit and charm infuse the film. How and why the bank robbery took place is recounted in gripping detail by Wojtowicz and various eyewitnesses.
02 Feb 2012
Caught between two genders, the artist Eli Leven and Ester Martin Bergsmark touch and caress each other, while they bath together in clouds of steam. A persuasive voice-off describes the often hard and painful growing process, which led them to choose to be neither males nor females. But something else entirely. While memories of adolescences scarred by homophobia and discrimination are presented, the audience is also captivated by poetic evocations of bodies, of snowy woods, water, nature, and snails: the symbol of androgyny. This movie moves the audience profoundly. It is a hymn to sexual fluidity, which reveals the search for the true self, rendered through the use of contrasting, vivid, and often acid bright photography. Intended as a television portrait of the transgender artist Eli Leven, it is a psychedelic docu-fiction, a hybrid movie inspired by Derek Jarman's Sebastian.
05 Sep 2022
It often happens that at the moment of death, transgender individuals are shorn of their identity. Their families are ashamed, the funeral takes place in secret, and on the tomb appears the name the deceased had before their transition, in one stroke nullifying the entire life path they had chosen. The same thing happened to Antonia. Her girlfriends gather to honor her memory and give her back her identity denied. In telling her story, the film’s stars, all drawn from the variegated transgender world, interweave the narrative with tales of their own lives, experiences, and memories.
01 Jan 1992
This feature documentary tells the complex and touching story of Winnipeg city councilor Glen Murray and his 17-year-old adopted son Mike, whose struggles with addiction and behavioural problems cyclically repeat. Glen, now an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament, was one of the first openly gay elected politicians in Canada. He adopted Mike during an era when homophobic stereotypes often prevented gay men and women from adopting children. Glen and Mike's relationship is always tenuous and always turbulent as they struggle to define themselves together and alone.
01 Jan 1983
Documentary where rich social history frames a spirited debate on the development of water infrastructure throughout the USA.
28 Mar 2025
Students flooded Columbia University’s lawn to create the Gaza Solidarity Encampment in order to pressure their university to divest from the US and Israeli weapons companies. THE ENCAMPMENTS follows the central organizers of the encampment as they are thrust into the spotlight, face violent police repression and suspension, congressional pressure, and a media firestorm, all while fighting to attain their goal of divestment at any cost.
24 May 2018
A visually provoking short film about one of the most extreme homosexual practices.
14 Oct 2014
A documentary about the International Queer Film Festival Hamburg that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2014. The filmmakers have filmed, interviewed, gleaned the archives, watched hours of footage and edited reams of material into a small masterpiece. With its gorgeous shots and sublime soundtrack, the documentary entertainingly brings across both the unique atmosphere and 25-year history, and above all, illuminates the complex mesh that both forms and carries the festival. On another note, the film tries to detect the ways a queer film festival like this has functioned as a platform for unheard voices - and continues to do so in the present. For some people, its sole existence has been a life changing momentum.
19 Sep 2019
Parents of children who have Down syndrome, dwarfism or autism share intimate stories of the challenges they face. Tracing their joys, challenges, tragedies, and triumphs.
11 May 2018
The iconic Carlyle hotel has been an international destination for a particular jet set as well as a favorite haunt of the most discernible New Yorkers.