
23 Jun 1990

Affirmations
A look at what it's like to be gay and black in America.
Rise Up And Shout! tells the story of four generations of creative gay voices in Los Angeles who unite to create a theatrical showcase for gay youth on September 9, 2006. In the process, a unique community is created made up of young and old, black and white, shy and loud -- including an 83 year-old priest and an 18 year old former prostitute and poet.
Himself
Himself
Himself
Self (Elijah Mizrahi)
Self
Self
23 Jun 1990
A look at what it's like to be gay and black in America.
20 Mar 2021
In 1992, at the height of the AIDS pandemic, activist Terence Alan Smith made a historic bid for president of the United States as his drag queen persona Joan Jett Blakk. Today, Smith reflects back on his seminal civil rights campaign and its place in American history.
28 May 2021
Val Garcia, a Mexican-American teen who is half human/half vampire, has had to keep her identity a secret from both worlds. But when her human best friend shows up at her monster-infested school, she has to confront her truth, her identity, and herself.
07 Oct 2014
An intimate portrait of Matthew Shepard, the gay young man murdered in one of the most notorious hate crimes in U.S. history. Framed through a personal lens, it's the story of loss, love, and courage in the face of unspeakable tragedy.
13 Mar 1991
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.
03 Feb 2023
As middle school is ending, Erin, the only out person in her grade, and Liz, fellow comic nerd and track star, find their friendship tested when Liz is accepted to private high school and Erin falls hard for new girl and ex child-star, Sydni. Erin believes the only way to save herself from certain doom next year is to ask Sydni to the big dance and get in with the popular kids, but the plan goes awry when she starts to lose Liz along the way. Erin’s Guide To Kissing Girls is a story of friendship, first loves, and deciding what’s important to you when everything is changing, all told through a queer lens.
19 Mar 2018
What is queer now? This simple documentary features young people speaking about their experiences of identity, sexuality and gender in America today.
20 Jan 2003
Documentary on Bayard Rustin, best-remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.
16 Dec 2023
From the sweaty basement bars of 70s New York to the glittering peak of the global charts, how disco conquered the world - its origins, its triumphs, its fall and its legacy.
01 Jun 1994
African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.
02 Mar 2020
Amber belongs to a queer generation which no longer wants society to dictate their identity. The teenagers proudly inhabit a spectrum of fluid identities and master their first loves and losses.
04 Nov 2019
A film about the transition of three trans teenagers, the upheaval it causes in them and their loved ones, as well as the quest for identity buried deep within them.
05 Jul 2018
Jamie is 16 and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. Jamie doesn't quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. Jamie is going to be a sensation. Supported by his brilliant loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight. Sixteen: the edge of possibility. Time to make your dreams come true.
28 May 2020
Filmed over five years in Kansas City, this documentary follows four transgender kids – beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 – as they redefine “coming of age.” These kids and their families show us the intimate realities of how gender is re-shaping the family next door in a unique and unprecedented chronicle of growing up transgender in the heartland.
16 Mar 1990
Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.
17 Mar 2023
An inspiring love story about a self-described “poor, gay, black man from North Philly” on his historic run for the United States Senate. But this race is about more than taking on the political competition. It’s about taking on an entire system.
23 Nov 2022
A journey deep into an uncharted and treacherous land, where fantastical creatures await the legendary Clades—a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest, and by far most crucial, mission.
10 Nov 2019
Maurice Hines, a charming, gay African-American entertainer navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.
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.
29 Sep 1967
Interview with Jason Holliday aka Aaron Payne. House-boy, would-be cabaret performer, and self-proclaimed hustler giving one man's gin-soaked, pill-popped view of what it was like to be black and gay in 1960s United States. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Milestone Films in 2013.