Queer Recommended viewing
For further viewing, recommended outside of class.
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54 titles
- StarsAl PacinoMeryl StreepEmma ThompsonSeveral disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.A monumental yet personal fantasia of marginalization, politics, and living with AIDS in the 80s. (Chosen for drama and discussion.)
- DirectorJennie LivingstonStarsBrooke XtravaganzaAndré ChristianDorian CoreyA chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.Touchstone film focusing on the personal lives of those in the NYC ball scene. (Chosen for history and historical context.)
- DirectorPaul BogartStarsAnne BancroftMatthew BroderickHarvey FiersteinArnold is a gay man working as drag queen in 1971 NYC. He meets a handsome bisexual man.A story of personal courage in seeking a life in a world "not built for him' in the time before AIDS. (Chosen for it's humanity, drama, and avante garde production as a play and film.)
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsLily TomlinTony CurtisSusie BrightA documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.Documentary showing Hollywood's ever-changing depiction of queers in cinema. (Chosen for its use of historical context of the featured works and actors.)
- StarsCarmen Maria MachadoKimberly PeirceBriana VenskusA documentary telling the story of LGBTQIA+ horror and the relationship between queer audiences and horror, and the queer horror community as a whole.Documentary showing the queer subtext in cinematic horror and the queer community's relationship with queer cinema. (Chosen for the historic context and revelatory relationship of the community with cinema.)
- CreatorRussell T. DaviesStarsOlly AlexanderNathaniel CurtisShaun DooleyThe lives of a group of friends living in 1980s London are irreparably changed by the AIDS crisis.Drama set in Thatcher's England during the onset of the AIDS epidemic and the tragic consequences it had on the young queer community coming of age at the time. (Chosen for its heart wrenching depiction of the pre-HIV and post-HIV lifestyle in London.)
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsSean PennJosh BrolinEmile HirschThe story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.A biopic of the legendary life and death of the first openly homosexual elected officials in San Francisco in the 70s. It is both historical and personal. (Chosen for its history and depiction of the socio-political climate of the times.)
- DirectorReina GossettSasha WortzelStarsEve LindleyMya TaylorSilas HowardThe story of extraordinary transgender rights activists, pioneers, and friends, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, in the hours before the Stonewall riots.The story of extraordinary transgender rights activists, pioneers, and friends, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, in the hours before the Stonewall riots. (Chosen because it is one of the better depictions of the events of Stonewall as it relies on personal accounts from those who were there.)
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames WilbyRupert GravesHugh GrantTwo English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up Maurice and marries. While staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice discovers romance in the arms of the gamekeeper Alec.The novel itself was groundbreaking of featuring same sex love in Victorian/Edwardian England, and wasn't published until after his death. This movie makes the novel accessible and was a Merchant & Ivory (themselves a gay filmmaking couple) trailblazer in the 80s. (Chosen for the touching and ever-relevant struggles with coming out secretly and the story of the story itself.)
- DirectorDonna DeitchStarsHelen ShaverPatricia CharbonneauAudra LindleyWhile waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed professor of literature is unexpectedly seduced by a carefree, spirited young lesbian.Drama of a recently divorced woman and her attraction and relationship with a young free spirited lesbian. (Chosen for its early depiction of queer love and personal self-discovery.)
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsSaeed JaffreyRoshan SethDaniel Day-LewisAn ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.A British Pakistani and his white boyfriend, struggle to open a laundromat together. (Chosen for the time of its release, and while the struggles of being an interracial couple are present, it depicts a gay relationship as "normal" and the couple facing the same mundane problems as other couples.)
- DirectorKimberly PeirceStarsHilary SwankChloë SevignyPeter SarsgaardA young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.Based on the true story of Brandon Teena, a trans teen (female to male) a fact that is unknown in his new town. (Chosen for its revolutionary depiction of trans characters.)
- DirectorTodd HaynesStarsCate BlanchettRooney MaraSarah PaulsonAn aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York.Based on Patricia Highsmith's novel, Carol/The Price of Salt, the film tells the story of a female photographer (a career normally pursued by men at the time) and her relationship with an older woman. (Chosen for the novel's modern treatment of women and lesbians in the 1950s. The film makes the novel accessible.)
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.Groundbreaking mainstream film about a lawyer dying of AIDS and fired from his law firm for being gay and afflicted. (Chosen for the historical significance of the film and its treatment of discrimination.)
- DirectorDanielle LessovitzStarsFionn WhiteheadLeyna BloomMcCaul LombardiPaul must confront his white boy realness after arriving in New York and getting involved with explosively divisive groups: the queer ballroom scene and some straight debt collectors, while falling in love with a trans woman.A white boy arrives in NYC and gets involved with the ballroom scene while falling in love with a trans woman. (Chosen for its depiction of NYC's ballroom scene and racial contexts.)
- DirectorIsaac JulienStarsValentine NonyelaMo SesayDorian HealyTwo disc jockeys have a friend's murder to solve in the fringe-group melting pot of 1977 London.A thriller and gay love story taking place in 1977 London. (Chosen for its representation of London and its treatment of identity politics early on.)
- DirectorHettie MacdonaldStarsGlen BerryLinda HenryScott NealJamie is a shy teenager, often bullied at school. His neighbour Ste has a rough time at home, being beaten by his father and brother. This issues bring them together and they find that what they feel for each other is more than friendship.A pure and simple love story, tender and dealing with family issues as two young gay boys fall in love. (Chosen for it's tenderness and how a drama can deal with larger issues on a very small scale.)
- DirectorDavid WeissmanBill WeberStarsEd WolfDaniel GoldsteinGuy ClarkA deep and reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of this unimaginable crisis.Documentary interviewing people living in San Francisco at the onset of the AIDS crisis, wonderfully juxtaposed with the public's misinformed view and rhetoric surround the epidemic and queer culture. (Chosen for its historic depiction.)
- DirectorDavid FranceStarsPeter StaleyLarry KramerIris LongThe story of two coalitions -- ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) -- whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.Documentary on two AIDS activist groups (Act Up and TAG) and the effect of activism during the epidemic. (Chosen for its presentation of history.)
- DirectorMatthew WarchusStarsBill NighyImelda StauntonDominic WestU.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984.U.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984. (Chosen for the films depiction of how two normally opposed groups can come together and find an understanding.)
- DirectorDavid MoretonStarsChris StaffordTina HolmesAndersen GabrychA teenager copes with his sexuality on the last day of school in 1984. It shows him coping with being gay and being with friends.Coming to terms film about growing up and coming out in the 80s. Very much a "period piece" but accurately deals with the 80s culture and views. (Chosen mostly for personal reasons, but also because it gives wonderful insight, relatability and what it was like being gay in the 80s.)
- CreatorDominic MitchellStarsLuke NewberryHarriet CainsMarie CritchleyFour years after the Rising, the government starts to rehabilitate the Undead for reentry into society, including teenager Kieren Walker, who returns to his small Lancashire village to face a hostile reception, as well as his own demons.Zombies are nothing if not metaphoric. This show uses that extended metaphor to deal with small town mentalities and perceived marginalized groups. (Chosen for the strength of its storytelling, the applicability, and the areas of discussion it provides.)
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsDirk BogardeSylvia SymsDennis PriceA closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
- DirectorIsaac JulienStarsBen EllisonMatthew BaidooAkim MogajiA black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. A wake is going on, with mourners gathered around a coffin. Downstairs is an elegant bar where tuxedoed men dance and talk. One of them has a dream in which he comes upon Beauty, who seems to reject him, although when he awakes, Beauty is sleeping beside him. His story and his visits to the jazz and dance club are framed by voices reading from the poetry and essays of Hughes and others. The text is rarely explicit, but the freedom of gay Black men in the 1920s in Harlem is suggested and celebrated visually.
- DirectorJack HazanStarsDavid HockneyPeter SchlesingerCelia BirtwellSemi-fictionalized documentary biopic of British artist David Hockney. After a difficult break-up, Hockney is left unable to paint, much to the concern of his friends. Titled after Hockney's pop-art painting 'A Bigger Splash'.
- DirectorJames BidgoodStarsDon BrooksBobby KendallCharles LudlamAn erotic poem set in the fantasies of a young male prostitute.
- DirectorRyan MurphyStarsMark RuffaloJonathan GroffFrank De JulioIn the early 1980s, the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York led to an emergence of homosexual activists. With support from the medical community, they try to raise awareness about the disease.
- DirectorArthur J. Bressan Jr.StarsGeoff EdholmDavid SchachterBilly LuxThe film follows a New York City gay man, in a monogamous relationship, becoming a "buddy" or volunteer bedside companion to another gay man dying of AIDS, and the friendship that develops. Restored in 2020.
- CreatorDustin Lance BlackStarsRachel GriffithsAustin P. McKenzieMary-Louise ParkerA chronicled re-telling of the gay rights movement in the United States, beginning with the Stonewall riots in 1969.
- DirectorArthur J. Bressan Jr.StarsStuart LoomisPat ParkerShot on one day by 25 different cameramen across the USA under the co-ordination of Arthur J. Bressan Jr. this film documents Gay Pride parades across the United States in the late 70s.
- DirectorRon PeckStarsKen RobertsonTony WestropeRachel Nicholas JamesA homosexual man is forced to hide his sexuality by day while living his secret life by night.
- DirectorJohn GreysonStarsJohn RobinsonNormand FauteuxDianne HeatheringtonAn immortal, bigoted, unethical taxidermist is doing research on "Patient Zero", the gay flight attendant who allegedly was the first to bring AIDS to North America, for a museum show about contagious diseases, helped by the man's ghost.
- DirectorDoug SpearmanStarsRichard LawsonAl SapienzaKeili LefkovitzA gay man, whose fear of intimacy leads him to continually fall for married guys, and a closeted married man meet, forcing both men to confront what they really want in their romantic lives.
- DirectorCheryl DunyeStarsCheryl DunyeGuinevere TurnerValarie WalkerA young black lesbian filmmaker probes into the life of The Watermelon Woman, a 1930s black actress who played 'mammy' archetypes.
- DirectorJoan E. BirenStarsVirginia ApuzzoMinnie Jane BowmanCharlotte BunchNo Secret Anymore shows Del and Phyllis creating coalitions that took on the prevailing belief that lesbians were illegal, immoral and sick. Phyllis and Del did the groundbreaking work on lesbian mothers, sex education, family violence, and more. Always working both from within and outside the institutions they sought to change, Del and Phyllis were able to advance the rights of women, lesbians, gay, bisexual, and transgender (lgbt) people. Today these unapologetic and unstoppable activists are educating both the lgbt and aging movements on the needs of old lesbians.
- DirectorVictor SilvermanSusan StrykerStarsRay BaxterElliot BlackstoneAleshia BrevardDocumentary about transgender women and drag queens who fought police harassment at Compton's Cafeteria in San Francisco's Tenderloin in 1966, three years before the famous riot at Stonewall Inn bar in NYC.
- DirectorDaisy AsquithStarsLeigh BoweryNicola BoweryQuentin CrispCompilation of archive footage from 1919 to the present, from both documentary and fictional sources, set to music, illustrating the huge changes in LGBTQ life in Britain (mainly England) over the 20th century.
- DirectorVicki CooperStarsOlly AlexanderThe lead singer of the Years + Years explores why members of the gay community are more likely to be affected by mental illness, as he opens up about his own battles with depression.
- DirectorSam FederStarsLaverne CoxBianca LeighJen RichardsAn in-depth look at Hollywood's depiction of transgender people and the impact of those stories on transgender lives and American culture.
- DirectorNancy AdairAndrew BrownRob EpsteinStarsPat BondJohn BurnsideSally M. Gearhart26 diverse lesbian and gay people are interviewed about their lives and the challenges they experience in a homophobic culture. A groundbreaking documentary is now an artefact of a different time.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsJeremy IrvineJonny BeauchampJoey KingA young man's political awakening and coming of age during the days and weeks leading up to the Stonewall Riots.
- DirectorRob EpsteinStarsHarvey FiersteinHarvey MilkAnne KronenbergA documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsSara LewinsteinDavid MandellSuzi MandellA collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
- DirectorNancy D. KatesBennett SingerStarsBayard RustinDorothy JacksonJohn RodgersDocumentary on Bayard Rustin, best-remembered as the organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.
- DirectorSusan MuskaGréta OlafsdóttirStarsDaphneReannaGinaDocumentary about a multiple murder in rural Nebraska in 1993.
- DirectorSusan MuskaGréta OlafsdóttirStarsThea SpyerEdie WindsorAfter 42 years, feisty and delightful lesbian couple Edie and Thea are finally getting married. From the early '60s to the present day, the tireless community activists persevere through many battles, both personal and political. As Edie says, We just went on with this talent we have for wrestling joy from the shit. Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir (THE BRANDON TEENA STORY) return with a love story of two remarkable women whose commitment to each other is an inspiration to us all.
- DirectorRobert L. CaminaStarsChristopher RiceRegina AdamsMisti AtesOn June 24, 1973, a gay bar in New Orleans called the Up Stairs Lounge was deliberately set on fire: an event that for over 40 years, was considered the "Largest Gay Mass Murder in U.S. History".
- DirectorMichele JosueStarsMichele JosueJudy ShepardZeina BarkawiFriends and family reflect on the life and death of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, who was murdered in a targeted homophobic attack in Wyoming in 1998.
- DirectorJim HubbardStarsDavid BarrKen BingGregg BordowitzUnited in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government negligence.
- DirectorRobert PhilipsonStarsChris AlbertsonJewelle GomezBrian KeizerMa Rainey, Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter and Ethel Waters were among the biggest blues singers of their day. Their nights, however, belonged to them--and the ladies they shared them with.
- DirectorCheryl AllisonStarsManvendra Singh GohilVictoria CruzMykel DicusPieces of Us is an intimate look at the personal journeys of LGBTQ+ hate crime survivors who, by choosing to take their recovery public, inspire the survivor in all of us. The film juxtaposes the inspirational stories of recovery each of the film's subjects (including transgender activist and Stonewall Riots survivor Victoria Cruz, and Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of India) have experienced with the powerful connections their public actions have produced. Their stories take us to New York City, Denver and India to witness how intersectionality and speaking your truth can build a support community and even spark global change. The film explores the resistance of these unlikely heroes and survivors, people who didn't choose to have their rights violated and their lives changed forever, but from those experiences chose to stand against hate and give voice to the voiceless.
- DirectorChris BolanStarsTerry DonahuePat HenschelDiana BolanFalling in love in 1947, two women -- Pat Henschel and pro baseball player Terry Donahue -- begin a 65-year journey of love and overcoming prejudice.
- DirectorTimothy Greenfield-SandersStarsDustin Lance BlackR. Clarke CooperWade DavisA documentary about being among the LGBT community in modern society, told through interviews with LGBT celebrities and community leaders.
- DirectorGiuseppe FiorelloStarsSimone Raffaele CordianoAntonio De MatteoRaffaele GangaleThe troubled relationship between Gianni and Nino, set in the narrow-minded and prejudencial Sicily of 1982.