Essential Queer Cinema
Films that I find to be essential in queer cinema, for various reasons.
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List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 15 titles
- DirectorsRob 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.The essential documentary to learn about the treatment of the queer community in Hollywood.
- DirectorJames BidgoodStarsDon BrooksBobby KendallCharles LudlamAn erotic poem set in the fantasies of a young male prostitute.
- DirectorMary HarronStarsLili TaylorJared HarrisMartha PlimptonThe story of Valerie Solanas, a '60s radical who preached misandry in her "Scum" manifesto. She wrote a screenplay for a film that she wanted Andy Warhol to produce, but after he repeatedly ignored her, she shot him.
- 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.
- DirectorDerek JarmanStarsSteven WaddingtonKevin CollinsAndrew TiernanIn this Derek Jarman version of Christopher Marlowe's Elizabethan drama, in modern costumes and settings, Plantagenet king Edward II hands the power-craving nobility the perfect excuse by taking as lover besides his diplomatic wife, the French princess Isabel, not an acceptable lady at court but the ambitious Piers Gaveston, who uses his favor in bed even to wield political influence - the stage is set for a palace revolt which sends the gay pair from the throne to a terminal torture dungeon.
- DirectorEdwin OyarceStarsHija de PerraAdriana DiazPeña Pablo LangThe plot focuses on the story of "Daughter of Bitch", a woman who with her servant and slave "Lost One" is dedicated to sell at a fair open pies of pine made of human flesh.Essential viewing if you're interested in Chile's underground drag scene. Chile's Pink Flamingos.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsDivineDavid LocharyMary Vivian PearceNotorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".Quintessential John Waters and Divine.
- DirectorSlava TsukermanStarsAnne CarlislePaula E. SheppardSusan DoukasA small, heroin-seeking UFO lands on a Manhattan roof, observes a bizarre, drug-addicted fashion model, and sucks endorphin from her sexual encounters' brains.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsAudrey HepburnShirley MacLaineJames GarnerA rebellious student at a girls' school accuses two teachers of lesbianism.Relevant film regarding lesbian representation on mainstream Hollywood. Both actresses were already huge names in the industry, and although it's a heartbreaking melodrama that ends with the actual lesbian killing herself due to the pain of being who she is, it became one of the first films to look at gay people with empathy towards their tragedy.
- DirectorsAntonio SantiniDan SicklesStarsJason CarriónPaxx MollAlberic PradosA documentary about the power of transformation told through the eyes of 9 trans-identifying individuals in Puerto Rico.
- DirectorsJon OlbMadeleine ParryStarHannah GadsbyAustralian comic Hannah Gadsby reshapes standard stand-up by pairing punchlines with personal revelations on gender, sexuality and childhood turmoil.An hour-long comedy special written and performed by Hannah Gadsby, Nanette serves as a heart-breaking Manifesto about the nature of self-deprecating humour and what it means for a minority artist to execute it.
- DirectorSally PotterStarsTilda SwintonBilly ZaneQuentin CrispAfter Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.
- CreatorsJavier AmbrossiJavier CalvoStarsLola RodríguezIsabel TorresPaca la PirañaA biographical story of TV personality and transgender icon La Veneno and those who surrounded her.Spanish TV series about Cristina La Veneno, pioneer transexual icon who became the first transwoman to receive mainstream exposure in Spanish television. The series is an unprecedented representation of transwomen and the destructive nature television has towards minorities and under-represented individuals. It also has a cast of overwhelmingly talented trans actresses, and a long overdue reivindication of Cristina La Veneno as a Star.
- DirectorAntonio Giménez RicoStarsLorenzo AranaRené AmorJosé Antonio SánchezSeveral transvestite prostitutes that work the Madrid streets discuss their personal experiences. The camera follows their daily lives. The lid is also lifted on their personal histories.
- DirectorsGoyo AnchouPeter PankStarsBatato BareaKatja AlemannRonnie AriasWalter "Batato" Barea was one of the icons of the scene under the 80s that had the main stage to the legendary Parakultural, the powerhouse of artists who challenged the status quo and reflected their time from their particular perspective.
