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Illegal Love

In 2008 French filmmaker Julie Gali traveled to the US to film the election of Barack Obama. In spite of this victory for civil rights, it soon became apparent that the rights of another minority were under threat. In California the passing of Proposition 8 marked the only time in U.S. history that a civil right was actually taken away after it had been granted. Upon seeing this, Ms. Gali decided to immerse herself in the growing grassroots struggle of the gay community, which culminated in the October 11, 2009 March for Equality in Washington DC.

P.S. Burn This Letter Please

A box found in an abandoned storage unit unearths a time capsule of correspondences from a forgotten era: the underground drag scene in 1950s New York City. Firsthand accounts and newly discovered footage help cast a long overdue spotlight on the unsung pioneers of drag.

The Abominable Crime

This is a story about a mother's love for her child and an activist's love for his country - and the stakes are life and death. Spanning five countries, THE ABOMINABLE CRIME explores the impacts of homophobia through the eyes of two gay Jamaicans who are forced to choose between their homeland and their lives. Simone, a young lesbian mother, survives being shot outside of her home by anti-gay gunmen. She must choose between living in hiding with her daughter in Jamaica or traveling alone to seek safety and asylum abroad. Maurice, Jamaica's leading gay-rights activist, is outed shortly after filing a lawsuit to overturn Jamaica's anti-sodomy law. He escapes to Canada, but decides to return to continue his activism.

No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care

Six young people discuss the "gender affirming" medical care they received for gender dysphoria and how they subsequently came to believe this was the wrong treatment.

Bunny Decides to Go

An intimate documentary about a trans woman's isolation and decision to leave her home country of Azerbaijan in pursuit of a safer life. Using the metaphor of a rabbit, that comes from her nickname "bunny," she presents her relationship with her family, country, music, and protest, intercut with home videos.

Peter de Rome: Grandfather of Gay Porn

Pioneer erotic film maker Peter de Rome talks about his life and work.

The Passionate Pursuits of Angela Bowen

For six decades Angela Bowen, classical dancer and teacher, black lesbian feminist activist, and professor has influenced and inspired untold numbers speaking out as strongly for the Arts, Black and Women's Rights as she has for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The film depicts Bowen's life across the decades, from the early fifties, with historic footage, photographs and interviews including her dance mentor, dance partner, former husband, partner, children, activists, scholars, and dance and university students. Bowen's candid and compelling stories allow us to understand how race, class, gender, age, and sexuality played into her decisions and choices, her mission, and strategies for survival. Passionate Pursuits is intended to challenge and inspire diverse audiences to pursue their own dreams with tenacity and courage, but not for themselves alone.

Queen's Land

Queen’s Land tells the oft forgotten history of drag, repression and resistance in Queensland’s queer scene during the Joh Bjelke-Petersen dictatorship. With glitter and glamour Destiny Rogers describes the ups and downs of life under Australia’s most conservative police state through the 60s to 80s. Petrified jelly, bribery, and gay bikies. Despite living in “pig city” a community was able to persist. To complement, Sel Dowd provides a history of the activist struggles of the era which inform our ongoing struggles today.

Hope Ways

Amid the 2019 drought in Brazil’s Northeast, Madalena loses her mother in a tragic event that changes her life. Alone, she joins a rebellion at the Grajaú farm in Canudos, where a community rises against government neglect. A violent State response turns their hope into sorrow. Later, journalist Júlia returns to uncover the truth, hearing from people like Lúcia, a grieving mother. As Júlia investigates, hidden stories emerge: Madalena's forbidden love with rebel João and Pedro's thirst for revenge after losing his father to political violence. Their paths cross in a tale of justice, pain, and redemption. Inspired by Ariano Suassuna, famed for "A Dog’s Will", this short film is a prelude to "A Pena e a Lei", created by 9th-grade students from Escola SESI Cambona, in Maceió, Brazil. It was screened at the SESI Festival of Art and Culture in July 2023, touching audiences with its emotional and socially conscious narrative.

Kandyland: The Movie

In February 2016, rock 'n' roll trio Thelma & the Sleaze embarked on the world's first “Intra-City Tour”. They played 31 shows in 29 days and raffled off a promotional mini-van in the process, in an unprecedentedly absurd publicity stunt that raised the bar for independent artists everywhere. Exploring the furthest of reaches of Nashville’s music scene, blazing new trails in its wake, the film follows the twists and turns, triumphs and follies of all 29 days as Thelma & the Sleaze bring their raw rock 'n' roll fury through DIY spaces, art galleries, laundromats, screen printing shops, record stores, clothing shops, candy factories, roller rinks and even a McDonald’s.

Transhood

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.

Love Me Bait Me: The Power of Queer Representation

This feature documentary explores the historical relationship between Hollywood, television, and the authentic portrayal of diverse LGBTQ+ experiences over the course of more than a century. Interviews and archival footage provide a critique of the U.S. film industry that emphasizes the life-saving role storytelling plays in our collective imagination for a better future.

Spogliati

A documentary that explores the reality of the LGBTQIA+ community through the perspective of those who, excluded from their families of origin, have built new bonds and forms of belonging. At the center of the film is the House of Windowsen, an emerging presence in the Italian ballroom scene, made up of Gian, the overall father, Morgan Sasha, and Concetta. Following their lives between Milan, Rome, and Naples, the film weaves together personal experiences and shared journeys, offering a direct portrait of ballroom culture and the dynamics of a chosen family that is atypical and non-nuclear. It is a narrative that highlights identities, relationships, and the need to create a space in which to exist.

House of Pride – Ballroom Boudoir

Montreal artistic collective House of Pride takes you behind the scenes of innovative performances in drag, dance and the performing arts. A queer film that plays with gender in a provocative, avant-garde, innovative and legendary way while celebrating female power!

Truth or Dare

Puck and Jasko explore their bodies for the first time. Sexworker Jorge feels shy towards porn performer Bishop. Kate & Adrienne end their poly-relationship & dive into a bittersweet sexual en-counter. The film offers an intimate perspective in the discourse about gender diversity and sex-positivity.

We Exist: Beyond the Binary

What if the world told you that you do not exist? This is the reality for Lauren: a person in their mid-twenties who identifies as gender neutral. Lauren's story chronicles their entire life—from early childhood, to a near death experience, to living in the depths of the rain forest—capturing the physical, emotional, and mental obstacles Lauren must face just to get to say, "I exist."

The First Lady

Fearing for her life, Israeli transgender pioneer Efrat Tilma fled the country as a teenager. Now in her seventies, she must fight for her freedom once again, as the country spirals into political and social regression.

Here I Am...Here You Are

Eccomi ... Eccoti unfolds as a virtual road trip navigating between Italy and Lebanon. Conditioned to live in a long-distance relationship with his partner because of strict European visa regulations, the director patches together the shared moments in an attempt to create a possible day-to-day reality for their couple. With a lyrical, ambient soundscape set atop a dreamy, atmospheric visual style that oscillates between still photography and moving images, the film explores what it means to be gay in contemporary Beirut and existential discomfort that blocks one from reaching a sense of complete-ness. Does such in-completeness have to do, in particular, with being gay? Or is it related to a grander malaise endemic to the human condition?

Guyane, amours taboues

Matilda Pierre, a 26-year-old Guyanese actress, chooses to tell her story and publicly embrace her sexual orientation in a society where homosexuality remains largely taboo. Attracted to women, men, and transgender people, she must deal with insults, threats, and the weight of others’ judgment. Through her testimony, Matilda reveals the reality experienced by many young LGBTQIA+ people in French Guiana. The documentary also gives voice to other young people, such as Marcus, a bisexual Amerindian who hides his orientation for fear of rejection from his family. Between silence, fear, and social pressure, many live their identities in the shadows.