being queer here(2024)

Queer Japan(ja)

Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to live unconventional lives in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan.

Growing Up Trans(en)

Just a generation ago, it was adults, not kids, who changed genders. But today, many children are transitioning, too—with new medical options, and at younger and younger ages. Told from the perspective of parents, doctors, and, most revealing of all, the kids themselves, the documentary takes a powerful look at this new generation, exploring the medical possibilities, struggles and choices transgender kids and their families face today.

Sherwood Park(en)

Reclaiming what was once stolen from him, a man journeys back to the place of his childhood nearly 80 years after his world came crashing down.

The Days of Greek Gods: Physique Films of Richard Fontaine(en)

Richard Fontaine and Bob Miser started the current exploration of the male nude in film and photography. The two shared ideas props and models and reinvented some of the sexual icons that we all still recognise today. The gladiator the sailor, the cowboy… Starting with posing-straps and graduating to nudes their "art studies" enlisted the talents of up-and-coming actors and bodybuilders. This film recalls that era.

Montgomery Clift(en)

A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.

Uncle Bob(en)

Robert Oppel's documentary about the life and murder of his uncle and namesake, Robert Opel, the man who streaked the Academy Awards in 1974.

Trans(es)

Trans is a 1982 Venezuelan documentary short film that offers an intimate look into the lives of a group of trans women and drag performers in Caracas, exploring their experiences in a society marked by transphobia and homophobia. Through interviews and performances, the documentary highlights the resilience and dignity of these women in the face of widespread discrimination and violence. Premiering at the Venezuelan National Cinematheque in 1982, Trans is considered a pioneering work in the representation of the trans community in Latin American cinema.

T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s(en)

The 1920s saw a revolution in technology, the advent of the recording industry, that created the first class of African-American women to sing their way to fame and fortune. Blues divas such as Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter created and promoted a working-class vision of blues life that provided an alternative to the Victorian gentility of middle-class manners. In their lives and music, blues women presented themselves as strong, independent women who lived hard lives and were unapologetic about their unconventional choices in clothes, recreational activities, and bed partners. Blues singers disseminated a Black feminism that celebrated emotional resilience and sexual pleasure, no matter the source.

Sunny Night(ka)

On 25th December 2011 the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II described his 34 year-long leadership as head of the Georgian Orthodox Church as a ‘sunny night’. Beginning in 1989, and going up to the present, the film essay Sunny Night tells of political and social events since Georgian Independence. A variety of formats and sources, disparate images and voices report on protests, recommencements, uproars and wars, and religious identity that centres around the dominant religion of the nation. In the midst of the ongoing shifts and the various state of affairs, the patriarch stands out as the only constant figure. Meanwhile the sermonised religion begins to take on radical forms, going as far as priests forming front row human-chains, leading protests of several thousand orthodox believers chasing a handful of LGBT activist throughout the streets of Tbilisi in May 2013.

Ballot Measure 9(en)

Ballot Measure 9 was an anti-gay amendment proposed to Oregon voters in 1992 by the conservative group, Oregon Citizen's Alliance. This documentary goes behind the scenes of the fight to stop Measure 9. It contains portions of anti-gay videos produced by the Citizen's Alliance as well as news clips and interviews with the people who successfully fought passage of Measure 9.

The Perfect Crime: Leopold & Loeb(en)

The shocking story of Richard Leopold and Nathan Loeb, two wealthy college students who murdered a 14-year-old boy in 1924 to prove they were smart enough to get away with it.

Market This!: Queer Radicals Respond to Gay Assimilation(en)

While global capitalism is a defining feature of our times, many engage in an anti-capitalist resistance. MARKET THIS! is a timely documentary that explores the desire for radical politics and culture in the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Two-Spirited and Transgender community. The documentary began in 1999 after the Queeruption gathering in New York City. During workshops and caucuses and through discussion and entertainment, participants came together to explore ways that this community can sustain and validate itself without supporting a system that actively exploits poor people, women, People of Color, g/b/l/TS/t people. This video takes the dialogue from Queeruption one step further. MARKET THIS! considers both the successes as well as the problems which resulted most visibly (and ironically) from a lack of involvement and presence of People of Color and Transgender people.

Coming to You(ko)

Nabi, a veteran fire officer, accepts the coming out from her child Hangyeol, “I want to remove my breasts.” Meanwhile, Vivian, a flight crew, receives a letter from her son Yejoon, “Mom, I’m gay.” Hangyeol and Yejoon confide in their struggles even before the two mothers understand their reality.

Boys on Film 23: Dangerous to Know(en)

Boys on Film presents ten encounters from across the globe, where the dangerous allure of a risky attraction yields emotional results — proving that the age-old adage of taking the plunge is as relevant — and sexy — as ever before. The 10 short films are: My Uncle's Friend [O Amigo do Meu Tio] (2021); Budapest, Closed City [Budapest, zárt város] (2021); Eden (2020); Chaperone (2022); Break Me [Knus meg] (2018); By His Will [שעשני כרצונו] (2021); Red Ants Bite (2019); Jim (2022); Hornbeam (2022); Too Rough (2022).

Heredity(fr)

Flora, 30, is a French geneticist. She analyzes what is transmitted or not between generations. She lost her parents who were fervent Maoists within the proletarian Left from the end of the 1960s. She must now sort through her parents' apartment: what to choose to keep or not from their memory?

Outside the Lines(nl)

Three young queer people share their experiences on what it’s like to deviate from the straight cis-norm. Throughout the film, painful experiences make room for a more positive perspective, such as the overwhelming sense of connection with millions of other queer individuals worldwide or the freedom that arises as one can relinquish certain expectations. This so-called ‘queer-joy’ is being discovered, providing inspiring and moving insights.

Jeder Tag ein Kampf? Queere Menschen in Deutschland(de)

Summer 2021: The Allianz Arena in Munich is to be lit up in rainbow colors for Germany's match against Hungary. UEFA forbids this - and Germany is in a rainbow frenzy in protest: landmarks are illuminated in color, rainbow flags are hoisted, and the country's own tolerance is celebrated. Germany, a paradise for queer people? Reporter Klaas-Wilhelm Brandenburg has had other experiences. "Die Story im Ersten" meets queer people in various phases of their lives: children at school, young people at work, senior citizens in nursing homes. We take stock after five years of "marriage for all": How equal are queer people in Germany? How tolerant is our society really?

Aravani Girl(en)

Sixteen year olds Palani and Karthik want to become "ladyboys." They're bullied in school and beaten by their families. Their parents would like to see them grow up as normal boys, but they're falling deeper and deeper into the world of the "Aravanis." Loved as dance performers but hated as homosexuals, their stories emblazon the inner conflicts of India's gender culture today.

Drag Queens em Cena: A Expressão de Almas Artísticas(pt)

The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson(en)

Describing herself as a 'street queen,' Johnson was a legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto and a tireless voice for LGBT pride since the days of Stonewall, who along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera, founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.), a trans activist group based in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. Her death in 1992 was declared a suicide by the NYPD, but friends never accepted that version of events. Structured as a whodunit, with activist Victoria Cruz cast as detective and audience surrogate, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson celebrates the lasting political legacy of Johnson, while seeking to finally solve the mystery of her unexplained death.