Against the Grain Seyi Adebanjo & Betty Yu 2011, 6 min., Color, US To break the mold of past documentaries about gender transformation, AGAINST THE GRAIN goes beyond the usual gender binary and linear racial focus. This short documentary follows the story of OluSeyi,...
An Intro to Cultural Skit-zo-frenia Jamika Ajalon 1993, 10 min., Color, US An experimental documentary exploring the lives, views of people who don't fit or who live outside the definitions regulating race ("i.e. black enough"), gender, or sexuality....
Audre Lorde - The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992 Dagmar Schultz 2012, 79 min., Color, Germany 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of Audre Lorde’s passing, the acclaimed Black lesbian feminist poet and activist. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Lorde’s incisive writings and speeches defined and inspir...
Black Body Thomas Allen Harris 1992, 7 min., Color, US Thomas Allen Harris uses text, special effects, and a single bound male nude to emphasize the humanity underlying the multiple definitions of black identity and subjectivity. The audience may be asked...
black enuf* Carrie Hawks 2016, 23 min., Color, US A queer oddball seeks approval from Black peers despite a serious lack of hip-hop credentials and a family that ‘talks white’. Carrie Hawks' quest for a Black Card (undeniable acceptance of my racial ...
Black Nations/Queer Nations? Shari Frilot Producer: Frilot and Black Nations/Queer Nations? 1995, 52 min., Color, US This is an experimental documentary chronicling the March 1995 groundbreaking conference on lesbian and gay sexualities in the African diaspora. The conference brought together an array of dynamic sch...
Bodily Functions Jocelyn Taylor 1995, 14 min., Color Exploring the notions of body image and sexual expression as they intersect with family and society, this short interweaves three narratives: first, a "naked fugitive on the loose" as she runs, walks ...
Chasing the Moon Dawn Suggs 1991, 4 min., BW, US This fascinating film presents the meditations of a Black lesbian grappling with the memory of an attack that makes her wary about being out on the street....
Cinema Fouad Mohammed Soueid & Tele Liban 1994, 28 min., Color, Lebanon A documentary on the life and ambitions of a young Lebanese trans woman, Khaled El Kurdi. The video follows her journey from soldier to cabaret dancer in an effort to raise funds for her sex change ...
Close to Home Rodney Evans 1998, 24 min., Color, US CLOSE TO HOME documents the filmmaker's journey as he comes out to a conservative, Jamaican family and negotiates a painful relationship with a 21-year old heterosexual man....
Coming Full Circle: The Journey of a Korean Transgendered Adoptee Larry Tung 2015, 24 min., Color, US/Korea Pauline Park, a transgender rights activist in New York City, was born into a poor family in post-war Korea. Adopted by white American parents, she left Korea as a 7-month old baby boy and grew up in ...
A Cosmic Demonstration of Sexuality Shari Frilot 1992, 20 min., Color, US A humorous comparison between female sexuality and cosmic structures, this video interviews five different women on topics such as menstruation, masturbation and ejaculation. The video proposes how se...
El Culebrero, La Muerte de un Colombiano y el Acordeonista Que No Esta Patricia Montoya 1995, 9 min., Color, US Representing the transient aspects of the gay Colombian experience in New York City, Montoya's tape uses deep cultural signifiers from Colombian folklore and a contrasting English voice-over to explor...
Detour: Or How I Spent My Weekend Deron Twohatchet 1995, 28 min., Color, US Two mismatched drifters, Jim and James, are on a voyage discovering the contours of homo/hetero, red/white, personal/political, textual/metatextual in an experimental narrative feast. In a critique of...
Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project Charles B. Brack Producer: Charles B. Brack, CoProduced with Third World Newsreel 2008, 58 min., Color, US This documentary tells the little known story of Sakia Gunn, a 15 year old student who was fatally stabbed in a gay hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. Sakia was an Aggressive, according to GLAAD, a hom...
Ent-homo-philia Hima B. 2003, 10 min., Color, US With traces of Kafka, this experimental short locates us in an altered state of reality as the set for an unsuspecting beetle's participation in her mate's metamorphosis. Influenced by Kafka's "The M...
Frankie & Jocie Jocelyn Taylor 1994, 20 min., Color, US Examining the relationships between brother and sister, hetero and queer, male and female, this video weaves a provocative discussion between a Black lesbian and her straight brother. In an eloquent e...
History Doesn’t Have to Repeat Itself Stéphane Gérard 2014, 85 min., Color, France/US Forty-three years after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, filmmaker Stéphane Gérard travels to New York City in an attempt to find the activist community that was born out of this historical moment and to ...
I Exist: Voices from the Lesbian and Gay Middle Eastern Community in the US Peter Barbosa & Garrett Lenoir Producer: Peter Barbosa 2003, 56 min., Color, US “I Exist” is a documentary exploring individual journeys of Lesbian and Gay people of Middle Eastern cultures living in the United States. The cultural and religious challenges that many Lesbian and ...
I Never Danced the Way Girls Were Supposed To Dawn Suggs Producer: Third World Newsreel Workshop 1992, 7 min., Color, US What makes Black lesbians so special? Suggs takes a fresh and funny approach to explore this and other questions using a mixture of scenes shot on film and video with running commentaries by women in ...
Jareena, Portrait of a Hijda Prem Kalliat 1990, 25 min., Color, India This video offers a profile of a transsexual and her community in the Indian city of Bangalore. It provides a unique insight into the lives of Hijdas, a society of eunuchs numbering in the tens of tho...
Juggling Gender: Politics, Sex and Identity Tami Gold 1992, 26 min., Color, US A loving portrait of Jennifer Miller, a lesbian performer who lives her life with a full beard. Miller works as a performance artist, circus director, clown and as the "bearded lady" in one of the onl...
A Litany For Survival: the Life and Work of Audre Lorde (90) Ada Gay Griffin & Michelle Parkerson Producer: Third World Newsreel 1996, 90 min., Color, US An epic portrait of the eloquent, award-winning Black, lesbian, poet, mother, teacher and activist, Audre Lorde, whose writings -- spanning five decades -- articulated some of the most important socia...
A Litany For Survival: the Life and Work of Audre Lorde Ada Gay Griffin & Michelle Parkerson Producer: Third World Newsreel 1995, 52 min., Color, US An epic portrait of the eloquent, award-winning Black, lesbian, poet, mother, teacher and activist, Audre Lorde, whose writings -- spanning five decades -- articulated some of the most important socia...
Looking For Wendy Kimberly Saree Tomes 1998, 18 min., Color Tomes' pseudo-search for her roots as a Korean adoptee takes her from her adoptive father who works in bio-engineering (genetically creating the world's juiciest tomato) to the adoptive relationship b...
Mama Gloria Luchina Fisher Producer: Yvonne Welbon & Zainab Ali 2020, 76 min., Color, US At a time when Black transgender women face escalating violence and make up the majority of transgender people murdered each year, Gloria Allen’s story is an inspiring portrait of aging seldom seen. B...
Marriage Equality: Byron Rushing And The Fight For Fairness Thomas Allen Harris 2011, 15 min., Color, US A documentary that connects the Lesbian and Gay Marriage Equality movement with the Black Civil Rights Movement.
This documentary interweaves archival footage and photos with contemporary intervie...
Not Simply a Wedding Banquet Mickey Chen & Ming-Hsiu Chen 1997, 50 min., Color, Taiwan The first public gay wedding in Taiwan has stirred up considerable controversy, including a local campaign to ban this film. It tells the story of Yosheng and Gary, the first gay couple to have a publ...
Odds and Ends Michelle Parkerson Producer: Michelle Parkerson/American Film Institute 1993, 28 min., Color In the year 2096, Black women warriors wage a vigilant battle against racial and gender annihilation. In this devastated universe, a fable unravels between interplanetary frontlines. Lieutenant Loz Wa...
On the Downlow Abigail Child 2006, 54 min., Color, US "On the Downlow" presents an intimate portrait of four men negotiating their bisexual desire within the African-American community of Cleveland, Ohio. These men selfdescribe as "dipping on both sides ...
Orientations Richard Fung Producer: Gay Asians Toronto 1985, 56 min., Color, Canada More than a dozen men and women of different Asian backgrounds speak frankly about their lives as members of a minority within a minority. They speak about coming out, homophobia, racism, cultural id...
Our House: Lesbians and Gays in the Hood Black Planet Productions Producer: Black Planet Productions 1993, 28 min., Color, US Up front and in your face interviews with Black gays and lesbians provide an uncompromising look at homophobia, racism, alienation and empowerment for queer African Americans. This riveting documentar...
Out: The Making of a Revolutionary Sonja de Vries & Rhonda Collins 2000, 60 min., Color, US Convicted of the 1983 U.S. Capitol Bombing, and "conspiring to influence, change, and protest policies and practices of the United States government through violent and illegal means", Laura Whitehorn...
Ọya: Something Happened On The Way To West Africa! Seyi Adebanjo 2015, 30 min., Color, US/Nigeria In this documentary, Queer Gender-Non-Conforming Nigerian media artist Seyi Adebanjo tells a tale not often heard about gender and indigenous Yorùbá spirituality. ỌYA follows Seyi's journey to Nigeria...
Panic is the Enemy Third World Newsreel Workshop Producer: Third World Newsreel Workshop 1986, 10 min., Color, US In 1984, Bernhard Goetz, shot four young men in a New York City subway car, because he thought they were dangerous. This video focuses on the "panic" generated by the press and reveals its implication...
The Passion of Remembrance Maureen Blackwood & Isaac Julien Producer: Sankofa Film and Video Collective 1986, 80 min., Color, UK This first feature film by one of Britain's most respected workshops, is a multi-layered look at issues of concern to Black youth during the turbulent 80s--the Thatcher era. Combining documentary foot...
Photos of Angie Alan Domínguez Producer: Alan Domínguez, David Domínguez & Jennifer Warren 2011, 55 min., Color, US In 2008, 18 year-old, Mexican-American Angie Zapata was found dead in her small apartment in Greely, Colorado. The media quickly reported that she was a typical teenager – she loved using her cell pho...
Re:Orientations Richard Fung 2016, 68 min., Color, Canada A fascinating look into the lives and thoughts of seven Queer Pan-Asian Canadians as they look back on ORIENTATIONS, a 1984 documentary in which they featured. How have they changed? And how has the w...
A Ride Out (Una Vuelta) Patricia Montoya Producer: Third World Newsreel Workshop 1994, 10 min., Color, US An examination of a one night affair between two women. Exploring the contours of race, desire and passion. This provocative tape maps out a Latina’s examination of her heritage in the context of pa...
Samuel & Samantha On Jorge Lozano & Samuel Lopez 1993, 23 min., Color, US Samuel is a Salvadoran college student, political refugee, and Samantha a performance artist. Samuel/Samantha's experiences in Toronto show the complexities and difficulties faced by Latino gay men as...
Shades Jamika Ajalon 1994, 12 min., Color SHADES explores the issues around dark and light skin in the African American community. Drawing on erotic imagery and the relation between a light skinned woman and a darker skinned Lesbian, this vid...
Sisters in the Life: First Love Yvonne Welbon 1993, 30 min., Color, US A thirty-something black lesbian reflects on falling for her best friend in junior high. Set in the '70's and '90's, this is a delightful tale of love and friendship. Welbon incorporates recreated fla...
Slanted Visions Ming-Yuen S. Ma 1995, 50 min., Color Working in collaboration with a diverse group of artists, writers, performers and musicians, many of them queer and Asian, Los Angeles-based media artist Ming-Yuen S. Ma has created a promiscuous mont...
Splash! Thomas Allen Harris 1991, 10 min., Color, US SPLASH is a fable-like tale of memory and emotion. Using a range of techniques, it deftly explores the interplay between identity, fantasy, gender, homosexual desire and pre-adolescence. These forces ...
Straight For the Money: Interviews with Queer Sex Workers Hima B. 1994, 59 min., Color, US This documentary offers a unique perspective on sex work from the lesbian point of view. Through interviews, erotica, and archival footage, the videomaker explores the lives of lesbian strippers, pros...
Synchronized Corinne Manabat Cueva Producer: Corinne Manabat Cueva 2020, 6 min., Color, United States SYNCHRONIZED is an experimental documentary short that embraces 5 women of color as they collectively reflect about their experiences living and thriving in Oakland. This will uncover their perspectiv...
Testing the Limits: NYC Testing the Limits Collective Producer: Testing the Limits Collective 1989, 30 min., Color, US In 1987, the Ronald Reagan administration faced criticism from AIDS activists for its mismanagement of the AIDS crisis. Chanting "Test drugs, not people" and "Educate, don't isolate", activist groups ...
This is My House Charlene Gilbert 1995, 6 min., Color, US This experimental short humorously and powerfully explores women's body imagery. A Black woman's body is defined and re-defined in her own voice, exploring the notions of beauty, power, gender, owners...
Three Queer Mice SupaFriends, Daniel Feliciano, Amanda Moscoso, Tatiana Lam Lo, Corina Leu & Alcides Torres Producer: SupaFriends & Global Action Project 2007, 3 min., Color, US This short animation is a remake of the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". We find three very queer mice in a lot of trouble when their rights are being violated. Based on real events.
Global Action...
Toc Storee Ming-Yuen S. Ma 1993, 21 min., Color, US The first in a series by the artist addressing Asian/Pacific Islander Gay experiences, this multilevel narrative explores sexuality, identity, tradition and personal recollection through gay Asian sto...
Trans Lives Matter! Justice for Islan Nettles Seyi Adebanjo 2013, 7 min., Color, US TRANS LIVES MATTER! JUSTICE FOR ISLAN NETTLES is a powerful and moving document of a community vigil for Islan Nettles, a Transgender Womyn of Color who was beaten to death in front of a New York Poli...
Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela Thomas Allen Harris Producer: Thomas Allen Harris 2005, 73 min., Color, US In the wake of his stepfather’s death, Thomas Allen Harris embarks on a journey of reconciliation with the man who raised him as a son but whom he could never call "father." As part of the first wave ...
Two Spirits: Native American Lesbians and Gays Teresa Osa Hidalgo de la Riva Producer: Deep Dish TV 1994, 28 min., Color, US This video explores the Native American belief in “Two Spirit” human androgyny. A combination of the ability to love another of the same gender, to encompass “masculine” and “feminine” attributes with...
Unspoken Patrick G Lee 2020, 17 min., Color, US Through letter-writing, a community discussion, and a drag performance, six queer and trans Asian Americans grapple with their queerness and consider what family acceptance might look like.
UNSPOK...
Vintage: Families of Value Thomas Allen Harris 1995, 72 min., Color, US VINTAGE is an experimental documentary which looks at three African American families through the eyes of lesbian and gay siblings--including the filmmaker and his younger brother. Three groups of que...
Viva Eu! (Long Live Me!) Tania Cypriano 1989, 18 min., Color, US/Brazil/Spain This documentary is a tribute to Wilton Braga, a visionary artist who was one of the first people to be diagnosed with AIDS in Brazil. As Braga travels to Barcelona, New York and Sao Paolo, the film ...
We Always Danced Nettie Marquez 1996, 10 min., Color, US Anna is trying to come to terms with the loss of her best friend to AIDS. The contradictions between her traditional Latin upbringing and her identity as a lesbian leave her conflicted on how to handl...
What is a Line? Shari Frilot 1994, 10 min., Color, US Weaving a narrative of a jilted lover with footage of a train in motion, this video is a darkly comedic study of the physical, psychological and emotional traumas jilted lovers go through....
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