Queer

Chasing Chasing Amy (2023)
CHASING CHASING AMY explores the transformational impact of a ‘90s rom-com on a 12 year old kid from Kansas, coming of age and contending with queer identity. For young Sav Rodgers, the Kevin Smith cult classic, CHASING AMY, became a life raft. As Rodgers examines the film and its making as a cornerstone of LGBTQ+ cinema, he finds himself at a complicated crossroads.

Circus of Books (2019)
In 1976, Karen and Barry Mason had fallen on hard times and were looking for a way to support their young family when they answered an ad in the Los Angeles Times. Larry Flynt was seeking distributors for Hustler Magazine. What was expected to be a brief sideline led to their becoming fully immersed in the LGBT community as they took over a local store, Circus of Books. A decade later, they had become the biggest distributors of gay porn in the US. The film focuses on the double life they led, trying to maintain the balance of being parents at a time when LGBT culture was not yet accepted. Their many challenges included facing jail time for a federal obscenity prosecution and enabling their store to be a place of refuge at the height of the AIDS crisis. Circus of Books offers a rare glimpse into an untold chapter of queer history, and it is told through the lense of the owners' own daughter, Rachel Mason, an artist, filmmaker and musician.

Cherry Valentine: Gypsy Queen and Proud (2022)
At 18, George Ward left the Gypsy community. He had felt rejected having come out as gay. Leaving his Gypsy identity behind, he invented Cherry Valentine, a drag alter-ego. Now he wants to find out if he can be accepted as a queer Gypsy and feel proud.

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (2023)
Intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of poetry take us on a journey through the dreamscape of legendary queer poet Nikki Giovanni as she reflects on her life and legacy.

Long Live My Happy Head (2022)
An uplifting documentary about coping with inoperable cancer may sound unlikely, but here it is. Gordon was diagnosed eight years ago and began using the medium of queer comic books to confront his feelings and fears. He employs humour to get to the heart of taboos surrounding death and disease, weaving many of the wonderful carers and nurses he meets into his expressively illustrated world. Sage, sweet, and stimulating, it is also a long-distance love story between Edinburgh and Virginia, USA. We could all learn a thing or two about love, life – and death – from Gordon.

Queendom (2023)
In defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow. Jenna Marvin’s radical public performances blend artistry and activism in this SXSW documentary.

Shakedown (2018)
‘Shakedown’ was a series of parties founded by and for African American women in Los Angeles that featured go-go dancing and strip shows for the city’s lesbian underground scene. Inspired by transwoman Mahogany who, as the mother of the scene, presided over queer strip shows and balls for non-heterosexual audiences in the 1980s, butch Ronnie Ron created, produced and presented the new shows. In them, the largely female clientele from the ‘hood’ slipped dollar notes into lap dancers’ panties while celebrating lesbian sexuality to pulsating hip-hop beats.

The Goodbye Girl (2004)
Musical dancer on the way out (at 36) Paula McFadden had it swell with actor Tony DeSanti, but instead of taking her to Hollywood he gets a European movie part. He even sublets their (his) New York apartment to Elliot Garfield, who generously lets her stay, even keeping the master bedroom. Pragmatic pre-teen daughter Lucy soon takes to his charm, but Paula remains determined to hate all actors. Despite the stress of a Broadway Shakespeare lead he must play too queer for Frisco, he's determined to snatch romance from ingratitude.

Joe Lycett: More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? (2022)
Join Joe Lycett (the artist formerly known as Hugo Boss) doing what he does best: talking at a room of people in a queer and comedic fashion. His first tour in years promises to be packed with MORE jokes, MORE comedy anecdotes and MORE inappropriate and arguably disturbing paintings, all in the hope of answering the age-old question: How do you Lycett? How do you Lycett?