Benjamin Smoke is the highly acclaimed documentary by directors Jem Cohen and Peter Sillen on legendary underground musician Benjamin Smoke. Benjamin Smoke follows the crooked path of this fringe-dweller, speed-freak, occasional drag-queen and all-around renegade living in the hidden Atlanta neighborhood called “Cabbagetown,” and playing with his band Smoke.
No Goodbyes (2021)
Love in a concentration camp. A young Jewish gay man, Otto, is protected by a "kapo" (a fellow prisoner) and an SS guard who unexpectedly ends up saving his life.
Hold on Tight (2011)
A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.
Our Gay Wedding: The Musical (2014)
On 29 March 2014 same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales. Take a front row seat at one of the first gay weddings which will be an extraordinary ceremony in more ways than one - it's a musical.Grooms Benjamin Till and Nathan Taylor have written and staged their entire wedding as a musical – with sung vows, sung readings, a singing registrar and show-stopping ensembles featuring the whole congregation of family, friends and special guests. Even the grooms’ mums sing a heartfelt duet.
Make Me Famous (2023)
An investigation of Edward Brezinski, an ambitious, charismatic Lower East Side painter hell-bent on sucess, who thwarted his own career with antics that roiled NYC’s art elite. Brezinski’s quest for fame gives an intimate portrait of the art world’s attitude towards success and failure, fame and fortune, notoriety and erasure.
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema (2006)
A chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to "Brokeback Mountain". Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transgender films, films about diversity and various cultures, documentaries and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2018)
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
Half a Life (2017)
After a traumatic encounter, a young gay Egyptian joins the LGBT rights movement. When his safety is jeopardized, he must choose whether to stay in the country he loves or seek asylum elsewhere as a refugee. "Half a Life" is a timely story of activism and hope, set in the increasingly dangerous, oppressive, and unstable social climate of Egypt today.
Naked Boys Singing! (2007)
This whimsical Off-Broadway hit musical is aptly reworked and transferred to the screen. The self-descriptively titled Naked Boys Singing is a musical revue of songs that poke fun at gay life, body image, love, loss and yearning.
Mama's Boy (2022)
Traveling back to the places where he grew up, Dustin Lance Black explores his childhood roots, gay identity and close relationship with his mother, who overcame childhood polio, abusive marriages and Mormon dogma, while becoming Black’s emotional rock and, ultimately, the inspiration for his activism. With a wealth of personal photographs and candid memories from Black’s family, colleagues, and friends, this documentary embraces the personal to tell a universally hopeful tale of resilience and reconciliation through the power of love and shared stories.
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution (2017)
A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and was distinguished by its discontent with society's disapproval of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender communities.
Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat (2018)
Exploring the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people, and tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and '80s shaped his vision.
Little Potato (2017)
Wes Hurley's autobiographical tale of growing up gay in Soviet Union Russia, only to escape with his mother, a mail order bride, to Seattle to face a whole new oppression in his new Christian fundamentalist American dad.
Better Nate Than Ever (2022)
13-year-old Nate Foster has big Broadway dreams but there’s only one problem — he can’t even land a part in the school play. When his parents leave town, Nate and his best friend Libby sneak off to the Big Apple for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove everyone wrong. A chance encounter with Nate’s long-lost Aunt Heidi turns his journey upside-down, and together they must learn that life’s greatest adventures are only as big as your dreams.
Queerama (2017)
Created from a treasure trove of archive, Queerama traverses a century of gay experiences, encompassing persecution and prosecution, injustice, love and desire, identity, secrets, forbidden encounters, sexual liberation and pride. The soundtrack weaves the lyrics and music of John Grant, Goldfrapp and Hercules & Love Affair with the images and guides us intimately into the relationships, desires, fears and expressions of gay men and women in the 20th century – a century of incredible change.
Bonus Track (2024)
George, a 16-year-old who believes he is a future star musician, can't believe his luck when the son of a famous duo takes an interest in his music. This new arrival helps him rehearse for a talent show and leads both boys to learn from each other and grow closer.
Kinky Boots (2005)
Charles Price may have grown up with his father in the family shoe business in Northampton, central England, but he never thought that he would take his father's place. Charles has a chance encounter with the flamboyant drag queen cabaret singer Lola and everything changes.
Lo fugaz de la mirada (2024)
Fifty years have passed and Julio still hasn't managed to get over the disappearance of Miguel, the actor starring in a film they made together when they were young. In an attempt to reconstruct what happened, Julio sees some tapes he filmed while they were shooting and decides to write a farewell letter to Miguel's ghost.
Gingers (2013)
Redheads. Fire crotches… This film collects samples of their testimonials and their body hair and skin. About being different genetically, about gay gingers, doubly in a minority, from Ireland to Israel to Brazil. A film made especially for ginger lovers.
Perversion for Profit (1965)
Centered around a vehement diatribe against pornography delivered by news reporter George Putnam, the film attempts to link explicit portrayals of human sexuality to the subversion and decline of American civilization, and briefly draws a parallel between pornography and Communist infiltration. Perversion for Profit illustrates its claims with still images taken from various softcore pornography magazines of the period-- though, 'sensitive' parts of the human anatomy have been obscured by colored bars. The film is in the public domain, and has become a popular download from the Prelinger Archives.