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Before Stonewall
This extraordinary recollection/documentary traces the evolution of the gay movement in the U.S. from the 1920s to the '60s and touches on the major milestones in the development of gay-lesbian consciousness. Aided by archival footage and memorable interviews, Before Stonewall vividly paints a picture of what it was like to be "in the life" during this period of repression. The pioneers of the liberation recall their experiences -- from the lesbian bars in 1920s Harlem to the gay soldier's experiences in WWII to what it was like for gay blacks and Native Americans.
Available in VHS format.

After Stonewall
Thirty years after the momentous Stonewall Riots, this rousing historical documentary (and sequal to the 1985 Before Stonewall wonderfully encapsulates the social, political and sexual progress (and difficulties) the gay/lesbian rights movement faced from 1970 to the end of the century. It captures that time's important events including the 1970s when gay men came out of the closet and into the discos where the clone look, sexual liberation and a “it’s party time” attitude prevailed.
Available in VHS format.

And the Band Played On
Based on Randy Shilts' controversial book, this star-studded film adaptation is structured as an investigative medical thriller, and as such has an almost insurmountable problem in that the villain is a virus, its discoveries bring no joy, and there is no happy ending. Historically and scientifically comprehensive, the story centers on a government virologist, Don Francis (Modine), who almost single-handedly works on solving the mystery that was (is) HIV. The high-profile cast includes Gere as a Michael Bennett-like director, McKellen as a gay activist, and Alda, who savors his role as Dr. Robert Gallo.
Available in VHS format.

The Celluloid Closet
Inspired by Vito Russo's seminal book on the depiction of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema, this funny, informative and occasionally moving documentary offers -- through interviews and a vast assortment of film clips -- a candid mini-history of gays and lesbians on-screen. The Celluloid Closet takes a chronological approach to the subject, offering clips from the turn of the century (The Gay Brothers) thru the silents to the effeminate caricatures of the 1930s (Broadway Melody), the pitiful homosexual of the 1950s and '60s, the violently deviant homosexual of the '70s and '80s, and concluding with the squeaky clean image of recent times.
Available in VHS format.

I Am My Own Woman
This wonderfully inspiring film of one person's determined efforts to be exactly what he wants to be is director von Praunheim's best work to date. A documentary with re-created dramatic scenes intercut throughout, the film tells the courageous story of Charlotte von Mahsldorf, born Lother Berfelde, a transvestite who realizes his dream of living life as a woman. The story follows the events of her life, from her teenage years during WWII to operating an East Berlin museum. Despite the repression of the Communists, attacks by skinheads and public scorn, Miss Charlotte retains an amazingly sunny outlook as she freely goes about her life as a woman.
Available in VHS format.

Last Call at Maud's
The 1989 closing of Maud's Study, a lesbian bar and institution in San Francisco since 1966, propelled filmmaker Poirier to explore the 23-year life of the bar and its patrons as well as offer a fascinating minihistory of recent (post-WWII) lesbian life and the role that lesbian bars played in it. Many longtime patrons of Maud's offer a lively and informative account of lesbian life from the 1940s to the present, with stories of the many raids and police harassment of "queer" bars.
Available in VHS format.

Not Angels But Angels
The world of male prostitutes in the recently democratized Czech Republic is the lurid subject of this absorbing, nonjudgmental talking-heads documentary (that throws in shots of hard-core pornography as well). With either rap or somber classical music playing in the background, the director interviews more than ten boys, ranging in age from 14 to 19 years old, who work the train station, discos and streets of Prague. They answer questions about their family background (most come from broken homes), how they got their start selling themselves, and what their aspirations are.
Available in VHS format.

One Nation Under God
Providing another invaluable piece of queer history, this low-budget documentary investigates the organizations and people who try to "cure" gays and lesbians. The film offers screen time to both sides of the debate including interviews with the directors of "recovery programs," professionals opposed to their work, ex-gays who claim they are now straight, and the former ex-gays who claim that it is all a farce. The film's most eloquent and perceptive speakers are Michael and Gary, founding members of Exodus and now former ex-gays who voice the strongest condemnation of these organizations that expouse radical "curative" treatment. Though the film is pro-gay, it would have been enough just to allow these religious zealots a forum to debunk their own notions.
Available in VHS format.

Out of the Past (1998)
Inspiring, ambitious and educational, Out of the Past explores gay/lesbian activism and history on two fronts: the present-day struggles of a lesbian teenager thrust into the national limelight by entrenched homophobia, and the reenactment of pivotal moments in the 300-year struggle for gay/lesbian acceptance. Kelli Peterson was a Salt Lake City teen whose after-school club, the Gay-Straight Alliance, was banned by authorities and made illegal by the state legislature.
Available in VHS format.

Paris Is Burning
Welcome to the world of the Ball, where everyone is Cinderella. The balls in question are the voguing and drag-balls of Harlem, the subject of director Livingston's award-winning and sensationally entertaining documentary. Voguing, an underground dance invented by black and Latino queers, burst upon the pop scene when Madonna "took" voguing for herself and popularized it. But it's the originators of the form who are the film's subject. Voguers, or "ball walkers," affiliate themselves with "Houses," the equivalent of nonviolent gay street gangs, and compete for trophies at the late-nite balls.
Available in VHS format.

Paris Was a Woman
From the director of Before Stonewall comes this alternately interesting and scholarly documentary centering on the lives of several expatriates who lived and worked in Paris between the wars. Paris, specifically the area known as the Left Bank, became an intellectual, religious, racial, sexual and political haven for so many artists, including Hemingway, Joyce and Picasso. But this well-researched docu probes past the era's "stars" and focuses on the many women and lesbians who also thrived, those being Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, publishers Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier, New Yorker columnist Janet Flanner, heiress Natalie Barney, painterRomaine Brooks, and Djuna Barnes and her lover Thelma Woods.
Available in VHS format.

Rock Hudson's Home Movies
Often hilarious, highly original and utterly convincing, this revisionist interpretation of Rock Hudson's film career and life seeks to discover the "real" Hudson through his "reel" persona. Was this Hollywood hunk completely out of touch with his secreted sexuality, or did he throughout his career offer subtle -- or not so subtle -- hints at his homosexuality. Exploring this idea, Rappaport's insightful and unconventional biography cleverly dissects -- through freeze-frame, slo-mo and replays -- Hudson's films, seeking clues and overtly gay signals.
Available in VHS format.

Sex Is. . .
Contemporary gay men's preoccupation with sex and its side and after effects (love, relationship, AIDS) is entertainingly explored in this verbally and visually graphic documentary. Essentially a film of talking heads with some additional footage (mostly hard-core sex scenes) added, the film records the thoughts and opinions of various gay men who recount their childhood sexual obsessions, fantasies, proclivities and dislikes while they all agree that sex is a principal aspect of their lives. Raunchy, blunt and unapologetic, Sex Is... is an important testimony to gay men and their sexual lives before and during the age of AIDS.
Available in VHS and DVD formats.

Silverlake Life -- The View from Here
Arguably the most harrowing vision of death and dying ever recorded, this emotionally devastating video diary of two lovers living with and dying from AIDS is far from a morbid recording of one's own death. Rather, it's a celebration of life and of the enduring love the two men had for each other. Joslin, a film teacher, and his lover of 22 years, Mark Massi, decided to record their lives after the onslaught of AIDS-related illnesses. The camera follows them as they visit the doctor, buy medicine and herbal "cures" and other activities, but stays primarily in their apartment in the Silverlake section of Los Angeles. One's immediate feeling -- after the sadness of their story -- is an acknowledgement of their overriding commitment to each other, making this personal diary an astonishing love story.
Available in VHS format.

The Times of Harvey Milk
This extraordinary, compelling portrait of the slain SanFrancisco supervisor won a much deserved Academy Award for Best Documentary. Few films pack such a powerful wallop as it documents the true-life story of Harvey Milk, a Castro Street camera shop owner who became the country's first openly gay elected official. His rise to power and success as a leader of minorities was abruptly ended in 1978 when he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, an antigay former colleague of Milk's on the Board of Supervisors and a former police officer.
Available in VHS format.

Tongues Untied
This highly acclaimed film combines poetry, personal testimony, rap and performance to describe the homophobia and racism that confronts gay African-Americans. A personal and at times angry documentary that is an impassioned cry to speak out about black gay lives, the film garnered surprising controversy when some PBS stations -- disturbed by its subject matter -- refused to broadcast it. Two of the more memorable lines state: "Black men loving black men is the revolutionary act"; and "If in America a black is the lowest of the low, what is a gay black?"
Available in VHS format.

Unzipped
This delightfully playful documentary romp through the fashion world with designer Mizrahi is a sure-fire crowd pleaser due in large part to his irrepresible and engaging personality. The film's action centers around the swirl of creative energy Mizrahi and staff are pumping into preparing his fall '94 colllection, which is inspired by Nanook of the North and Call of the Wild. Amidst the chaos, Mizrahi (a boyishly cute, chubby Jewish queen from Brooklyn who sports a Medusa-like shock of hair) lets loose a barrage of bitchy, yet not too vicious one liners, social critiques and, of course, barbs at other designers.
Available in VHS format.

Urinal
Less provocative and explicit than the title suggests, this low-budget Canadian production is a documentary-style talk fest centering on homosexual repression through the ages and, more specifically, the well-publicized entrapment cases and crackdowns in Ontario's public rest rooms by a homophobic police force. The film's premise is that several prominently rumored gays, lesbians and bisexuals from the past (Yukio Mishima, Sergei Eisenstein, Frida Kahlo, Frances Loring, Langston Hughes and Florence Whyle) are mysteriously brought together in a Toronto apartment where they hold a series of discussions on the sociology of homosexuality and how to counter gay repression.
Available in VHS format.

A Virus Knows No Morals
Never one to tread softly on a controversial subject, von Praunheim tackles the issue of AIDS in this archaic black comedy. With several stories intercut throughout the film, von Praunheim's cast of weird characters includes a sex club owner who refuses to change his policies, claiming that, "I won't let them take away our freedom"; hysterical members of the press who are bent on making a story; and workers at a hospital where the deluge of AIDS patients causes them to become so bored and jaded that the night nurses roll dice to see which patient will die next.
Available in VHS format.

Wigstock -- The Movie
The boisterously extravagant, unabashedly camp, uninhibitedly costumed cross-dressing Labor Day extravaganza known as Wigstock is captured in all of its sequined and tacky glory in this spirited documentary. Recorded during the 1993 event in Tomkins Square Park and the 1994 event held on a West Village pier, we get a behind-the-scenes as well as an on-stage look at the fabulously frocked organizers, the surprisingly professional performers, and thoughts from its entranced audience. Director Shils' film is more authentic than To Wong Foo and Priscilla, but less enlightening than Jennie Livingston's Paris Is Burning.
Available in VHS format.

Word Is Out -- Stories from Some of Our Lives
Originally conceived as a documentary titled Who Are We?, this fascinating exploration of gay culture and history is made up of interviews with 26 lesbians and gay men. Ranging in age from18 to 77, and representing many divergent types -- from a beehived housewife to a sultry drag queen -- the film captures their vivid experiences of growing up gay in America and at the same time, helps destroy decades of accumulated stereotypes. A moving and important gay document.
Available in VHS format.

Zero Patience
From the director of the very serious Urinal comes this unexpectedly outrageous and satiric musical comedy about life in the age of AIDS. The story centers around "Patient Zero," Gaetan Dugas, a French-Canadian airline steward who was reported by health officials to be the man who brought AIDS to North America and helped rapidly spread it through promiscuous sexual activity. Gaetan returns from the dead to clear his name and solicits the help of 19th-century explorer (and now 20th-century AIDS researcher) Sir Richard Burton.
Available in VHS format.

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		Before Stonewall This extraordinary recollection/documentary traces the evolution of the gay movement in the U.S. from the 1920s to the '60s and touches on the major milestones in the development of gay-lesbian consciousness. Aided by archival footage and memorable interviews, Before Stonewall vividly paints a picture of what it was like to be "in the life" during this period of repression. The pioneers of the liberation recall their experiences -- from the lesbian bars in 1920s Harlem to the gay soldier's experiences in WWII to what it was like for gay blacks and Native Americans. Available in VHS format.
		After Stonewall Thirty years after the momentous Stonewall Riots, this rousing historical documentary (and sequal to the 1985 Before Stonewall wonderfully encapsulates the social, political and sexual progress (and difficulties) the gay/lesbian rights movement faced from 1970 to the end of the century. It captures that time's important events including the 1970s when gay men came out of the closet and into the discos where the clone look, sexual liberation and a “it’s party time” attitude prevailed. Available in VHS format.
		And the Band Played On Based on Randy Shilts' controversial book, this star-studded film adaptation is structured as an investigative medical thriller, and as such has an almost insurmountable problem in that the villain is a virus, its discoveries bring no joy, and there is no happy ending. Historically and scientifically comprehensive, the story centers on a government virologist, Don Francis (Modine), who almost single-handedly works on solving the mystery that was (is) HIV. The high-profile cast includes Gere as a Michael Bennett-like director, McKellen as a gay activist, and Alda, who savors his role as Dr. Robert Gallo. Available in VHS format.
		The Celluloid Closet Inspired by Vito Russo's seminal book on the depiction of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema, this funny, informative and occasionally moving documentary offers -- through interviews and a vast assortment of film clips -- a candid mini-history of gays and lesbians on-screen. The Celluloid Closet takes a chronological approach to the subject, offering clips from the turn of the century (The Gay Brothers) thru the silents to the effeminate caricatures of the 1930s (Broadway Melody), the pitiful homosexual of the 1950s and '60s, the violently deviant homosexual of the '70s and '80s, and concluding with the squeaky clean image of recent times. Available in VHS format.
		I Am My Own Woman This wonderfully inspiring film of one person's determined efforts to be exactly what he wants to be is director von Praunheim's best work to date. A documentary with re-created dramatic scenes intercut throughout, the film tells the courageous story of Charlotte von Mahsldorf, born Lother Berfelde, a transvestite who realizes his dream of living life as a woman. The story follows the events of her life, from her teenage years during WWII to operating an East Berlin museum. Despite the repression of the Communists, attacks by skinheads and public scorn, Miss Charlotte retains an amazingly sunny outlook as she freely goes about her life as a woman. Available in VHS format.
		Last Call at Maud's The 1989 closing of Maud's Study, a lesbian bar and institution in San Francisco since 1966, propelled filmmaker Poirier to explore the 23-year life of the bar and its patrons as well as offer a fascinating minihistory of recent (post-WWII) lesbian life and the role that lesbian bars played in it. Many longtime patrons of Maud's offer a lively and informative account of lesbian life from the 1940s to the present, with stories of the many raids and police harassment of "queer" bars. Available in VHS format.
		Not Angels But Angels The world of male prostitutes in the recently democratized Czech Republic is the lurid subject of this absorbing, nonjudgmental talking-heads documentary (that throws in shots of hard-core pornography as well). With either rap or somber classical music playing in the background, the director interviews more than ten boys, ranging in age from 14 to 19 years old, who work the train station, discos and streets of Prague. They answer questions about their family background (most come from broken homes), how they got their start selling themselves, and what their aspirations are. Available in VHS format.
		One Nation Under God Providing another invaluable piece of queer history, this low-budget documentary investigates the organizations and people who try to "cure" gays and lesbians. The film offers screen time to both sides of the debate including interviews with the directors of "recovery programs," professionals opposed to their work, ex-gays who claim they are now straight, and the former ex-gays who claim that it is all a farce. The film's most eloquent and perceptive speakers are Michael and Gary, founding members of Exodus and now former ex-gays who voice the strongest condemnation of these organizations that expouse radical "curative" treatment. Though the film is pro-gay, it would have been enough just to allow these religious zealots a forum to debunk their own notions. Available in VHS format.
		Out of the Past (1998) Inspiring, ambitious and educational, Out of the Past explores gay/lesbian activism and history on two fronts: the present-day struggles of a lesbian teenager thrust into the national limelight by entrenched homophobia, and the reenactment of pivotal moments in the 300-year struggle for gay/lesbian acceptance. Kelli Peterson was a Salt Lake City teen whose after-school club, the Gay-Straight Alliance, was banned by authorities and made illegal by the state legislature. Available in VHS format.
		Paris Is Burning Welcome to the world of the Ball, where everyone is Cinderella. The balls in question are the voguing and drag-balls of Harlem, the subject of director Livingston's award-winning and sensationally entertaining documentary. Voguing, an underground dance invented by black and Latino queers, burst upon the pop scene when Madonna "took" voguing for herself and popularized it. But it's the originators of the form who are the film's subject. Voguers, or "ball walkers," affiliate themselves with "Houses," the equivalent of nonviolent gay street gangs, and compete for trophies at the late-nite balls. Available in VHS format.
		Paris Was a Woman From the director of Before Stonewall comes this alternately interesting and scholarly documentary centering on the lives of several expatriates who lived and worked in Paris between the wars. Paris, specifically the area known as the Left Bank, became an intellectual, religious, racial, sexual and political haven for so many artists, including Hemingway, Joyce and Picasso. But this well-researched docu probes past the era's "stars" and focuses on the many women and lesbians who also thrived, those being Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, publishers Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier, New Yorker columnist Janet Flanner, heiress Natalie Barney, painterRomaine Brooks, and Djuna Barnes and her lover Thelma Woods. Available in VHS format.
		Rock Hudson's Home Movies Often hilarious, highly original and utterly convincing, this revisionist interpretation of Rock Hudson's film career and life seeks to discover the "real" Hudson through his "reel" persona. Was this Hollywood hunk completely out of touch with his secreted sexuality, or did he throughout his career offer subtle -- or not so subtle -- hints at his homosexuality. Exploring this idea, Rappaport's insightful and unconventional biography cleverly dissects -- through freeze-frame, slo-mo and replays -- Hudson's films, seeking clues and overtly gay signals. Available in VHS format.
		Sex Is. . . Contemporary gay men's preoccupation with sex and its side and after effects (love, relationship, AIDS) is entertainingly explored in this verbally and visually graphic documentary. Essentially a film of talking heads with some additional footage (mostly hard-core sex scenes) added, the film records the thoughts and opinions of various gay men who recount their childhood sexual obsessions, fantasies, proclivities and dislikes while they all agree that sex is a principal aspect of their lives. Raunchy, blunt and unapologetic, Sex Is... is an important testimony to gay men and their sexual lives before and during the age of AIDS. Available in VHS and DVD formats.
		Silverlake Life -- The View from Here Arguably the most harrowing vision of death and dying ever recorded, this emotionally devastating video diary of two lovers living with and dying from AIDS is far from a morbid recording of one's own death. Rather, it's a celebration of life and of the enduring love the two men had for each other. Joslin, a film teacher, and his lover of 22 years, Mark Massi, decided to record their lives after the onslaught of AIDS-related illnesses. The camera follows them as they visit the doctor, buy medicine and herbal "cures" and other activities, but stays primarily in their apartment in the Silverlake section of Los Angeles. One's immediate feeling -- after the sadness of their story -- is an acknowledgement of their overriding commitment to each other, making this personal diary an astonishing love story. Available in VHS format.
		The Times of Harvey Milk This extraordinary, compelling portrait of the slain SanFrancisco supervisor won a much deserved Academy Award for Best Documentary. Few films pack such a powerful wallop as it documents the true-life story of Harvey Milk, a Castro Street camera shop owner who became the country's first openly gay elected official. His rise to power and success as a leader of minorities was abruptly ended in 1978 when he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, an antigay former colleague of Milk's on the Board of Supervisors and a former police officer. Available in VHS format.
		Tongues Untied This highly acclaimed film combines poetry, personal testimony, rap and performance to describe the homophobia and racism that confronts gay African-Americans. A personal and at times angry documentary that is an impassioned cry to speak out about black gay lives, the film garnered surprising controversy when some PBS stations -- disturbed by its subject matter -- refused to broadcast it. Two of the more memorable lines state: "Black men loving black men is the revolutionary act"; and "If in America a black is the lowest of the low, what is a gay black?" Available in VHS format.
		Unzipped This delightfully playful documentary romp through the fashion world with designer Mizrahi is a sure-fire crowd pleaser due in large part to his irrepresible and engaging personality. The film's action centers around the swirl of creative energy Mizrahi and staff are pumping into preparing his fall '94 colllection, which is inspired by Nanook of the North and Call of the Wild. Amidst the chaos, Mizrahi (a boyishly cute, chubby Jewish queen from Brooklyn who sports a Medusa-like shock of hair) lets loose a barrage of bitchy, yet not too vicious one liners, social critiques and, of course, barbs at other designers. Available in VHS format.
		Urinal Less provocative and explicit than the title suggests, this low-budget Canadian production is a documentary-style talk fest centering on homosexual repression through the ages and, more specifically, the well-publicized entrapment cases and crackdowns in Ontario's public rest rooms by a homophobic police force. The film's premise is that several prominently rumored gays, lesbians and bisexuals from the past (Yukio Mishima, Sergei Eisenstein, Frida Kahlo, Frances Loring, Langston Hughes and Florence Whyle) are mysteriously brought together in a Toronto apartment where they hold a series of discussions on the sociology of homosexuality and how to counter gay repression. Available in VHS format.
		A Virus Knows No Morals Never one to tread softly on a controversial subject, von Praunheim tackles the issue of AIDS in this archaic black comedy. With several stories intercut throughout the film, von Praunheim's cast of weird characters includes a sex club owner who refuses to change his policies, claiming that, "I won't let them take away our freedom"; hysterical members of the press who are bent on making a story; and workers at a hospital where the deluge of AIDS patients causes them to become so bored and jaded that the night nurses roll dice to see which patient will die next. Available in VHS format.
		Wigstock -- The Movie The boisterously extravagant, unabashedly camp, uninhibitedly costumed cross-dressing Labor Day extravaganza known as Wigstock is captured in all of its sequined and tacky glory in this spirited documentary. Recorded during the 1993 event in Tomkins Square Park and the 1994 event held on a West Village pier, we get a behind-the-scenes as well as an on-stage look at the fabulously frocked organizers, the surprisingly professional performers, and thoughts from its entranced audience. Director Shils' film is more authentic than To Wong Foo and Priscilla, but less enlightening than Jennie Livingston's Paris Is Burning. Available in VHS format.
		Word Is Out -- Stories from Some of Our Lives Originally conceived as a documentary titled Who Are We?, this fascinating exploration of gay culture and history is made up of interviews with 26 lesbians and gay men. Ranging in age from18 to 77, and representing many divergent types -- from a beehived housewife to a sultry drag queen -- the film captures their vivid experiences of growing up gay in America and at the same time, helps destroy decades of accumulated stereotypes. A moving and important gay document. Available in VHS format.
		Zero Patience From the director of the very serious Urinal comes this unexpectedly outrageous and satiric musical comedy about life in the age of AIDS. The story centers around "Patient Zero," Gaetan Dugas, a French-Canadian airline steward who was reported by health officials to be the man who brought AIDS to North America and helped rapidly spread it through promiscuous sexual activity. Gaetan returns from the dead to clear his name and solicits the help of 19th-century explorer (and now 20th-century AIDS researcher) Sir Richard Burton. Available in VHS format.

Gay Films	Lesbian Films	Camp Films	Documentary Films	Adult Films Section
Return to HomePage