KNOWhomo

LGBTQ* Films to Keep(!) On Your Radar

Any Day Now

saving-sergius:

Winner of 10 Audience Awards at film festivals around the country and starring the amazing Alan Cumming, ANY DAY NOW is a powerful tale of love, acceptance and family. When a teenager with Down syndrome (Isaac Leyva) is abandoned by his mother, a gay couple (Alan Cumming and Garret Dillahunt) takes him in and becomes the loving family he’s never had. But when their unconventional living arrangement is discovered by authorities, the men are forced to fight a biased legal system to save the life of the child they have come to love as their own. Inspired by a true story from the late 1970s, ANY DAY NOW touches on legal and social issues that are as relevant today as they were 35 years ago.

LGBTQ* Scenes in Mainstream Films

“Valerie’s Letter” from V for Vendetta

It seems strange that my life should end in such a terrible place.

But for three years I had roses – and apologised to no-one.

I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch.

But one.

An inch.

It is small and it is fragile, and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.

I hope that - whoever you are - you escape this place. I hope that the world turns, and that things get better.

But what I hope most of all is that you understand what I mean when I tell you that even though I do not know you, and even though I may not meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you: I love you.

With all my heart.

I love you.

-Valerie

Remember Remember the Fifth of November

LGBTQ* Hollywood and the Rest of the Story

László Ede Almásy’s Love Affair That Wasn’t

1996’s The English Patient:

(based on the novel by Sri Lankan-Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje) 

A French-Canadian nurse cares for Count László Ede Almásy, a burn victim, while he recounts his illicit love affair with his friend’s wife, their torrid affair and her death before dying himself (thinking fondly of here).

The Real László Ede Almásy:

Well, first off, László Ede Almásy was gay.

He was in love with a German Army officer during the war. He wasn’t burned, nor did he die at the end of WWII. Almásy went on to become a Soviet spy. 

KNOWhomo…

LGBTQ* Film History You Should Know

WINGS (1927, Academy Award Winning Film)

What is it about?

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman become fighter pilots in World War I.

Why is it important?

This film is the oldest surviving footage of a same-sex onscreen kiss and often believed to be the FIRST same-sex kiss on film. WINGS is an important addition to film and queer history with its honest portrayal of the bond and interaction between two men as watched by an audience via celluloid prior to the “macho - men are men” attitude which would go on to flood mentality and film a decade later.

LGBTQ* 2011 Movies You May Have Missed

1. Tomboy (French Film) — following a move, a 10-year introduces himself to his classmates and friends with pronouns he feels more comfortable with. Things become tense when adults and other children learn that his biological sex doesn’t reflect his presentation
2. Beginners — a series of flashbacks carries the audience through a young man’s current life and his father’s coming out promise (which begins in  his golden years)
3. Pariah — story of 17-year old African American teenager Alike and her experiences as she embraces her identity as a lesbian 
4. Albert Nobbs — Glenn Close stars in this period drama about gender expression, sexual orientation, gender roles and class structure
5. Every Day — the story of a family under strain after years of marriage and a son’s coming out process and desire to find love
6. Weekend (British) — film about a one-night stand that turns into something neither party expected and everything that can change someone’s outlook

Quintessential Movies from the Gay (male) Film Canon You Should Know

1. The Broken Hearts Club — West Hollywood gay softball team learns how to love, the power of friendship and coping with loss (actors include Zach Braff, Andrew Keegan and Dean Cain)
2. Get Real — gay teen comes out (and being a gay teen means drama will follow)
3. A Single Man — based on the Isherwood novel, this film follows what it means to be gay in the 1960s and what we do to keep on after tragedy
4. Latter Days — A promiscuous gay man from California meets a private Mormon and their encounters rearrange both of their lives
5. Looking for Langston — split film crossing back and forth between 1920s Harlem and 1980s England, this film invites you to explore the ways people express themselves and the places they find comfort
6. Brokeback Mountain — the life story of two men who meet while sheep ranching 
7. Milk — biopic about the life of Harvey Milk, S.F. first openly gay elected city official
8. Shelter — a young man returns home to care for his family, finding companionship in a place least expected
9. Brother to Brother — taking place during days of the Harlem Renaissance, this film follows a young artist and aging poet 
10.  Walk on Water —  following the suicide of his wife, an Israeli intelligence agent is assigned to befriend the grandchildren of a Nazi war criminal

LGBTQ* Intersex Documentaries You Should Keep On Your Radar

INTERSEXION

(Following text from the documentary’s website:)

The first question any new parent asks… “Is it a boy or a girl?”

1 in 2,000 babies is born with genitalia so ambiguous that the doctors cannot easily answer this question.

In this groundbreaking documentary, intersex individuals reveal the secrets of their unconventional lives – and how they have navigated their way through this strictly male/female world, when they fit somewhere in between.

(Quicktime/Video Link HERE, supplied by Tiger Howard Devore, PhD.)

LGBTQ*  Movie History, Films and Scenes You Should Know

“THE (First) KISS” in Desert Hearts

Set in 1950s Nevada, Desert Hearts is considered one of the great lesbian film classics. Made in 1985, it stars Helen Shaveras Professor Vivian Bell and Patricia Charbonneau as the fiesty, outgoing and openly lesbian Cay Rivers. Vivian Bell is in town to process her divorce and stays at the ranch of Cay’s family.(from videoblush.com)

LGBTQ* Films, Movies and Shorts

“D.E.B.S.” — The Short Film

Before Angela Robinson released D.E.B.S. as a full-length film, it debuted through Power Up Films as a short length movie. You can watch it above.

(for more information on D.E.B.S. full length film, staring Sara Foster and Jordana Brewster, check out IMDb )

LGBTQ* Movies To Keep On Your Radar

ALBERT NOBBS -  Glenn Close, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

U.S. (Wide) Release January 2012