Just as you think there can’t possibly be many more high-profile queer figures from the past for film makers to profile, up pops another compelling documentary. This time the spotlight shines on pioneering 1960s Black trans soul musician/performer Jackie Shane. Any Other Way – The Jackie Shane Story details the extraordinary journey of … Continue reading
Bad Axe sounds like the name of a town that would feature in an episode of The Simpsons, but this Michigan place is for real. Documentary-maker David Siev paints a fascinating real-time portrait of his Asian-American family’s experiences in Trump’s rural America. We join the family during the crazy year that was 2020, as … Continue reading
Conversations around gender and sexual identities are hot topics these days. In the heat of the moment, however, it’s useful to look back at how such conversations were framed in previous eras, and how our thoughts have evolved over time. Daniel Peddle’s ground-breaking 2005 documentary, The Aggressives, documented the beliefs, lives, and aspirations … Continue reading
Socks on Fire is poet Bo McGuire’s debut feature documentary about his family in rural Hokes Bluff, Alabama. The film won Best Documentary Feature at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. The main storyline is the feud between one of his aunts, the homophobic Sharon, and his Uncle John, a flamboyant drag queen, over the … Continue reading
Casa Susanna is a compelling documentary about a group of cross-dressing men/trans women in early 1960s America. Acclaimed French screenwriter/director Sebastien Lifshitz opens up a world few of us would know about had it not been for a set of photographs found at a New York flea market in 2004. The early 1960s … Continue reading