We have never needed an excuse to visit ATLANTA, probably our favorite southern city in the US (sorry, Miami!), and we know once Labor Day weekend is over, we’ll be making tracks for the 39th Edition of  OUT ON FILM Queer Film Festival. Queerguru is not their only fan, by far, as Out On Film is proud to be recognized as one of USA TODAY’s 10 Best Film Festivals for four consecutive years, a MovieMaker Magazine “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” selection, an Academy Award®-qualifying festival for Best Narrative Short Film, and an Iris Prize Partner Festival.

For this year’s 10-day event, their mission statement is The World We’re Making, and it celebrates the collective vision created by filmmakers, audiences, volunteers, sponsors, and community partners. Rather than promising a finished destination, it celebrates the ongoing work of creating spaces where authentic LGBTQ+ stories can be seen, celebrated, and shared. Some stories challenge what we’ve always believed. Others remind us where we’ve been, imagine where we’re going, or allow us to see ourselves reflected on screen. Together, they shape a future that is more compassionate, vibrant, and inclusive than the one we inherited.

As usual, we have the QUEERGURU Team go through the entire program to create our TOP LIST OF MUST-SEE MOVIES: they are as follows: 

A beautiful, naked, athletic, fifty-something woman strikes various bodybuilder poses with a cheeky glint in her eyes. Barbara Hammer is in control, and she knows how to get your attention. So begins Barbara Forever, a fascinating, intimate portrayal of the pioneering lesbian film-maker, feminist activist, lover, and artist. With an archived collection of over eighty films, plus a treasure trove of memorabilia, director Brydie O’Connor struck gold when she began her research into the life and times of the inimitable lesbian movie queen.”

Award-winning queer Mexican filmmaker SERGIO TOYAR VELARDE  sat down to talk to Queerguru about his latest film THE  DIVINE TRAGEDY when it had its World Premiere earlier this year. It’s an intriguing dramedy about two opposite gay half-brothers who end up living together after life throws an unexpected curve.  Sergio’s compelling story explores the twists and turns of different contemporary queer relationships without shying away from any of the intimacy.  That part alone makes for such a refreshing change from most queer films these days, which have the annoying habit of self-censorship .

Hunky Jesus, a heart-warming new documentary by director Jennifer M Kroot is unquestionably one of the very best queer films of the year.  For the uninitiated, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a large group of drag/trans performance activists, and the Hunky Jesus competition, held each Easter in San Francisco’s Delore is one of their biggest and best fundraising events. The Sisters are one of the very best things that heve ever happened to our global queer community.  Queerguru managed to talk with Jennifer Kroot after the World Premiere in London (see HERE)  and reunite with our friend Sister Roma, who is the  world’s most photographed nun 

Love, Patrick: Nothing is Impossible is a documentary about the American fashion designer  Patrick Kelly who came to fame in France, and he was the first American to be admitted to the Chambre syndicale du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode, the prestigious governing body of the French ready-to-wear industry. Kelly’s designs were noted for their exuberance, humor and references to pop culture and Black folklore. By 1989, Kelly was at the height of his success, producing his line for Warnaco in addition to other contracts—including one for Benetton—while developing plans for lingerie, perfume and menswear lines. However that August, Kelly became ill and was unable to complete preparations for his October show, which soon resulted in the cancellation of his Warnaco agreement. Kelly was sick with AIDS, but the hope of his partial recovery and business considerations kept the nature of his illness secret until after his death. His friend and client Gloria Steinem concluded her remarks by saying, “Instead of dividing us with gold and jewels, he unified us with buttons and bows.”

‘Madfabulous’ from director Celyn Jones (who incidentally played the truculent brother in the newly released ‘On the Sea’) and writer Lisa Baker (in her screenwriting debut) is based on the life of Henry Paget, the 5th Marquess of Anglesey.  Essentially, this is the story of a sweet and generous (to a fault) man who sometimes gets too lost inside his own head to appreciate the needs of those closest to him. This may well be a career-defining moment for Callum Scott Howells as Henry Paget. He imbues the role with the vulnerability and a ferocious flamboyance that the buttoned-down Colin, whom we all wanted to save, in ‘It’s a Sin’ couldn’t afford him.

Mckey and Richard is the intimate portrayal of Mickey Squires, the legendary 1980s Colt model and porn actor, real name Richard Bernstein. Now in his 70s, and told in his own, very honest words, Mickey and Richard reveal how the reality behind a persona is often very different from what we’d expect, an interesting study in these times of social media perfection. The film examines the highs and lows of his life, Bernstein’s internal conflict between being Mickey and Richard, and takes us on a journey from San Francisco, LA, New York, and Palm Springs from the 1970s to the present day, via modelling, porn, escorting, drug addiction, HIV, low self-esteem and loneliness. It’s a life many will relate to.

To be perfectly honest, Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders, the latest documentary from one of Queerguru’s favorite filmmakers, Emmy Award Winner Jeffrey Schwarz, is the most anticipated film in the Fest for our whole team.  It’s the story behind what is still one of the most controversial queer films ever made. During the summer of 1979, the hottest club in New York City was on the streets of the West Village, where the gay community came together to protest the filming of a new Al Pacino movie called Cruising.  Spurred on by a series of articles by Village Voice writer Arthur Bell, these activists took offense to the idea of a film where homosexuality was explicitly linked to murderous depravity. In some quarters, Cruising has been reclaimed as a gay cinema classic, but we are leaving our options open right now. Like all of Schwarz’s films, this one is UNMISSABLE

“Few movies set the scene with such succinct clarity as ‘Test’ from writer (and lead) Brock Yurich and director Sam McConnell. Here, we watch as a handsome and very muscled man, wearing nothing but a cock sock, is rollered in fake tan by an older woman while singing a hymn and giggling” 

This is how Queerguru’s David Allen’s 5-star review started on TEST and went on to literally rave about this new movie: so much so that we jumped at the chance to sit down with the two creatives when they screened their film at the Provincetown International Film Festival.   PS The movie was just named the Emerging Narrative Feature Competition Winner: at Sydney’s 13th Queer Screen Film Fest last week.

Uncle Roy, this intriguing doc makes such a fascinating contribution to the whole queer history canon that may have been lost for good except for the inquiring mind of award-winning documentary filmmaker Keri Pickett.  It’s her Uncle in the title, whom she didn’t get to know until she followed him to NY to pursue her dream of becoming a professional photographer.  He was a deeply private person and she had absolutely no idea that he was considered a “forefather of gay photography”, she took it upon herself to reintroduce his portraits of a generation largely lost to AIDS.  Over the next three decades, their relationship deepens, and Keri realizes that his photography and the world’s largest archive of theatrical figure skating need a home. As Roy slips into dementia, Keri struggles to care for him, and her efforts to preserve his legacy become more urgent.  TOTALLY UNMISSABLE ESP FOR ALL QUEER HISTORY BUFFS

WELCOME TO THE TOOL SHED highlights the aging population of a leather gay bar in Palm Springs, California. These are the unwitting survivors of the AIDS pandemic that decimated their and every other queer community in the 1980s/1990s. History had never prepared them for survival and how to pass on the baton to future LGBTQ+ generations. Like most things in the very existence of queer culture, there is no rulebook, and if that is not difficult enough, in the US we are now dealing with an increasingly hostile political climate. This film, in no uncertain terms, points out that the future of all the ‘Tool Sheds’ in this country is looking alarmingly scary.

39th Annual Out On Film LGBTQ+ Film Festival https://festival.outonfilm.org/ September 24 – October 4, 2026 • Atlanta, Georgia

for full reviews on over 2000 queer films, check out www.queerguru.com and whilst you are there, be sure to subscribe to get all the latest raves and rants on queer cinema .                                       best of all its FREE