Benedetta is the latest masterpiece from acclaimed movie director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Elle). Set in plague-ridden Renaissance Italy during the 17th Century, Benedetta is based on the true-life story of a lesbian nun, first captured in Judith Brown’s 1986 biography of Sister Benedetta Carlini. Starring Virginia Efira as Benedetta, Charlotte … 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
“Do you know what the phrase ‘Fight or Flight’ means?” asks gay Geordie PE teacher Jean (Rosy McEwen) of her teenage students at the beginning of the brilliant new drama Blue Jean. It is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It’s obviously on … Continue reading
LA’s Outfest Film Festival is in full swing at the moment and this year’s schedule of over 200 films is the most diverse selection ever. Outfest is all about creating change, one story at a time, by amplifying queer voices in the independent film community. This is particularly relevant in the short film categories. … 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