WQ:Docs 2023

In 2011, three middle-aged friends fed up with an ageist conservative film industry decide to take matters into their own hands to self-produce a campy out of the box murder mystery web series. What was supposed to be a fun project for this new platform called YouTube became a worldwide hit and sparked debates around queer representation, sex and body positivity - and raunchy jokes.

In 1977 a group of friends created A.K.O.E. – the Greek Homosexual Liberation Movement. The movement’s magazine – “Amfi” – and its offices at the legendary basement on Zalongou street, will become a place of refuge for the Greek LGBT community until 1990. AKOE and Amfi will be the first reference points for a community that is just beginning to gain conscience and organize. It will be a revolution for the right to exist, the right to happiness, the right to love. Its story is told for the first time. The film AKOE/AMFI - The Story of a Revolution (*Just to Sleep on their Chest...), had its world premiere at the 25th Thessaloniki InternationalDocumentary Festival on March 11, 2023. It was selected for the “Newcomers”International Competition section and won the Audience Award for a Greek film of over 50 minutes.

From the day she was born in Algiers, Marie-Pierre has always wanted to wear dresses and has stubbornly refused her given name: Jean-Pierre. At the age of 17, her life takes a major turn when she comes upon a drag show on tour: le Carrousel de Paris. Marie-Pierre becomes Bambi, and within a few years establishes herself as a legendary figure of the Parisian cabaret scenes of the 50s and 60s. By collecting the story of one of the first transgender women, Sebastien Lifshitz continues his work initiated with Wild Side and Little Girl and portraits a forceful personality. This updated version of the film extends and deepens the short-film released in 2013 to become the feature-length version the director has always dreamt of making.

Immersive and sensorial, BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES: 25 YEARS LATER revisits four of the original subjects from Daniel Peddle’s groundbreaking 2005 film THE AGGRESSIVES – a seminal documentary centering masculine-presenting people of color assigned female at birth. The now iconic Kisha, Trevon, Octavio and Chin are back, sharing an array of their triumphs and challenges, including: pursuing dreams in the arts, surviving the experience of being held in ICE detention, reuniting with estranged children, deciding whether to start families of their own, and seeking gender-affirming healthcare. Through the voices of today’s queer BIPOC, who felt represented and inspired by THE AGGRESSIVES, the new film also delves into how much the language, culture and visibility of the transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming community has evolved, and grapples with the many complexities of gender identity, expectations and expression. All combined, these intimate stories and diverse testimonials reveal compelling insights into the queer experience and paint a deeply moving portrait of four trailblazing heroes.

After coming out as a trans woman, world-record-holding gamer, Narcissa Wright loses her massive fan base. To win them back, she attempts to set a new world record in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, while live-streaming every minute of her mythic quest. Drawing from an archive of more than 3,000 hours of Narcissa’s livestreams, intimate verite, and 8-bit animation, BREAK THE GAME is a moving exploration of gamer culture, the realities of online harassment, and the mental health implications of living a digital life.

Directed by award-winning filmmaker Jay Bedwani (MyMother), Donna is an intimate and candid portrait of the inspiring trans activist, artist and performer Donna Personna. It follows her journey to live authentically as herself and to reconnect with her family. Donna Personna first hit the stage with the legendary Cockettes. Ecstatic lip-synching in San Francisco’s downtown bars is a far cry from Donna’s Baptist upbring in San Jose; now in her seventies, her siblings have never seen her perform or meet her authentic self. The documentary begins when Donna is offered a chance to co-write a play about an overlooked episode in queer history, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, in which transgender women Donna knew stood up against police harassment. She writes a character to be played by a young transgender activist. Praised for her writing and emboldened by her new friends, she heads out of the city to be reunited with her sister, Gloria. This revealing and uplifting film is beautifully observed by Bedwani and features mesmerising moments recalled by Donna in her emerging writer’s voice. Donna is a film that shows the strength that can be drawn from your community and proves: it’s never too late to find your métier and truly blossom. ‍

Enter the colorful world of Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated Patricia Field, the costume designer behind Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Ugly Betty, and The Devil Wears Prada. A queer, first-generation Greek-American, this fiery redhead defied the odds to become a fashion icon. Features interviews with Kim Cattrall, Lily Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michael Urie, and more.

George Platt Lynes began his career photographing celebrities, and it's those portraits along with his extravagant fashion work that he's best remembered for today. However, George's heart, his passion, and his greatest talent lay elsewhere, in his work with the male nude. This work, sensuous and radically explicit for its time, has only recently begun being fully discovered and appreciated for the revolution that it represents - a man capturing his fantasies as a gift, a window to a future his camera saw coming before anyone else. From visionary art director Sam Shahid, HIDDEN MASTER features a stunning collection of photography from the 1930s-50s, uncovering the life of Lynes less known: his gifted eye for the male form, his long term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.

An intimate look into the lives of one of the most iconic folk-rock bands in America - the Indigo Girls. With never-before-seen archival and intimate vérité the film dives into the songwriting and storytelling of the music that transformed a generation.

From Black Power in late-60s Boston, to AIDS activism in mid-80s New York, to Marriage Equality in early-10s San Francisco, Jewelle: A Just Vision (64 mins, 2022) from award-winning filmmaker Madeleine Lim, focuses a joyful and hope-filled spotlight on novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and journalist Jewelle Gomez. An Ioway and Wampanoag, African American and Cape Verdean, femme lesbian, Jewelle co-founded decades-old social justice organizations that are more relevant than ever. Expansive in her creative imagination, inclusive in her philanthropic leadership, and passionate in her lesbian of color feminist ethics, she is an unrelenting torchbearer for the transformative power of the artist as activist.

Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando” tells the story of a young man who grows up to become a 36-year-old woman. Almost a century after its publication, Paul B. Preciado speaks to Virginia Woolf to tell her that her fictional character has become a reality. The transition of Orlando’s body now lies at the root of all non-binary bodies and there are Orlandos all over the world. Through the authentic voices of other young bodies undergoing metamorphosis, Preciado retraces the stages of his personal transformation through a poetic journey in which life, writing, theory and image merge freely in the search for truth. Every Orlando, he says, is a transgender person who is risking his, her or their life on a daily basis as they find themselves forced to confront government laws, history and psychiatry, as well as traditional notions of the family and the power of multinational pharmaceutical companies. But if “male” and “female” are ultimately political and social fictions, Orlando, ma biographie politiqueshows us that change is no longer just about gender, but also about poetry, love and skin colour.

The Playland Café, Boston’s oldest gay bar, was established in 1937 and was a vital queer hub in the city until 1998, when rampant ‘urban renewal’ projects led to its closure. Demolished but never forgotten, it acted as a meeting ground for an exceptionally diverse crowd — throughout its lifespan, it featured acts from drag performances to DJ sets and was connected to Pride rallies and underground gay newspapers. As a gathering place for outsiders, it was also a target for police raids and zoning. Artist-filmmaker Georden West’s debut feature is an expressionist and very queer bricolage, focusing on an atemporal night in the renowned Playland Café. Following its employees and others who have haunted the space, weaving together a tapestry of personal and community anecdotes across the bar’s existence.

RAW! UNCUT! VIDEO! chronicles the rise and fall of homegrown gay porn studio Palm Drive Video, and explores how a devoted couple helped battle a devastating health crisis by promotingkinky sex. Legendary leatherman Jack Fritscher met Mark Hemry in 1979 at Harvey Milk’s birthday party – and the two fell head over heels in love. When the AIDS epidemic swept through San Francisco, the couple left the city to begin a new venture: turning a rural ranch in Sonoma County into a safe-sex porn studio that offered viewers new sexual possibilities in an age of plague. Casting rugged, non-professional models to explore their unique erotic fantasies on-screen, the studio explored a wild array of queer kinks – and helped champion sex- positivity in the porn industry. ‍

This pioneering documentary filmed in NYC from 1997-2004 follows a group of "Aggressives," or "AG's" - masculine presenting and/or identifying - queer people of color who were assigned female at birth. It explores their dreams, secrets and deepest fears as well as their social spaces like the "ballroom" and club scene. Ultimately the film focuses on the humanity of the subjects while attempting to unravel evolving terms around gender definition.

"Truth Be Told" presents an unfiltered look at the diverse experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals within the Black church. With the aim of sparking a conversation that has never been had before, the film dives deep into the culture, struggles, and triumphs of those who navigate their faith while also embracing their sexual and gender identities.The documentary features an impressive roster of interviews, including renowned figures such as Billy Porter, Cedric the Entertainer, and David and Tamela Mann. These influential voices in the entertainment industry bring their personal experiences to the forefront, offering insights into the complex dynamics between the Black church and the LGBTQ+ community.Director Nneka Onuorah, known for her Emmy-winning work, attaches her own personal journey to the film, ensuring an authentic and heartfelt narrative. By intertwining her experiences with those of the interviewees, Onuorah aims to provide an intimate and relatable exploration of living at the intersection of faith and queer identity.‍

Born male and female within one single body, a beauty queen and a male-presenting activist break the intersex taboo through a personal and intimate exploration of truth, faith, and belonging.