Outliers: Calgary's Queer History (2018)

Outrage

An indictment of closeted politicians who lobby for anti-gay legislation in the US.

BEAN

Alana and Lori were just two LGBT 20-somethings looking for love on Tinder when a casual right swipe made a match that would bind them together forever. Within a few weeks of meeting, Lori learned that Alana suffers from Lupus and has been waiting on the kidney transplant list for years. The state of New York, where Alana lives, has the lowest number of organ donors in the country, and because of her complex medical background, her chances of finding a donor match were incredibly slim. Against all odds, Lori found that she was a candidate for donation and decided to give Alana the ultimate gift. If the transplant is a success, Alana will triple her life expectancy and be freed from nightly dialysis. But if it fails, Lori will go through risky surgery and lose a healthy organ in vain. BEAN is an emotional medical journey for two families that tests the true limits of love and sacrifice.

DeRosa: Life, Love & Art in Transition

Chronicles the extraordinary life of artist Felicia DeRosa, who came out as transgender at the age of 41. With her life, career, and marriage potentially at risk, Felicia embarks on a journey towards authenticity and self-acceptance.

Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay

Documentary in which Years and Years frontman Olly Alexander explores the mental health issues faced by members of the LGBT+ community.

Muxes

Highlighting the unique culture of the Zapotec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, this groundbreaking documentary chronicles the lives of those who identify as muxes, a widely recognized third gender.

Partners

18 partners discuss the choices they’ve made in deciding on their mates. At its heart, this unscripted documentary film is about acceptance; a gentle message that we shouldn’t judge the choices of others, even if they seem a little different.

The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

In Afghanistan many hundreds of boys, often as young as ten, are being lured off the streets on the promise of a new life.

Gemmel & Tim

In 2017 and 2019, Gemmel “Juelz” Moore (26) and Timothy “Tim” Dean (55), two gay black men, died of a meth overdose at the West Hollywood apartment of white businessman, activist & political donor Ed Buck (66). The parallel stories of these two men, are intimately told by the friends who loved them, grieve their loss, and who hope to protect others from similarly tragic fates.

Half a Life

After a traumatic encounter, a young gay Egyptian joins the LGBT rights movement. When his safety is jeopardized, he must choose whether to stay in the country he loves or seek asylum elsewhere as a refugee. "Half a Life" is a timely story of activism and hope, set in the increasingly dangerous, oppressive, and unstable social climate of Egypt today.

Dear Viv

A tribute to drag superstar, The Vivienne. Friends and family share touching stories of the RuPaul's Drag Race UK winner and her legacy. Her spirit lives on through unreleased footage, showcasing her unique personality and how her passion for entertaining left a mark in the world. Interviews with her dearest drag sisters Baga Chipz, Michael Marouli, Danny Beard, Tia Kofi, Cheryl Hole and more.

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

This is Jessica

Jessica Bair, a longtime LGBTQIA+ rights advocate with Human Rights Campaign, shares her struggle to remain in her Mormon faith despite coming out as transgender.

Hold on Tight

A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.

Vanilla

Look around. Everything you see and touch can taste like vanilla.

The Transformation

Ricardo was once Sara, a homeless HIV positive transvestite, living in the underbelly of Manhattan. Today he is a churchgoing, married man, "saved" by a Dallas ministry. He has renounced his homosexuality, but is his conversion complete? Susana Aiken and Carlos Aparicio offer an intimate look at Ricardo's transformation.

Ballet Boys

Ballet Boys takes you through disappointments, victories, forging of friendship, first loves, doubt, faith, growing apart from each other, finding your own way and own ambitions, all mixed with the beautiful expression of ballet.

Queer Gardening

In this film, 24 LGBTQIA2* gardeners show their gardens and explain how their queerness affects the design of the spaces. They also speak about how they are queering ecology, as well as the natural-cultural relationship. Ella von der Haide has been visiting community gardens in North America for several years with her camera. It is the 6th film in her documentary series Another world is plantable! about community gardens, and their social-ecological activism worldwide.

LARRY (they/them)

A young non-binary trans photographer, Laurence Philomène asserts themselves as one of the most original and inspiring voices of their generation and an icon of the LGBTQ+ community. Revealing both Laurence's intimate world and creative process, "LARRY (they/them)" paints a luminous and committed portrait of the complex and often misunderstood multiplicity of trans and non-binary identities and experiences.

Michael Lost and Found

When a feature film is made about them seven years after their break-up, Benjie Nycum visits his ex-boyfriend Michael Glatze and finally tries to get answers about his bewildering shift from gay activist to ex-gay evangelical.

Madame

The documentary tells the story of Camille Cabral, Northeastern woman, transsexual, first Brazilian elected in France.

Tarnation

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.

I'm a Porn Star

I'm a Porn Star follows the lives of guys in the neighborhood who are likely a lot more famous than you - at least on the Internet. There are an estimated 370 million pornographic websites on-line. Porn is now a thirteen BILLION dollar business. So who's doing all this moonlighting? Turns out -- probably some people you know.

Home Again

Rolland, a 70 year-old man, exiled by his family due to his sexual orientation, makes peace with the past by finding himself in a small ghost town in the western part of Jalisco, San Sebastián del Oeste. Almost 40 years later, he wants to go back to his hometown, try to regain his daughter's love and be a part o his granddaughter's life.

Lady Like

In this rags to riches origin story, Lady Camden struggles to manage the demands of her freshly minted international fame, while Rex is forced to come to terms with the troubling childhood he left behind in Camden which drove him to so desperately seek joy, fantasy and escape through the performing arts.

Falas de Orgulho

The journey of eight characters of different ages, regions, life trajectories and religions – and behind them, stories of overcoming difficulties, prejudice and self-acceptance, passing through themes transversal to the letters that form the acronym LGBTQIA+ – that culminate in the celebration of being able to be who you are and in the exaltation of these voices.

Putito

Putito is a production with no specific genre, where reality and fiction blend through a testimony written by José Carlos Henríquez - a feminist activist and male prostitute who plays himself in the project. Available in a censored and uncensored version.

Right2Love

A fascinating and intimate exploration of the daily lives and struggles of 7 LGBT families in 7 different European countries: The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Switzerland and in Catalonia. Although separated by borders, they are all united in their struggle to have LGBT family rights recognized. The differences between countries are highlighted, from having full equality in some, to a total lack of rights in others: we are exploring those different laws and irregularities, realizing how the children of LGBT families are being made vulnerable across Europe.

Vikken

Vikken is transgender. He’s about to take hormones for the first time. He records his voice that will disappear, and summons the figures of the past from all over the world for an intimate dialogue with himself.

Things We Dare Not Do

In the small Mexican coastal village of El Roblito, 16-year-old Ñoño lives what seems to be an idyllic existence with his loving family. But he holds a secret. Defying gender norms, Ñoño works up the courage to tell his family he wants to live his life as a woman, a fraught decision in a country shrouded in machismo and transphobia.

I'm Not Gay

A conflicted gay man struggles to teach his younger self about the challenges of adult life. Searching for answers inside stories from his past, he must confront his nature and the man he will become. Documentary meets musical feature in this experimental coming of age drama about power and masculinity in modern day Australia.

Little Potato

Wes Hurley's autobiographical tale of growing up gay in Soviet Union Russia, only to escape with his mother, a mail order bride, to Seattle to face a whole new oppression in his new Christian fundamentalist American dad.

Montgomery Clift

A documentary incorporating footage of Montgomery Clift’s most memorable films; interviews with family and friends, and rare archival material stretching back to his childhood. What develops is the story of an intense young boy who yearned for stardom, achieved notable success in such classic films as From Here to Eternity and I Confess, only to be ruined by alcohol addiction and his inability to face his own fears and homosexual desires. Montgomery Clift, as this film portrays him, may not have been a happy man but he never compromised his acting talents for Hollywood.

Home Movies

In this home movie collection of gay men, memory serves as an act of hope, power, and above all, resilience.

Untold: Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner's unlikely path to Olympic glory was inspirational. But her more challenging road to embracing her true self proved even more meaningful.

The Stroll

The history of New York’s Meatpacking District, told from the perspective of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there. Filmmaker Kristen Lovell, who walked “The Stroll” for a decade, reunites her community to recount the violence, policing, homelessness, and gentrification they overcame to build a movement for transgender rights.

For the Bible Tells Me So

An exploration of the intersection between religion and homosexuality in the U.S. and how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to stigmatize the gay community.

Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras

Unprecedented access into one of the world's greatest musical talents and his larger than life lifestyle: Elton John. With frank, funny, and touching filmmaking, this documentary is a fascinating and honest look at the complex character of a modern day composer and performing artist.

Always Amber

Amber belongs to a queer generation which no longer wants society to dictate their identity. The teenagers proudly inhabit a spectrum of fluid identities and master their first loves and losses.

Party Monster: The Shockumentary

Tells the story of the rise and fall of Michael Alig, a kid from Middle America who aspired to take the place of Andy Warhol. Michael quickly rose to become the biggest party promoter in New York and King of the so-called Club Kids. But after spiraling into drug addiction, Michael brutally murdered his roommate Angel Melendez.

Sound It Out: The Untitled LGBTQIA Music Documentary

An edgy and unapologetic look at the growing impact that open LGBTQ music artists, and their straight allies, are having on the portrayal of sexuality and gender politics in music, and its affect on the normalizing of gay culture. Using artists personal experiences as a lens, we'll look at sexuality's influence on music and the role of social media in helping artists complicate mainstream expectations of identity. How far are artists willing to push their music, messages and imagery to challenge the way pop culture defines notions of sexuality, masculinity, femininity, gender and what it means to be queer?

I'm Not Everything I Want to Be

After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Libuše Jarcovjáková, a young female photographer, strives to break free from the constraints of Czechoslovak normalization and embarks on a wild journey towards freedom, capturing her experiences on thousands of subjective photographs.

Favela Gay

Favela Gay tells the story of eleven individuals in their own words. Living in eight slums (favelas) in Rio de Janeiro, these members of the LGBTQ community – two transgender women, a crossdressing man, a travesti prostitute, a famous carnival dancer, two community activists, and even a young man who used to be transgender, but transitioned back – have fought prejudice and seen some of the most unsavoury sides of the city.

Rent Male Unrated

Kaio Brandon is a male prostitute trying to find himself in the big city. He has been selling his body for money since he was 14, unaware that many others like him are part of a worldwide sex industry and human trafficking that corrupts children forever. Kaio wants to change his life and become a nurse, but will h be able to overcome the labels?

After Stonewall

This sequel to "Before Stonewall" documents the history of gay and lesbian life from the riots at Stonewall in 1969 to the present. Narrated by Melissa Etheridge, the film explains the work, struggles, victories, and defeats the gay community has weathered to become a vibrant and integral part of North American society.

Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun

An intimate and thrilling portrait of a young Siksika woman and the deep bonds between her father and family in the golden plains of Blackfoot Territory as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world… bareback.

Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back

Maurice Hines -- actor, director, singer, and choreographer -- navigates the complications of show business while grieving the loss of his more famous, often estranged younger brother, tap dance legend Gregory Hines.

Girl or Boy, My Sex Is Not My Gender

Being born a woman, feeling like a man & deciding to cross the boundary between the genders. That’s the path taken by those known as trans-boys. In San Francisco, Paris & Barcelona, a four-way portrait of Lynnee, Kaleb, Rocco & Miguel, four individuals who embody & explore the fluidity of gender.

Imagine… Pet Shop Boys: Then and Now

Featuring exclusive access to their recent tour and their new album, this documentary reveals the fascinating world of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.

1325 Kilometers 227 Days

Vitor and Gustavo decided, in January 2020, to start a long-distance relationship, and were planning to meet again in a few months. Until COVID stopped them. This is the story of how they overcame the difficulties of time and distance through a lot of love and through Whatsapp audio messages.

The Contestant

Argenis, Yanvaldo, Carlos, Eduardo and Javier have something in common: they will compete in the Miss Gay Venezuela, a trans beauty contest where the man who most resembles a “Miss” wins. For several weeks, we follow them in their preparations for the final night of the contest, seeing how that illusion is built: that of being a beauty queen for one night. The event is the excuse and the ideal setting to find ourselves with wishes, fantasies and the search for a dream come true. They look for the beautiful and feminine to achieve a desire: to be admired and recognized as the most beautiful trans in the contest.

A Long Way From Heaven: The Rainbow Y Story

The true story of the students of Brigham Young University's queer underground, as they lit the school's iconic "Y" in rainbow colors. But, A Long Way From Heaven does a lot more than tell the story of the Rainbow Y. It outlines the history of queer treatment at BYU - the good (where it exists), the bad, and the very, very ugly. The film combines new, original footage with a huge variety of historical images, videos, newspaper articles, and other mixed media from every conceivable source to tell the story of BYU's queer students, and the bravery and risks they constantly take to make their voices heard.