LGBTQ+ 365 Recommended watching - Films and television
Enjoy a selection of non-fiction LGBT+ films and television series, selected by Haringey Libraries. All of these DVDs are available to borrow from your local library, just click on the link to see what's in stock or reserve a copy.
DVDs
- Cicada (2020) (Certificate 15)
In the sultry heat of a New York summer, Ben (Matt Fifer) drifts from one unfulfilling hook-up to the next with encounters barely making it to the next morning. When he picks up the handsome Sam (Sheldon D. Brown) a connection sparks between the two men that hints at something more than just another casual sexual liaison. As the intensity of their relationship grows, each begin to recognise the need to confront the scars of their past if they are to truly let the other person in. Examining themes of sexuality, race and identity with grace and uncompromising honesty, Cicada is an affecting and resonant romantic drama.
- Luminous Procuress (1971) (Certificate 18)
The only feature film by artist, mystic and polymath Steven Arnold, Luminous Procuress is a bold, experimental, mind-and-gender-bending odyssey of unabashed hedonism. A celebration of otherness, of pan-sexuality, and of the exotic, Luminous Procuress is a truly unique work of Art. Often compared to the works of Fellini and Kenneth Anger, and featuring the outrageous talents of San Francisco's avant garde drag troupe The Cockettes, as well as artist Ruth Weiss, the film was an underground sensation upon release, but disappeared from circulation for many years. Now fully restored in all its sensuous glory, Luminous Procuress is ready to be discovered anew.
- Paris is Burning (1990) (Certificate 15)
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, Paris Is Burning offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion houses, from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza Paris Is Burning brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community.
- Sort Of: Season 1 (2021) (Certificate 15)
Sort Of is a big-hearted series about Sabi Mehboob, a fluid millennial who straddles various identities from sexy bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore/bar, to the youngest child in a large Pakistani family, to the de facto parent of a downtown hipster family. Sabi feels like they’re in transition in every aspect of their life, from gender to love to sexuality to family to career. When Sabi’s best friend 7ven presents them with an opportunity to live and find themself in the "queerest place in the galaxy," Sabi instead makes the decision to stay and care for the kids they nanny after their mom has a serious bike accident. Do they regret it? Sort of.
- Stonewall (2015) (Certificate 15)
Stonewall is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall riots. Danny Winters is kicked out of his parents’ home and flees to New York, where he befriends Ray and a group of street kids. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through the entire community of young gays, lesbians, drag queens and trans people who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.
- Swan Song (2021) (Certificate 12A)
In this outrageously entertaining and unexpectedly tender comedy from writer/director Todd Stephens (Edge of Seventeen), retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger is dragged out of his small-town nursing home after learning of a former client's dying wish: for him to style her final hairdo. Soon, Pat embarks on a comical and bittersweet odyssey across town, encountering fabulous friends old and new, and rediscovering his sparkle along the way. Legendary actor Udo Kier (My Own Private Idaho) leads an all-star cast including Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde), Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) and Linda Evans (Dynasty).
- We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) (Certificate 15)
Debut horror feature from trans director Jane Schoenbrun. Late on a cold night somewhere in the US, teenage Casey sits alone in her attic bedroom, scrolling the internet under the glow-in-the-dark stars and black-light posters that blanket the ceiling. She has finally decided to take the World's Fair Challenge, an online role-playing horror game, and embrace the uncertainty it promises. After the initiation, she documents the changes that may or may not be happening to her, adding her experiences to the shuffle of online clips available for the world to see. As she begins to lose herself between dream and reality, a mysterious figure reaches out, claiming to see something special in her uploads.