Queer family is an amorphous unit not quite like any other. For one thing, its permutations are endless; family could be anything from blood relatives, to acquaintances who look out for each other because they know the dangers of moving through the world while out, to the closest of chosen confidantes. Not every relationship is solid as a rock, but so many of them are tacitly — or explicitly — bound by the joys and sorrows of being strangers to the world, together. And through it all, family members learn, and share those messy learning experiences with each other in ways they might not with anyone else.

This month’s web series and VOD picks depict varied examples of LGBTQ+ family. Three web series look at learning and loving as family linked together by the need to support one another’s exploration, while a documentary short shows the power of two siblings who choose to create their own world entirely, because they know what it’s like to be unhappy, and they’re not having it any longer.

The witty, energetic pilot for “Femme Queen Chronicles” starts the party off right with a group of trans women navigating love and friendship in Detroit; the diners of “Dinette” recount all of their ills and achievements with great panache at a Brooklyn eatery; the young queers of “Sideways Smile” form unforgettable memories as they dive into sexuality and the Asian-American experience in New York; and the titular siblings of “The Starr Sisters” write a no-holds-barred guide to living life to its fullest.

Here are Women and Hollywood’s October VOD and web series selections.

Web Series

“Femme Queen Chronicles” – Directed by Ahya Simone; Written by Ahya Simone and Paige Wood

In “Femme Queen Chronicles,” four trans women do their absolute best to weave their way through “love, life, shade, and trade” in their Detroit headquarters. From the very first moments of the pilot, they encounter cisgender confusion, apprehension, and downright stupidity, but that’s just a day in the life. As the girls get ready for Chanel’s (writer/director Ahya Simone) birthday party by expertly escorting trade, assuaging entitled male egos, and stealing a cake along the way, they treat each other to playful contempt, sarcastic support, and ultimately a strong, visible love for one another.

Ahya Simone and Paige Wood’s script is realistic and bitingly funny, and the actors are natural and delightful in their delivery. Already a festival favorite, the pilot promises many more giddy family hijinks, hookups, and happy birthdays to come.

Watch “Femme Queen Chronicles” on Vimeo.

“Dinette” – Written and Directed by Shaina Feinberg 

An official selection at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018, “Dinette” brims with the barely-keeping-it-together, amiable chaos of queers just trying to get by. Following a group of friends who congregate — both to play and to work — at a Clinton Hill diner, Shaina Feinberg’s BRIC TV series is rife with an ensemble of multi-dimensional singular characters, head-spinningly quick dialogue, and a tone that seamlessly interweaves comedy and pathos.

The cadre of queer misfits that pass through the doors of the diner have bonds that act just like those of dysfunctional and loving families, with perhaps better-written and far better-acted conversations,  and it’s clear that their strength has attracted an audience that feels like kin.

You can watch the first season of “Dinette” on YouTube. The second season is currently playing online at NewFest: New York’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

“Sideways Smile” – Created, Written, and Directed by Hang Nguyen

Part of the inaugural 2019 “Made in NY” Women’s Fund class of grantees, “Sideways Smile” is a personal, inventive, and genre-mixing web series that matches comedy with sincerity in unexpected ways. After Alex (Kathy Huynh-Phan) admits to never having had an orgasm, her extremely forward roommate Dara (Diane Chen) persuades her to tackle the matter head-on, and enroll in a class to explore her relationship to sexuality, her body, and all the fears and misconceptions that have built up from the outside-in. As she begrudgingly discusses herself with the class, something brand new starts to emerge for everyone enrolled.

Alex’s journey is more than relatable, and sometimes painful in only the way that self-discovery can be, but writer/director/creator Hang Nguyen’s compassionate and hilarious lens transforms Alex’s initial shame into a triumphant tale of what individuality can look like when it is vocally supported.

“Sideways Smile” is currently touring the virtual film festival circuit. You can watch it at Stareable 2020, or at NewFest: New York’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

VOD

“The Starr Sisters” (Short Documentary) – Directed by Beth Einhorn and Bridey Elliott

“The Starr Sisters”: Smudge Films

For Randa and Patte Starr, life has not always been a cakewalk — far from it. In “The Starr Sisters,” the uniquely effervescent siblings dive into the cruelty and pathetic nature of their father, a failed marriage, clandestine college affairs, and traumatic dreams, but manage to do so in such a matter of fact and optimistic manner that there can be no doubt they can get through anything.

Directors Beth Einhorn and Bridey Elliott capture the Starrs at their best — when they’re together — and supplement their thematically mature tales with colorful animations to mitigate the raw vulnerability of a documentary lens. The short shines light into dark places, and since its premiere at Sundance, has only continued to show that it is possible for an incredible life to begin at any age.

You can watch “The Starr Sisters” on the virtual festival circuit. It will screen at the Indie Memphis Film Festival starting October 21.