#Lgbtq
Trailer Watch: A Secret Romance Is Revealed in France’s Oscar Pick “Two of Us”
A decades-long love affair takes a tragic turn in “Two of Us,” France’s submission for Best International Film at next year’s Oscars. A new trailer for the drama introduces us...
Trailer Watch: An LGBTQ Teen Takes a Stand Against Her Conservative Town in “The Prom”
“I know we all have stories to tell, and here’s mine,” says 17-year-old Emma Nolan (Jo Ellen Pellman) in a new trailer for “The Prom.” The Netflix musical sees the...
Pick of the Day: “Happiest Season”
Hark! The Herald Drag Queens Sing: Clea DuVall’s “Happiest Season” has finally arrived. Eagerly anticipated since it was first announced, the gay rom-com sees Kristen Stewart and...
Selena Gomez to Play History-Making Gay Mountaineer Silvia Vasquez-Lavado in “In the Shadow of the Mountain”
The mountains are calling Selena Gomez. The pop star and actress has signed on to topline “In the Shadow of the Mountain,” a biopic of trailblazing Peruvian mountaineer Silvia...
Trailer Watch: Kristen Stewart Leads “Happiest Season,” Clea DuVall’s Lesbian Rom-Com
Kristen Stewart is in love and she wants everyone to know it. A new trailer for Clea DuVall’s “Happiest Season” sees the “Twilight” alumna ditching Edward Cullen for a...
Trailer Watch: “Transhood” Follows Four Transgender Kids’ Coming-of-Age Stories
“What I really hope is that people realize we’re human. We’re not, like, some exotic species. We have human emotions — that’s what matters,” says one of the...
Trailer Watch: A Young Gay Man Comes of Age in ’70s Sri Lanka in Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy”
A boy is pulled in different directions as political tensions mount in 1970s Sri Lanka in Deepa Mehta’s latest, “Funny Boy.” A trailer has arrived for the ARRAY Releasing title,...
IDA Doc Awards Announce Shortlists for Best Feature and Best Short: “Time,” “Boys State,” & More
The International Documentary Association (IDA) has announced shortlists for the Best Feature and Best Short categories at the 36th Annual IDA Documentary Awards, which will be presented at a...
Offering a “Brave Space to Create Unapologetically”: Crowdfunding Picks
This round of crowdfunding picks shares a focus on representing and tackling a range of intersecting social and cultural issues. They rely on humor, fantasy, and, of course, Zoom, to address the...
Clea DuVall’s “Happiest Season” Will Debut on Hulu, Kristen Stewart Stars
Clea DuVall’s holiday-themed queer rom-com will debut on Hulu. The streamer snagged domestic rights to Kristen Stewart-starrer “Happiest Season.” According to Deadline, Sony...
AFI Fest 2020 Preview: A Romance That Transcends Borders, Rachel Brosnahan on the Run, & More
Over 50 percent of the titles set to screen at AFI Fest 2020 are directed by women. Slated to run until October 22, this year’s reimagined virtual festival kicks off today with Rachel...
Guest Post: How 2020 Changed Our Distribution Plans for Our Doc About Lesbian Icon Franco Stevens
By Jen Rainin and Rivkah Beth Medow Shivering at 4 a.m. in an empty drive-in theater parking lot was not how we expected to spend the day before our film “Ahead of the Curve’s” world...
Women Directors Sweep Main Prizes at Zurich Film Festival
Women-directed films made a major mark at this year’s Zurich Film Festival, taking home all three main prizes. According to Swiss News Channel, Fernanda Valadez won the Golden Eye for best...
Trailer Watch: “I Carry You With Me” Tells a Cross-Border Love Story
“When you dream, it happens so fast. The American dream happens in slow motion. It takes years. I came here to do something. Don’t lose faith in me,” says Iván (Armando Espitia) in...
NYFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Heidi Ewing – “I Carry You With Me”
Heidi Ewing’s documentary credits include “Jesus Camp,” which received an Oscar nomination, “One of Us,” and “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You.” She...
Trailer Watch: “Equal” Docuseries Celebrates LGBTQ+ Trailblazers
A four-part docuseries, HBO Max’s “Equal” pays tribute to some of the unsung heroes who helped lead the charge for queer liberation, and revisits the untold events leading up to the...
The Majority of NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Fest’s 2020 Lineup Is Directed by Women & Non-Binary Filmmakers
NewFest has unveiled the lineup for its 32nd edition. A press release from the New York-based LGBTQ+ film and media organization and film fest announced that 63 percent of films set to screen this...
TIFF 2020 Women Directors: Meet Aisling Chin-Yee – “No Ordinary Man”
Aisling Chin-Yee is an award-winning producer, writer, and director based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California. She made her feature directorial debut with 2019’s “The Rest of...
Mona Fastvold’s Venice Hit “The World to Come” Lands at Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to Mona Fastvold’s “The World to Come,” Variety reports. The period romance premiered to rave reviews at Venice Film Festival earlier this...
Trailer Watch: Malin Akerman Hosts Kat Dennings and Aisha Tyler for “Friendsgiving”
Malin Akerman and Kat Dennings’ plans for a quiet Thanksgiving take a major turn in “Friendsgiving,” Nicol Paone’s feature directorial debut. A new trailer for the comedy sees...
Venice 2020 Women Directors: Meet Mona Fastvold – “The World to Come”
Mona Fastvold is a New York and Oslo-based writer-director. In early 2012 Mona received a prestigious development grant from the Norwegian Film Fund followed by production support for her directorial...
Trailer Watch: Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan Fall in Love in “Ammonite”
“I don’t want to go back to the life I had before you,” Saoirse Ronan tells Kate Winslet in a new trailer for “Ammonite.” Set in 1840s England, the romantic drama tells...
Exclusive: Julia Scotti Revisits Her Old Stand-Up With a New Perspective in “Funny That Way” Clip
Transgender folks are still having to deal with cis people’s fixation on which bathroom they use. “They’re freaking out about my pee,” says Julia Scotti in our exclusive clip...
Trailer Watch: An Undocumented Caregiver’s Life Is Turned Upside Down in Isabel Sandoval’s “Lingua Franca”
A woman falls for her patient’s grandson in a new trailer for Isabel Sandoval’s “Lingua Franca.” Olivia (Sandoval), an undocumented Filipina trans woman, works as a live-in...
Collective Cameras: VOD and Web Series Picks
By Tatiana McInnis and Shayna Maci Warner This month’s VOD and web series picks showcase the power of community, both in front of and behind the camera. They emphasize the strength and complexity...
Teaser Watch: Megan Rapinoe Opens a Dialogue with Change-Makers in “Seeing America”
One of soccer’s biggest stars is looking to shape the cultural conversation. “Is there an opportunity to shift our country?” asks Megan Rapinoe in a new teaser for “Seeing...
Absence on Both Sides of the Camera: Crowdfunding Picks
By Shayna Maci Warner and Tatiana McInnis For many marginalized storytellers, the absences of their identities within the Hollywood canon can only be combatted by creating independent content....
Isabel Sandoval’s History-Making Drama “Lingua Franca” Acquired by ARRAY Releasing
“Lingua Franca” made history as the first film directed by and starring a trans woman of color to screen in competition at Venice Film Festival, and now it’s secured distribution....
Javicia Leslie Named as New Lead of The CW’s “Batwoman”
Javicia Leslie is heading to Gotham City. The “God Friended Me” actress has been named as the new lead of “Batwoman” following Ruby Rose’s exit from the CW series. A...
Trailer Watch: “Denise Ho: Becoming the Song” Celebrates Canto-pop Singer and Activist
“The record companies just didn’t know what to do,” says Denise Ho in a trailer for a new documentary about her. “And I wasn’t ready to conform to what they expected.” Directed by Sue...
“Transhood” Wins Big at AFI Docs Film Fest
The winners are in for the 2020 edition of AFI Docs. “Transhood,” Sharon Liese’s portrait of four transgender kids living in Kansas City, was honored with the festival’s...
Ivy Meeropol on Looking Beyond Evil in “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn”
Ivy Meeropol’s documentary feature debut was “Heir to an Execution,” which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. It was followed by two short...
Pick of the Day: “Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth”
Shortly before I watched “Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth,” Jeanie Finlay’s documentary about a trans man embarking upon pregnancy and parenthood, “Harry Potter” author...
Gabrielle Union Options LGBTQ Memoir “All Boys Aren’t Blue” for TV
Gabrielle Union is bringing George M. Johnson’s life story to the small screen. The “L.A.’s Finest” actress and exec producer’s I’ll Have Another Productions has...
Trailer Watch: “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn” Looks Beyond the Contradictions
“To call Roy Cohn evil, it’s true, but it doesn’t explain 100 other things about him,” says one of the characters featured in “Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy...
Quote of the Day: “Supergirl’s” Nicole Maines Advocates for More Nuanced Trans Characters
“I think it’s that more and more trans characters [can] be less than perfect and be a–holes and be the villains,” Nicole Maines tells Variety in a new feature. “We can look at them,...
Hot Docs 2020 Women Directors: Meet Asia Dér and Sári Haragonics – “Her Mothers”
Asia Dér graduated as a documentary director from the DOC Nomads MA program. Her graduation film was nominated for the best short film at the Hungarian Film Festival. She is working on her second...
Hot Docs 2020 Preview: LGBTQ Parents, Surfer Girls, & More
Originally scheduled to take place April 30-May 10 in Toronto, Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival didn’t go as planned this year. The physical version of the fest was cancelled due...
Indigo Girls Doc in the Works from Alexandria Bombach
Alexandria Bombach will follow up her award-winning portrait of Nadia Murad, a survivor of the 2014 genocide of the Yazidis in Northern Iraq who went on to escape sexual slavery at the hands of ISIS,...
FemmePower Productions Introduces New Platform for Queer Content
FemmePower Productions, a queer femme-led company, is launching a new platform to help meet your “queerantine” needs. A press release announced that FemmePower TV and its lineup of queer...
Trailer Watch: Jeanie Finlay Documents a Transgender Man’s Pregnancy in “Seahorse”
“I’ve always wanted to have kids one day,” says Freddy McConnell in a trailer for “Seahorse: The Dad Who Gave Birth.” “I’m going to have my own baby and I...
Lara Jean Gallagher Discusses “Clementine,” Her Unconventional Coming-of-Age Pic
Interview by Gabriela Rico Lara Jean Gallagher is a writer and director. Her shorts and music videos have screened at SXSW, Palm Springs Shortfest, Mill Valley, Portland International, DC Shorts, as...
Trailer Watch: A Recently Dumped Woman Falls for a Teen in “Clementine”
A heartbroken woman seems poised to break someone else’s heart in a new trailer for “Clementine.” Devastated by her older, more successful girlfriend’s decision to break up...
New Prod Company Focusing on Young Queer Women Launches, Options “Amelia Westlake Was Never Here”
Up and coming UK producers Loran Dunn, Sorcha Bacon, and Savannah James-Bayly have launched their own production company, Teen Club, focusing on stories about young queer women. According to Screen...
BFI Player Launches New Collection of Films Exploring Female Desire On Screen
Seeking to “flip the switch on a century of the male gaze and find space for women’s own lust and sexual expression in film,” the BFI is launching a new collection of films on BFI...
Trailer Watch: “A Secret Love” Celebrates a Lesbian Couple’s Decades-Long Romance
Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel have spent nearly seven decades as a couple. Few realized the nature of their relationship, which they decided to keep a secret. Set to be released on Netflix April 29,...
Pick of the Day: “Circus of Books”
Women and Hollywood has temporarily suspended our recommendations newsletter. We’ll be sharing some of the week’s highlights in TV, VOD, and streaming via blog posts. Described as “the center...
“Circus of Books” Director Rachel Mason on Making a Doc About Her Parents’ Iconic LGBTQ Bookstore
Rachel Mason is a Los Angeles-based artist and director. Working across mediums as a songwriter, performer, sculptor, and multi-media artist, Mason’s work has appeared in shows at museums and...
Sam Taylor-Johnson to Direct TV Adaptation of Pulitzer-Winning Novel “Middlesex”
Jeffrey Eugenides’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about immigration, the American Dream, family, genetics, and gender identity may finally be coming to the screen. According to Variety, Paramount...
Trailer Watch: “Circus of Books” Explores the Legacy of an Iconic Gay Porn Shop
Growing up, filmmaker Rachel Mason and her siblings told friends, school teachers, and everyone else that their parents ran a bookstore. They never specified what kind of store it was, and contrary...
Trailer Watch: Alice Wu’s “The Half of It” Is a Different Kind of Teen Rom-Com
Sparks fly between a jock and a shy nerd in a new trailer for “The Half of It.” We’ve seen this story hundreds of times, but never quite like this. Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer,...