Documentary - LGBT and gay theme
A list of favorite LGBT and gay theme documentaries. Join the discussion to recommend others.
I keep a lists of favorite gay theme feature films, short films and television in separate lists.
I keep a lists of favorite gay theme feature films, short films and television in separate lists.
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46 titles
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsSara LewinsteinDavid MandellSuzi MandellA collection of profiles of people dead from AIDS who are remembered in the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
- DirectorRob EpsteinStarsHarvey FiersteinHarvey MilkAnne KronenbergA documentary of the successful career and assassination of San Francisco's first elected gay city supervisor.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsRupert EverettKlaus MüllerKarl GorathHistorian Klaus Müller interviews survivors of the Nazi persecution of homosexuals because of the German Penal Code of 1871, Paragraph 175.
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsLily TomlinTony CurtisSusie BrightA documentary surveying the various Hollywood screen depictions of homosexuals and the attitudes behind them throughout the history of North American film.
- DirectorDavid WeissmanBill WeberStarsEd WolfDaniel GoldsteinGuy ClarkA deep and reflective look at the arrival and impact of AIDS in San Francisco and how individuals rose to the occasion during the first years of this unimaginable crisis.
- DirectorSandi Simcha DubowskiStarsShlomo AshkinazySteve GreenbergNathan Lopes CardozoA cinematic portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.
- DirectorDean HamerJoe WilsonStarsC.J. BillsDiane GranleyLinda HendersonThe announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson's wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy in his small hometown and a plea for help from the mother of a gay teen being tormented at school.
- DirectorDaniel G. KarslakeStarsImogene RobinsonVictor RobinsonGene RobinsonAn 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.
- DirectorJim de SèveStarsBob BarrMary BonautoBrian BrownA look at the debate over same sex marriage in the USA. The reasons behind it are illustrated with real life couples that have run afoul of current laws despite varying levels of planning. Also, the reasons against it are debunked by proponents.
- DirectorTeodoro ManiaciFrancine RzeznikStarsRalph BlairPat BuchananMichael BusseeFocusing on the contemporary religious Right Wing proliferation of curative therapies for homosexuality, this riveting documentary offers historical context as well as a political analysis of this frighteningly large movement.
- DirectorGreta SchillerRobert RosenbergStarsRita Mae BrownBruce NugentHenry OtisThe history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement.
- DirectorJohn ScagliottiStarsCraig RodwellMelissa EtheridgeMike CarneyDocumentary/Historical retrospective of the Gay Rights movement from the 1969 Stonewall riots to the present.
- DirectorArthur DongStarsBrian BennettKathleen BremnerPaul BremnerWhat happens when religiously conservative Christian parents have children who "become homosexual?" FAMILY FUNDAMENTALS is filmmaker Arthur Dong's personal attempt to answer that explosive question.
- DirectorPeter FriedmanTom JoslinStarsLiane BoninTom JoslinMark MassiA documentary about two gay men as they live through their last months of life with AIDS.
- DirectorJennie LivingstonStarsBrooke XtravaganzaAndré ChristianDorian CoreyA chronicle of New York's drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality.
- StarsAndrea Gabrielle GibsonStaci IgnacioLucas CheadleA look at the lives of four college students undergoing gender transition.
- DirectorBrooke SeboldBenita SillsTodd SillsStarsClair FarleyJennie FarleyMark Oliver FarleyThe intimate bond between two identical twin brothers is challenged when one decides to transition from male to female; this is the story of their evolving relationship, and the resurrection of their family from a darker past.
- DirectorMonika TreutStarsSusan StrykerTexas TomboyAnnie SprinkleMonika Treut explores the worlds and thoughts of several transgender individuals. As with Treuts first film, Jungfrauenmaschine, Gendernauts, enters a minority sector of San Fransisco culture. The individuals in this film are people whose assigned gender at birth does not match their social gender identity. The subject is pinpointed in the film independent of sexual orientation. Leave your conservative hats at the door, this is going to need your special attention.
- DirectorJeff DupreStarsStephen SpinellaGwyneth PaltrowCherry JonesIn 1995, Kelli Peterson started a gay and straight club at her Salt Lake City high school. The story of her ensuing battle with school authorities in interspersed with looks back at the diary of Michael Wigglesworth, a 17th-century Puritan cleric, at the 30-year love affair of Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields, at Henry Gerber's attempt after World War I to establish a gay-rights organization, at Bayard Rustin's role in the civil rights movement, and at Barbara Gittings' taking on of the American Psychiatric Association's position that homosexuality is illness. One person comments, "To create a place for ourselves in the present, we have to find ourselves in the past."
- DirectorReed CowanSteven GreenstreetStarsSpencer JonesTyler BarrickDustin Lance BlackA scorching indictment of the Mormon Church's historic involvement in the promotion & passage of California's Proposition 8 and the Mormon religion's secretive, decades-long campaign against LGBT human rights.
- DirectorKirby DickStarsKirby DickKimberly PeirceDarren AronofskyKirby Dick's exposé about the American movie ratings board.
- DirectorIlppo PohjolaStarsTom of FinlandRobert Henry MizerNayland BlakeTom of Finland is one of the gay world's few authentic icons. His drawings have had an enormous influence on gay identity. Tom's ultimate leather men are known and seen everywhere. They are symbols of gay pride and friendship. The documentary includes some titillating 'enactments' inspired by Tom's art work.
- DirectorLisa AdesLesli KlainbergStarsRandy BarbatoDan BucatinskyJonathan CaouetteA chronological look at films by, for, or about (or 'by, for, and about') gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, from Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain." Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transsexual films, films about diversity and various cultures, and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?
- DirectorJeff GarlinStarsJohn WatersJeff Garlin's documentary on the work of John Waters.
- DirectorTony AyresAussie boys of Asian descent candidly discuss their status as a "minority within a minority".
- DirectorFenton BaileyRandy BarbatoStarsDavid AnthonyGary BarryScott Black101 Rent Boys is shot on location in various motel rooms situated on the length of the Santa Monica Boulevard, and features 101 different hustlers. Although the film features 101 different people, it focuses on the lives (and loves) of a few key men. They have been chosen to reflect the immense diversity of the boys of the Santa Monica Strip. An amazing thing happens when you cross a video camera with award-winning directors, $50 and a hustler. The pieces are slickly grouped to cover certain themes; such as their first john, gay for pay, homelessness, drugs or the reason that they began to work as a rent boy. It also explores the variety of insiders' opinion on subjects such as; how a rent boy should dress, speak, act, think, give head, receive head, increase cash flow, keep safe, walk, eat, smoke, and flirt.
- DirectorMark TurnbullStarsAndy BellPaul BurstonSimon Callow
- DirectorParvez SharmaStarsMuhsin HendricksA.K. HoosenMazenA documentary on gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims across the Muslim and Western worlds.
- DirectorKrishna GovenderStarsTrevor WardNim ChristopherOliver JamesA look at how the quest for the ideal penis has driven some men to have surgery.
- DirectorRosa von PraunheimStarsEwald AlthansWinfried BonengelJörg FischerIt's no secret that the most active homophobes are usually hidden homosexuals. And what environment could be more homophobic than the neo-Nazi environment? It is the phenomenon of homosexuality in the German Nazi community that Rosa von Praunheim's film is dedicated to.
- DirectorBob ChristieStarsKen CoolenBefore the 30th anniversary, Vancouver's Gay Pride Parade director examines relevance of Pride celebrations internationally. He travels to places where Pride is steeped in protest to experience the powerful oppression that still exists. Pride is more than a parade, it's a giant step on the road to equality.
- DirectorDigby DuncanStarsJude KuringDavid StiffIn 1978 the police attacked demonstrators at the Sydney (Australia) Mardi Gras celebrations. This film details the communities response.
- DirectorFiona Cunningham-ReidDocumentary about the history of Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, a great event happening once a year in Sydney, Australia, a celebration of gay sexuality.
- DirectorJohn ScagliottiStarsJaneane GarofaloMaher SabryDocumentary presenting the realities of coming out in lesser developed countries.
- DirectorMarion LipschutzRose RosenblattStarsYvonne CaudilloShelby KnoxRene MaquilleurA 15-year-old girl's transformation from conservative Southern Baptist to liberal Christian and ardent feminist parallels her fight for sex education and gay rights in Lubbock, Texas.
- DirectorEli KabillioStarsTony AlbaneseStephen BaldwinJeff Bond
- DirectorMalcolm IngramStarsDouglas LangwayKevin SmithMalcolm Ingram introduces us to gay men who dig big dudes who are stockier and hairier than the airbrushed ideal served by up lifestyle magazines and underwear ads.
- DirectorJoseph MantegnaStarsAlan CummingMichael CunninghamLea DeLariaChronicling the amazing history of Provincetown a small Ma. town where the pilgrims first landed to the present day Gay Mecca. Ptown diaries weaves the story of the New England Yankees, Portuguese fisherman, bohemian artists into a single mesmerizing history. Provincetown was the first artists colony in the united states. The true beginnings of American drama took place here with the arrival of Eugene O "Neil, followed by the groundbreaking work of Tennessee Williams. Ptown diaries embraces the: the eccentric, the rich heritage, and the magnificent landscape known as "Lands End "
- DirectorGretchen MorningJohn MorningStarsKathryn GilleranA veteran New York police officer embarks on a harrowing search to find her son, when he disappears under suspicious circumstances in Austria.
- DirectorEliezer Pérez AngueiraGay Rights is an issue heard around the world, including Cuba. Free Havana paints a vivid picture of what it has been like to be gay in Cuba through the candid stories of six gay and lesbian individuals. From the Batista era to the Revolution to the Mariel Boatlift to present-day Cuba, Free Havana exposes the evolution of gay life from a time when homosexuality was considered a punishable crime to current efforts to promote a greater acceptance of freedom of sexual orientation. Honest in approach and poignant in content, the stories of the six Cubans will inform and inspire as they touch your heart. In 2006, a shorter version of Free Havana (Habana Libre) became the first documentary of its kind to be screened at Havana's International Festival of New Latin Cinema, a milestone for LGBT cinema given the strict censorship in Cuba.
- DirectorAngélique BosioStarsBruce La BruceGlenn BelverioBruce BendersonThe Advocate for Fagdom unites the puzzle pieces one by one. Testimonies are combined with rare archive images. Art galeries present movie extracts that are succeeded by images shot on location. And the other way round. Writers, film makers, art galeries owners, actors and actresses, photographers, producers, friends and loved ones all join in a game of interpretation, analysis or simple anecdotes. John Waters, Bruce Benderson, Harmony Korine, Gus Van Sant, Richard Kern, Rick Castro and others deliver their impressions, theories and confessions. Everything blends into the fascinating portrait of a singular person blessed with singular talents. A complex personality at war not with a system but all systems. The portrait of a man constantly moving between his punk attitude and extreme sensibility.
- DirectorGary LaneJohn LavinStarsChad AllenDustin Lance BlackMichael BowenTwin young men from North Carolina riding on the fumes of a dream to meet their idol, Dolly Parton the 'Backwoods Barbie', find more than what they bargained for in an RV named Jolene.
- DirectorRoyce ChristynStarsCleo AndersonLamar BillupsPatrick BurkeOut In The Open will, for once and for all, destroy the misconceptions, fears, and myths about the LGBTQ community. This documentary is aimed for at risk youth across the world, as well as their families, friends, and teachers. Out in the Open presents that no single person is the same and that all people should be celebrated. Out in the Open interviews celebrities, politicians, and everyday allies, straight and gay, who openly celebrate the LGBTQ community. These figures will discuss how they coped with stereotypes attached to their sexual orientation by sharing personal experiences of coming to terms with their sexuality. Out in the Open will also starr actor and director Matthew Smith, who decided to stop hiding his life as a happy, stable gay man for fear of losing acting jobs. Unexpected closed doors soon followed his coming out. Matthew and his partners at Real Stream Productions show on film, once and for all, the uplifting and incredible world of the LGBTQ family. Out in the Open brings you real stories of true equality that will leave you inspired.
- DirectorMacky AlstonStarsGene RobinsonA documentary on Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop who set a precedent in New Hampshire state politics, and the battle for LGBT people to receive full acceptance in the faith.
- DirectorJeffrey SchwarzStarsPhyllis AntonellisGeorge BancroftRichard BarriosThe story of Vito Russo, founding father of the gay liberation movement, author of "The Celluloid Closet," and vociferous AIDS activist in the 1980s.
- DirectorBen CotnerRyan WhiteStarsTed OlsonChristopher D. DusseaultJeffrey J. ZarrilloA behind-the-scenes look inside the case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. Shot over five years, the film follows the unlikely team that took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.