Amaze Queer Cinema

Its the first weekend of #PrideMonth ! I have been exploring literature and cinema with visible queer representation in mainstream, and although its going at an incredibly slow pace, yet here is a list of stuff I put together so far. Shall keep updating it, as I learn and discover more. Why is it important? For all kids and teens to grow up watching normalised representation of queer lives on their TV screens.

1.  Portrait of a Lady on Fire (French): written and directed by a lesbian, telling a lesbian story, starring a lesbian (no pornographic fetishes of the cis-het male gaze!)
2. Reaching for the Moon (Flores Raras/Rare Flowers, Portuguese): Lesbian, real life story.
3. The Cakemaker(German): Gay
4. Fire(Indian): Lesbian (Shabana Azmi & Nandita Das).
5. The Danish Girl (English): Eddie Redmayne plays a transperson, real life story of Lili Elbe.
6. Brokeback Mountain(English): Gay
7. Wild Nights with Emily(English): Lesbian; on Emily Dickinson.
8. Dickinson: Lesbian, on Emily Dickinson.
9. The Death and Life of Marsha Johnson: Netflix, real life story of the leader of Stonewall Riots.
10. Call Me By Your Name (English, set in 1980s Italy): Gay, based on a book.
11. Mario(Swiss): Gay
12. The Girl King (English, Swedish): Lesbian
13. Carol (English, a French story): Lesbian, based on a novel.
14. After Forever– Drama series about gay men over 40
15. Elisa and Marcela (Spanish): Lesbian; real life story about first ever same sex marriage in Spain.
16. The Miseducation of Cameron Post(English): Lesbian; based on a novel, high school girl sent to conversion therapy.
17. Mädchen in Uniform (German): 1931 movie, Lesbian.
18. Half of It (Netflix): Sapphic teens, 2020 release.
19. She-Ra (Netflix): Animated series into it’s fifth season right now, excellent portrayal of all genders and sexualities with intersections of race.
20. Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan(Indian): Gay. Very noisy slapstick humour, but quite okay as an introduction to homosexuality to the  average Indian homophobe. Replacing popular Bollywood cis-het imageries and references with a gay lead couple was a long overdue first step.
21. Blue is the Warmest Colour (French): Lesbian. The movie has won many awards but has also received a lot of flak from the queer community and movie critics, accusing the cis-het male gaze of the director for it’s fetishist and pornographic portrayal of intimate scenes.
22. The Imitation Game (English): On the life of Alan Turig, the legendary computer scientist who broke Nazi codes.

and counting….

Featured Image Source: cheapoair.com
Views expressed are personal and do not represent any organisation.