Queers do Cinema

Queers do Cinema is back! Gearing up for a whole new season in the new year, we stop to look back on the Queer films of 2024 and talk about the films we loved!

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PLUS: Does Queer subtext make a movie Queer, or is it just a celebration of the closet?

No film genre is more preoccupied with our culture’s sexual anxieties than Horror, so of course there’s a fine line between Horror and Queer Horror.

We are joined by Kay Lynch, founder of the Salem Horror Fest, to unpack the complex history (and promising future) of Queer Horror. Since even the earliest horror films are laden with “horrific” depictions of gender and sexuality and camp in a way that makes it sometimes feel like all horror is Queer horror. But contemporary filmmakers have ditched the coding and consistently make explicitly Queer horror films on all budgets.

Plus: Is there a Queer horror film that earns a comparison to “Get Out”? Our hosts debate!

We dive deep into the problem of the “problematic,” joined by special guest Sav Rogers, whose 2023 documentary Chasing Chasing Amy dives deep into his relationship with Kevin Smith’s problematic 1997 “lesbian falls for a straight guy” rom-com.

We dig into the problematic films we hate and the problematic films we love anyway. We talk about Chasing Amy, about the usefulness of outrage, and how to preserve our cinematic past without throwing out everything that offends.

Happy Juneteenth! To celebrate, we are joined by the inimitable Cheryl Dunye to talk about the canon of Queer Black cinema. What makes a movie Queer Black cinema, and who gets to tell Queer Black stories?

How did New Black Cinema and New Queer Cinema historically converge to create a new movement, with The Watermelon Woman as an iconic debut from Cheryl? We talk about Cheryl’s television work (Lovecraft Country) and what’s it like to be telling Queer Black stories onscreen today.

PLUS: Our hosts share some of their favorite Queer Black films we think you should watch!

June is here, and the world is covered in rainbows once again. Our hosts take some time to reflect on the institution that Pride has become in our culture, and explore our own ambivalence about Pride — the joy and the cynicism. What is the relationship between Pride and Queer film festivals in the cities we serve? What happens when Queer community organizations need to compete with each other for corporate dollars? What does it mean for our community to be so heavily marketed to?

ALSO: We share what films embody the spirit of Pride for us, and make some recommendations for inspiring, feel-good, or fiery Pride pics to watch this month!