Films & Schedule

Join the Boston LGBT Film Festival at a brunch for our LGBT senior community. Have brunch with members of your community and representatives of the Boston LGBT Film Festival. We'll be screening film trailers and discussing all the wonderful films that are part of this year's festival.

This event is free. Brunch has been generously donated by Club Cafe. More info

Please join us at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to celebrate twenty years of LGBT film at the MFA! We are opening our run at the Museum with the Sundance smash Mosquita Y Mari.

Best Narrative Feature Nominee

Mosquita y Mari is a coming of age story that focuses on a tender love between two young Chicanas that struggles to find its place in their lives and in today's world.

After the screening join us at the Venus Room on Landesdown Street for drinks and dancing! More info

Join us for a late night look at the sexual lives of gay men. In Their Room is about gay men, bedrooms, sex and intimacy. The film veers into the bedrooms of eight different men where you see them doing everything from the most banal to the most erotic. Complimenting the revealing nature of their everyday activities are confessional interviews about fantasies, turn ons and vulnerabilities. You never leave their bedrooms, but this is unmistakably Berlin. While Julian is a beautifully shot super 8 film that follows a handsome man on his road trip across Portugal.

This program contains graphic sexual content. No on under 18 will be admitted. More info

Hold the skepticism—the smart and funny group of people profiled in this fast-moving documentary have heard it all before. Meet Swank Ivy who makes YouTube videos debunking common beliefs about asexuals; or David Jay, the movement’s poster boy, and a regular on television talk shows.

The ladies of The View can barely conceal their disbelief as young and cute Jay describes his lack of desire—for anyone. (A)sexual documents the growth of this newly organized sexual minority while raising provocative questions about queer inclusiveness and the boundaries of “normal” sexual desire. More info

“Question One”, a new documentary by award winning filmmakers Joe Fox and James Nubile, chronicles the fierce and emotional battle that took place in Maine during that time.

Closely mirroring California’s Prop 8 battle, the film chronicles in “War Room” fashion the behind the scenes workings on BOTH sides of the campaign (the first time this has ever been done). The filmmakers spent the duration of the campaign imbedded in the war rooms and strategy sessions as they captured the private thoughts, insights, fears and conflicts expressed by key leaders as they crafted and created their messages and strategies.

Best Documentary Feature Nominee.

Director Joe Fox will be present for the screening. More info

Once again we bring you the best in men’s short films. We’ll be screening the world premiere of Vince Sandoval’s documentary on the 2011 Harbour to Bay ride H2B Angels along with fun, sad, challenging, and just plain queer short films. We'll also be screening the world premiere of local filmmaker David Young’s Last Man Out.

Several directors will be present at screening. More info

Sheldon Larry’s audacious, raunchy and big-hearted musical—with songs by Beyonce’s music director Kim Burse and choreography by Beyonce’s dance master Frank Gatson Jr.—takes us into the fabulously funky world of voguing. (Remember the documentary Paris is Burning?) Here the setting is contemporary downtown L.A. More info

Woman’s Lake takes places in the magical and largely undiscovered landscapes of Brandenburg, the hinterland around Berlin, which is criss-crossed by Europe’s largest network of interconnected lakes.

Screened as part of our Focus on German Cinema program. More info

LGBT Cinema has truly become an international phenomenon. From countries as diverse as Israel, Romania, Singapore, and the Philippines, queer filmmakers are telling their stories with candor. Join us for the best shorts from around the world More info

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP explores the story of ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from the grassroots perspective—how a small group of men and women of all races and classes, came together to change the world and save each others lives.

Best Documentary Feature Award Nominee,

Director Jim Hubbard will be present for the screening. More info

A lonely gay adolescent suffers the pangs of unrequited love in this poignantly rendered coming-of-ager. The narrative unfolds in a small town on the Belgian coast in the late 1960s and 70s, where introverted dreamer Pim grows up accustomed to neglect from his selfish mother Yvette and petty humiliation from her putative boyfriend Etienne.

Best Narrative Feature Nominee More info

Heart of Broadway goes inside Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS for a look at the organization, which, by drawing upon the talents, resources, and generosity of the American theater community, since 1988 has raised more than $195 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States. The special takes viewers backstage and behind the scenes for conversations with key players who reveal what makes this one of the most influential organizations in the world. Featured celebrities, who've repeatedly and graciously donated their time and talents to Broadway Cares, include Denis O'Hare, Marc Kudisch, Jerry Mitchell, Tom Viola, Judith Light, Jen Cody, Terrence McNally, Lillias White, Kathleen Chalfant, Billy Porter, and Ann Harada. More info

Look at Me Again is a road movie that whisks us away to the wild, semi-arid expanse of north-eastern Brazil. Our tough, cool travelling companion is Silvyo Luccio (‘… I was born a woman, became a lesbian and am now a man’), a thinker in the throes of transition and transformation who finds himself on a journey back into his religious-fundamentalist, deeply prejudiced, traditionalist past.

At the heart of old wounds, humiliation and trauma lies an anxiously awaited encounter with a daughter and the hope of familial reconciliation. More info

Please join us for a very special evening with Bishop Gene Robinson and the film about his struggle for equality. Director Macky Alston (whose film, Family Name, won the Freedom of Expression Award at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival) will also be joining us for this screening. A panel about religion and LGBT communities will follow the film. Panel attendees to be announced.

In June 2003, the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire came under fire when it became the first to elect an openly gay man, Gene Robinson, as a bishop. Since that flash point, Robinson has been at the center of the contentious battle for LGBT people to receive full acceptance in the faith.

Co-presented by The Gay and Lesbian Review and More info

Section 377 is a British colonial law from the Indian Penal Code that criminalizes same sex relations between consenting adults. When Delhi High court struck it down, the LGBTIQ community of India decided to celebrate this in a grand manner with colorful parades, songs and dances.

Adele Tulli has not only captured the magnificent scenes of pride celebration, she has also interpreted the personal stories of the struggles of the three protagonists, Beena, Pallav and Abheena. These characters, Beena, Pallav and Abheena travel through the city of Bombay heading to the celebrations for the first anniversary of the historic verdict. 365 without 377 is the story of their journey towards freedom. The film truly makes you understand why it is so important to come out and be proud. More info

Please join us for a special screening of short films at the Fenway Community Health Center. The Boston LGBT Film Festival and Young Leaders Council (YLC) are presenting a series of short films that celebrate the LGBT Community. Young Leaders Council (YLC) is an initiative of Fenway Health to empower emerging LGBT leaders and allies to shape their community’s future.

Films to be announced shortly. More info

Joins us for a disarmingly sweet tale of two Thai students who must decide whether they are brave enough to live lesbian lives.

The first feature film in Thailand to be promoted as a lesbian film, Yes or No? has been an impressive success. Five years in the making, this disarmingly sweet film has been shown in cinemas across Thailand, made a modest profit at the box office and gained a best director nomination at the Thai equivalent to the Oscars. More info

Join us for Sci-Fi Night with a hilarious Australian comedy TV show that revolves around a gay science fiction club! Following Part 1 of Outland: Episodes 1-3, join us at Casablanca Restaurant for drinks and free appetizers. Then, finish the night off back at the Brattle with Part 2! More info

Boldly going where no TV show has gone before, the premiere of this outrageous new Australian comedy series continues with three more out-of-this world episodes.

Episodes 4–6: Close Encounters. Our ragtag fleet of friends continues their search for signs of intelligent life among them, leading to a creepy apartment of X Files-style terrors, a futuristic penthouse where a secret crush is revealed (in song!), and a Gay Pride parade where their ultimate sci-fi gay icon is honored with hilarious results. (Description courtesy of the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.) More info

Growing up queer in a straight world isn’t easy, but these filmmakers show you how to navigate it. More info

Come and enjoy the New England Premiere of this great comedy. Colourful balloon dresses, long party nights in Berlin’s trendy clubs and erotic evenings on the dining table – this is the chaotic relationship of the unequal couple of Ernst and Tobias. Though opposites attract, respectable banker Ernst is often unsure, whether bubbly and always cheerful Tobias takes their relationship as seriously as he does. Soon they rise to a challenge of every relationship: everyday living together and mutual trust.

The sudden appearance of Uta, Ernst’s eccentric school friend, fundamentally changes their relationship. Uta forges out a scheming plan, which Ernst completely falls for. Together with his friends, Tobias spares no efforts to checkmate the unwelcome guest as soon as possible – and sets events in motion that increasingly get out of control.

Best Narrative Feature Nominee More info

Zenne Dancer is inspired by the true characters and stories of Zenne Can and Ahmet Yildiz, who was murdered by his father July 18, 2008 in Istanbul. It is the contemporary story of three unlikely friends: Ahmet, a hyper-masculine gay (bear); Can, a male belly dancer (Zenne); and Daniel, a German photo-journalist.

Through this dynamic friendship and the events that unfold around them, the film explores layers of intolerance along masculine/feminine, east/west and traditional/modern lines in Istanbul, a city that is itself geographically, culturally and historically at the very crossroads of those divides. More info

Rana and Adineh, two women of very different backgrounds and social class are accidentally brought together to share a journey. Rana, inexperienced, religious and bound by traditions, is forced to drive a cab in order to survive financially. Adineh, wealthy yet rebellious, has escaped from her home. Along the way, Rana begins to understand that her passenger is a transsexual who is planning on having an operation. For Rana, comprehending and accepting such a reality is close to impossible and tantamount to abandoning everything she was raised to believe. (Description courtesy of the Montreal World Film Festival.)

Best Narrative Feature Award Nominee.

Fereshteh Taerpoor, co-writer will be present for the screening. More info

Join us following the screening of Jobriath AD at the Alley Bay with the Fur and Gold gang!

Fur And Gold is hosted by Sean M. Johnson. DJ Brent Covington and DJ Taffy spin Indie Rock/Pop/Dance, Post-Punk, '80s, Britpop, Underground, New Wave, Electro, & Euro Hits. A new night at the Alley for Art Fags, Hipsters, Geeks, the Music Obsessed and all. More info

We start off our second midnight weekend at the Coolidge with one of the most spectacular superhero films you'll ever see!

In this Indonesian-styled Priscilla Queen of the Desert, our transsexual superhero goes up against Mr. Storm, The National Morality Front, and his deadly burqa-clad wives. A dark wit pervades this daring, camp-filled first feature from director Lucky Kuswandi. Is it a curling iron? Is it a hair dryer? No, it’s Madame X – the world’s first trans superhero! More info

The Invisible Men tells the untold story of persecuted gay Palestinian who have run away from their families and are now hiding illegally in Tel Aviv. Their stories will be told through the film's heroes: Louie, 32 years old, a gay Palestinian who has been hiding in Tel Aviv for the past 8 years; Abdu, 24 years old, who was exposed as gay in Ramallah and then accused of espionage and tortured by Palestinian security forces; Faris, 23 years old, who escaped to Tel Aviv from the West Bank after his family tried to kill him. Their only chance for survival -- to seek asylum outside Israel and Palestine and leave their homelands forever behind.

Best Documentary Feature Award Nominee. More info

Once again we bring you the best in women’s short films including the area premiere of Coffee and Pie starring Amy Seimetz (Alexander the Last, The Off Hours) who was named one of the breakout stars at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, as well as rising star Sophia Takal (Gabi on the Roof in July, Green). More info

Please join us for very special “work in progress” screening of A Perfect Ending

From Nicole Conn, the director of the fantastic Elena Undone comes a sexy, dramatic film that will leave you breathless.

A repressed and uptight socialite, Rebecca lives a perfect, pointless life. She is the ideal wife to her husband and mother to her three children. Rebecca also has a very unusual secret, one that not even her best friends know about. The last person on earth she expects to reveal it to is a high priced escort named Paris.

Rebecca could never have known that through Paris, she would discover answers she's been searching for her entire life. Her journey from perfect control to unbridled passion allows Rebecca not only to reclaim worthless years, but to redeem and vindicate painful regrets. Raw, evocative and often humorous, A Perfect Ending explores one woman's struggle to find what moves her and asks: Without passion, what's the point? More info

The latest from filmmaker Rikki Beadle-Blair (F.I.T. and 2011’s Kickoff), Bashment swirls together race, sexuality, rhythm, and rhyme into a stark portrait of human potential and pain.

J.J. is an aspiring M.C. who’s taken London’s outlaw urban music scene by storm. He’s got the skills, the rhymes, and the drive. But he may run into a few hurdles on his reach for greatness; he’s white, he’s from the sticks, and he’s gay. J.J.’s resolved to come out onstage at the Urban Slam Finals, bringing his boyfriend Orlando along as moral support.

Gritty performances—on and off the mic—from a young cast of Beadle-Blair regulars and new faces give depth to brutally flawed characters. What starts as a visceral, pounding story eases into a nuanced contemplation of masculinity and what lengths we’ll go to in order to protect others—and ourselves. (Description courtesy of Trista Kendall, Frameline International LGBT Film Festival.) More info

Continuing the Boston LGBT Film Festival's "Our Lives On Film" series with two films that speak to contemporary and historical women's experiences.

Lesbian Factory presents the stories of seven lesbian couples against an atypical setting, covering labor disputes, reflecting on the migrant worker system, examining the discriminatory treatment of migrant workers, and showing love without bounds.

Lesbian Factory is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film Award.

T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s presents the lives of the sexual/social pioneers in enlightening and entertaining historical context with a mix of archival photographs, artwork, publicity ephemera, silent movies, blues recordings, narration by the well-known lesbian writer, Jewelle Gomez. More info

It is exactly twenty years since the celebrated Afro-American poet and writer Audre Lorde died in 1992. According to her own description of herself she was: ‘a lesbian, a feminist, black, a poet, mother and activist’.

In the 1980s Dagmar Schultz, who at the time was lecturing at the John F. Kennedy Institute at Berlin’s Freie Universität, invited Lorde to Berlin as a visiting professor. This move was to have an enduring influence, for Lorde soon became co-founder and mentor of the Afro-German movement.

The film includes appearances from, among others: May Ayim, Katharina Oguntoye, Gloria I. Joseph, Ilona Bubeck, Traude Bührmann, as well as Ika Hügel-Marshall and Ria Cheatom, both of whom collaborated on the making of this film. More info

Who is more fit to raise a child: a convicted killer or a lesbian? In 1995 a judge in Pensacola, Florida declared the father, a convicted killer, was more fit; even though he did not know what grade his daughter was in nor what school she attended. This is the story of that case and its aftermath.

Best Documentary Feature Award Nominee. More info