The Hair Whisperer

An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

Nude men in rubber suits, close-ups of erections, objects shoved in the most intimate of places—these are photographs taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, known by many as the most controversial photographer of the twentieth century. Openly gay, Mapplethorpe took images of male sex, nudity, and fetish to extremes that resulted in his work still being labelled by some as pornography masquerading as art. But less talked about are the more serene, yet striking portraits of flowers, sculptures, and perfectly framed human forms that are equally pioneering and powerful.

Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.

A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

Just two years away from turning 30, participants in Michael Apted's documentary series are facing serious questions of identity and purpose, wondering whether they've found their place in the world.

Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino in conversation about The Irishman.

Martin Scorsese spends an evening with larger-than-life raconteur Steven Prince—a former drug addict, road manager for Neil Diamond, and actor—as he recounts stories from his colorful life.

In a warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain more than 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of this city.

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.

An intimate portrait of Brooklyn-based electronic rock band LCD Soundsystem's then-final live show on April 2, 2011, capturing both the exuberant, three-hour farewell concert at New York City's Madison Square Garden and frontman James Murphy's introspective 48 hours surrounding it.

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.

A filmed version of David Byrne's Broadway show, a unifying musical celebration that inspires audiences to connect to each other and to the global community.

An intense portrait of the iconic filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician Woody Allen: his life, family and friends; his writing and directing habits, and his relationship with performers.

The life of internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin is told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, ground-breaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the overdose crisis.

A comedic, brutally honest documentary following self-destructive TV writer Dan Harmon as he takes his live podcast on a national tour.

Two-time Olympian and World Champion, the legendary Randy Gardner, explores his true identity through figure skating and his one man show. With his skating partner of over fifty years, Tai Babilonia, the pair experienced the heights of worldwide glory and devastating personal tragedy. Now that the intense glare of the public spotlight softens, he is free to finally reveal his untold magical and meaningful journey... on and off the ice.

A representation of queer and feminist imagery that was mainly shot in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, remote and developing areas in southwest China, and metropolitan cities like Beijing from 2000 to 2004 to document the social changes in contemporary China. The director sympathetically and erotically represents a variety of women, including women as laborers, women as prayers, women in the ground, women in marriage, and women who lie on the funeral pyre with their dead husbands. Her camera juxtaposes the mountains and rivers in old times, the commercialized handicrafts as exposition, the capital exploitation of the elders’ living space, and the erotic freedom of the young people in a changing city.

Look around. Everything you see and touch can taste like vanilla.

An incredible historic document showcasing the roots of Old School Hip Hop movement with all its disciplines involved: Djing, Mcing, Breakdancing, and Graffiti. Featured in the "NYC: Urban Image" show at MoMA PS1 1983.

Tito del Amo, a passionate 72-year-old researcher, takes the final step to unravel the enigma about the alleged Spanish origin of the American cartoonist Walt Disney, making the same journey that his supposed mother made to give him up for adoption in Chicago. A journey that begins in Mojácar, Almería, Spain, and ends in New York. An exciting adventure, like Alicia's through the looking glass, to discover what is truth and what is not, with an unexpected result.

For five days in December 1952, a thick smog suffocated the British capital causing the death of thousands of Londoners. The health catastrophe lead to a realisation, in Britain and around the world, that air pollution was a serious threat to human health. This documentary reveals what happened, hour by hour, in one of the worst peacetime disasters of the 20th century.

Featuring Tony Robbins and Melissa Ethridge, Tri Me follows two-time Triathlon World Champion, four-time Hall of Fame inductee, and world-renowned speaker and coach Siri Lindley as she faces the greatest challenge of her life: a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Inspired by the It Gets Better Project this documentary film follows the stories of three real-life subjects who are at unique impasses related to their identities as gay or transgender people.

Taken in 1896 on the Boulevard (upper Broadway) on the occasion of a bicycle parade in the heyday of the wheeling craze. Old-fashioned horse cars lend interest to the scene.

In this rags to riches origin story, Lady Camden struggles to manage the demands of her freshly minted international fame, while Rex is forced to come to terms with the troubling childhood he left behind in Camden which drove him to so desperately seek joy, fantasy and escape through the performing arts.

Baltimore-based drag queen Shaunda Leer (Scott Murdock) discusses why she's chosen to perform in drag for over ten years. She also recounts several stories about her family relationships and concerns about her physical safety as a member of the GLBTIQ community.

Max Gimblett: Original Mind documents the life and process of eccentric, creative genius Max Gimblett. One of New Zealand’s most successful and internationally prominent living painters, Gimblett has been working in America since 1962. The filmmakers spent a week in Gimblett’s Soho loft where he and his devoted studio assistants generously revealed the techniques and philosophy behind his beautiful art.

Wes Hurley's autobiographical tale of growing up gay in Soviet Union Russia, only to escape with his mother, a mail order bride, to Seattle to face a whole new oppression in his new Christian fundamentalist American dad.

After the death of his parents, a gay man comes back to his village to live in his small world of happiness, dreams, sadness and loneliness.

The journey of eight characters of different ages, regions, life trajectories and religions – and behind them, stories of overcoming difficulties, prejudice and self-acceptance, passing through themes transversal to the letters that form the acronym LGBTQIA+ – that culminate in the celebration of being able to be who you are and in the exaltation of these voices.

Max is gender non-conforming and gives birth to River, who they are raising gender-neutral until River can express their own identity.

This documentary speaks to local activist groups in the music industry and culture scene to find out why people are driven to fight back and speak out on subjects they’re passionate about. With an aim of inspiring the next generation, each activist gives their advice on how you can put a cause you are passionate about in the local scene into action. Hope Lynes spoke to Phil Douglas from LGBTQIA+ organisation Curious Arts; grassroots promoter Hana Harrison from Art Mouse; Tracks' Sarah Wilson, who campaigns for better female representation in the music scene with her project Noisy Daughters; Chantal Herbert from feminist Black and queer-led organisation Sister Shack; and disability activist and musician Ruth Lyon. It’s hoped that this intimate and personal documentary will explore the starting points to beginning your own activism.

A collection of personal anecdotes from those who have navigated through a tumultuous year in America.

About Stefan Stricker, who calls himself Juwelia and has been running a gallery on Sanderstraße in Berlin Neukölln for many years. Every weekend he invites guests to shamelessly recount from his life and to sing poetic songs written with his friend from Hollywood Jose Promis. Juwelia has been poor and sexy all her life, has always struggled for recognition, but only partially.