It is no secret that documentary filmmaking has a complicated legacy when it comes to supporting the survivors of gender-based violence. Even with the best intentions, many filmmakers fall into dangerous extractive patterns and use practices that end up doing more harm than good for a participant. Last week, IDA and the Documentary Accountability Working Group hosted…
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The act of “coming out” as a member of the LGBTQ community is often the defining moment of films about queer and trans people. Yet many of these films still struggle to capture the nuances of this experience. Audiences can look no further than to documentaries for a raw and necessary look at what coming…
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As I moved to Los Angeles this year, I couldn’t help but start to feel haunted by anti-aging culture. It permeates this city and it feels especially powerful in queer spaces. Although it doesn’t have a major effect on me personally, it reminded me of conversations I have had with my friend David Weissman, who has made it part of his personal mission to cross intergenerational divides with his films.
Each year, the Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival hosts some of the best queer and transgender cinema in the world. It’s a chance to catch films that were misunderstood by straight programmers or rejected by festivals because they were “niche.” But more than any of that, festivals like Outfest provide a much-needed space for community, both for…
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Youth movements have changed the world and revolutionized the way we organize against systems of oppression. From Freedom Summer to the March For Our Lives, young people have been at the forefront of some of the most radical and important activism of nearly every generation. In honor of students returning back to school and all…
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My first Pride was a protest led by Black trans women and non-binary people. It was stopped by police with rubber bullet guns at the ready. This was my experience as a queer young person coming of age in Pittsburgh. It connects me to the LGBTQ people who came before me more than any bloated,…
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CinéSPEAK: We are deep into Pride Month, and in Philly we have so much to celebrate. Philadelphia has a thriving and diverse LGBTQ community, and the city is a hotbed of queer and trans filmmaking. This list celebrates five incredible LGBTQ filmmakers who call our city home, including two who are a part of the…
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QBurgh: High rates of LGBTQ sexual assault, no centralized resources, and the only R1 University without a dedicated space for LGBTQ students; these are some of the many troubling conditions at the University of Pittsburgh detailed in a first-of-its-kind report by the Pitt LGBTQ Task Force. The report’s goal is to propose steps for the…
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QBurgh: A historic election is brewing in one of Philadelphia’s most iconic, and queer, districts. Deja Lynn Alvarez, an activist and Co-Founder of Home For Hope, launched her campaign earlier this month and announced her run for State Representative for the 182nd district, which includes the iconic Philly Gayborhood. If elected, she would become the…
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Metro Weekly: In the campaign video, created by award-winning queer filmmaker Hansen Bursic, Titus talks about attempting suicide twice before the age of 16, and how they eventually overcame various hardships and odds to create a better life for themself, and — through their commitment to public service — others.