Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Film

Any history of gay and lesbian films has to include New Queer Cinema, the groundbreaking glut of films that came from the US independent scene in the early 1990s.

With Greg Araki’s The Living End, Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning and Todd Haynes’ Poison, a new, cool voice entered cinema, and queer representation would never be the ... show more >

Any history of gay and lesbian films has to include New Queer Cinema, the groundbreaking glut of films that came from the US independent scene in the early 1990s.

With Greg Araki’s The Living End, Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning and Todd Haynes’ Poison, a new, cool voice entered cinema, and queer representation would never be the same again. This gradually entered the mainstream, with major Hollywood stars scooping Oscars for playing gay and lesbian characters, including Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry), Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) and Sean Penn (Milk).

Representation has progressed so far that Hollywood movies can feature flawed or disturbed gay and lesbian figures in a sympathetic lights, from Jim Carrey’s conman in I Love You Phillip Morris to Charlize Theron’s serial killer in Monster or Naomi Watt’s paranoiac in Mulholland Dr.

Meanwhile, directors as diverse as Gus van Sant, Lisa Cholodenko and John Waters continue to make fantastic films with unapologetically gay themes and storylines. The critical and commercial success of Brokeback Mountain shows how far gay and lesbian cinema has come after decades of neglect. For a brilliant exploration of homosexuality on film, watch the award-winning The Celluloid Closet. < show less