Mubashshir, Daaimah

1997

Takes a look at the relationship between the self, body image, mother and money.

Wescott, Margaret

1997

This haunting, humorous and poignant feature documentary, narrated by Academy-Award nominated actress Kate Nelligan, combines hidden aspects of lesbian history and contemporary lesbian life and culture.

Monumental, beguiling, and erotic, Stolen Moments is an exquisitely-executed documentary on lesbian lifestyles in the Western World, combining stylized historical dramas with incisive commentary on contemporary lesbian life. Director Margaret Wescott (Behind the Veil: Nuns) masterfully weaves together diverse historical stories – of Janet Bonet's 19th-century perils on the Barbary Coast, Paris soirées in the 1920’s, and pre-war Amsterdam and Berlin – with tales of contemporary struggles and victories around butchness, femmeness, non-monogamy, and discrimination. Stolen Moments is an intimate and celebratory experience with Audre Lorde, Joan Nestle, Judith Grahn, Leslie Feinberg, and Nicole Brossard, and is narrated by Kate Nelligan.

Ozpetek, Ferzan

1997

When Francesco inherits a dilapidated Turkish bath from a forgotten aunt, he leaves his unfaithful wife Marta in Rome and heads to Istanbul to dispose of the property. The transaction seems straightforward enough. But then Francesco sees the bathhouse, and to his own surprise, he falls in love with it and with the fading culture it represents. He also falls in love with the caretaker’s beautiful son Mehmet. Francesco decides to stay on in Istanbul to renovate the bath. Everything seems to be going smoothly until a shady real estate conglomerate which wants his land begins to threaten him. And when Marta shows up unexpectedly and discovers him making love with Mehmet, confrontation becomes unavoidable. This lush and beautifully photographed film was originally Turkey’s nomination for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, until the Ministry of Culture pulled it, allegedly because of its bisexual hero. Evocative and lovely to look at, Steam deals with universal themes – the difficulties of communication and nostalgia for the past – and lovingly pulls the audience into a disappearing world.

Engberg, Mia

1997

The Stars We Are drops in on a group of gay skinheads in Sweden, with music from Coil, Meat Beat Manifesto and Marc Almond.

Austin, Todd

1997

It doesn't matter if we tell you that this British documentary is a politically-savvy look at free speech issues. It doesn't matter if we say that it's a smart riff on performance issues, both artistic and sexual. Nor does it matter if we note that it's a terrifically-edited, fascinating depiction of the relationships between straight and gay men and between gay men and each other. All we need to say is that A Star Is Porn is what you've always wanted to see: a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a porn film, specifically one of the first locally-produced porn films in the UK. The fact that it’s well-made just adds to the thrill of watching this funny and entertaining film. Did we mention the great game of partially-naked Twister?

Chung, Simon

1997

A day in the iife of two expat boys living in the seaside neighborhood of Stanley. Stanley Beloved looks at a mixed-race teenager coming out in Hong Kong.

Barker, Jewels

1997

Five gender-adventuring pals take a break from their backyard hommage to St. Pelagius to tell their own tales. Scheirl shows up as one of five gender adventurers in St. Pelagius The Penitent, a nicely art-directed bit of whimsy that uses the tribulations of an early Christian saint as a pretext for chatting about hormones and stuff with some transguys.

McGuinn, Patrick

1997

An homage to 1970's sexploitation, two gay men sunbathe and meet a teenage boy and his mother.

Chung, Nicole

1997

Girls who skate discover that space isn't the final frontier.

Some of the fiercest new videos these days are being made by and for young women. In this collection of shorts, girls speak out for themselves and express their hopes and fears around the complex issues they face being queer in a hostile world. In SPACEJAZZEROS, girls who skate discover that space isn’t the final frontier, and in TRESPASS, a girl must choose between finding love at a punk show, or her mom’s Avon party. UNTOUCHABLE explores the struggles between inter-generational partners and the powerlessness felt by youth, while FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OF LEAVING HOME uses biblical and contemporary narratives to explore the reality of leaving home.

Roecker, John

1997

An old fashioned lesbian love story with Exene and Stone Fox.