Sharzer, Jessica

1994

Chamberlain, Anne

1994

A spoof of the misrepresentations that arise when sexism, homophobia, and cinema collide.

Fan, Yon

1994

A film about a young girl's coming of age among drag queens, full of wit, camp and drama.

All the world’s a stage for the drag divas of the Sin Sin Hotel in Chinese director Yonfan’s new film Bugis Street. This enchanting, sexy drama, set in 1970’s Singapore, explores the lives of the transsexuals and transvestites who live in a sleazy residential hotel. Hiep Thi Le (of Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth) plays Lian, a 17 year-old reception clerk, who keenly observes the hotel’s colorful cast of characters. Coquettish yet naive, young Lian learns the lessons of life and love from the reigning queens at Sin Sin, including the worldly Drago and the tormented Lola, who’s trapped in a co-dependent relationship with an abusive, philandering boyfriend. It is from Lola and the others that Lian learns that behind the vivid facades of the residents also lies pain and self-doubt. With its healthy doses of drama, attitude and nude dudes, Bugis Street gives you a firsthand look at a rarely seen or understood part of queer Asian life.

Negron-Muntaner, Frances

1994

In Frances Negron-Muntaner's film Brincando El Charco, a young Latina artist serves seven years of exile in Philadelphia. When her father dies suddenly, Claudia copes with detachment. While she considers her obligation to a family who abandoned her because she is a lesbian, Claudia spends her days photographing and documenting other Latina/o gays. Her gay white publishing agent, however, discourages Claudia from pushing "the people-of-color issue" onto the rest of the community. Although she steers clear of becoming too involved in her lawyer girlfriend's political activism, Claudia copes inwardly with the effects of what has happened to her people politically since the colonialization of Puerto Rico. Race, language, birthplace, and economics surface as fractures in a culture as diverse as the world itself. As a light-skinned, island-born, mainland-living, bilingual lesbian Claudia struggles for a place on the spectrum. Brincando El Charco offers extensive and sensitive coverage of a community still rarely seen in cinema today. "The only time we make the news is when we kill somebody." Included is actual footage from the first ever gay and lesbian Pride march in Puerto Rico. Carefully crafted, this film deserves each of the three filmmaking genres it encompasses—narrative, documentary, and experimental—anything less would stifle its provocativeness. A rich and fulfilling work offering a tender view of feminine sexuality. “Here's a marvel—a tender, funny, knowing tale of cultural dysphoria that spans genre with a gusto rarely seen on the big screen.” —Elizabeth Pincus, Planet Out

Skeet, Brian

1994

Brian Skeet's oddly poetic The Boy Who Fell In Love is a tale of an HIV positive young man, his lover who died from AIDS, and axolotls—the larval stage of a species of salamander which give birth and die while still physically immature.

1994

Both of My Mom's Names Are Judy was created by the Lesbian and Gay Parents Association as a tool for elementary school educators. A diverse group of children (ages 7–11) tell us what it is like to have lesbian and gay parents.

Grodecki, Wiktor

1994

Since the collapse of capitalism, Prague has become a safe haven for sexual tourists from the West--and the East. No one's lives have been more affected by this than the nubile provincial boys who move to the city to make a better life for themselves. They start "making a buck" easily enough. Many of their stories sound the same. They find their way to a video arcade, a train station: spots where older men and wealthy men go to find young boys. Inevitably many of these boys begin working for directors of child porn flicks. One such director--a man named Pavel--gives a tour of the set of one of his movies on a day when he's shooting. While he's filming the boys, he also introduces us to his other profession. He's a police coroner, an occupation that reveals all the secrets of the body. His story of the way he treats the boys, the way he deals with AIDS, the amount of money he makes--his story differs from the stories we hear from the boys. But director and child stars alike know one thing: there are limits to the flesh.

Riggs, Marlon

1994

Marlon Rigg’s final film exploring questions of ‘blackness’ and black identity.

Reiter, Jill

1994

A drag queen mom throws her dyke daughter a surreal sweet sixteen party where the entertainment includes a tattooed gay boy go-go dancer and a human piñata that ejaculates presents when caressed.

Hunt, Victoria

1994

Bete Noire takes a film noir shot at girls, guns and ventolin.