Recently in Documentary Category

Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon will be screening in New York, Los Angeles, and Ft. Lauderdale, thanks to TLA Releasing. Catch the Jack Wrangler biopic at the following locations:

Can you be both gay and Christian at the same time? Of course you can. Join me at Bloom in the Desert church to see for yourself. Or you can check out the GLAAD Media Award-nominated documentary Camp Out when it is released on DVD Tuesday.

Camp Out explores the lives of 10 teenagers who are struggling to be true to both their religious beliefs and their sexual identity — and they look for answers by attending the first overnight Bible Camp for gay Christian youths. They’re caught in the battle between religion, politics and sexuality that’s raging in the United States today. These kids are outsiders — their straight classmates ostracize them and their churches reject them. But like all teens, they yearn to feel at home somewhere and come to camp hoping to finally find a place of acceptance.

"Co-director Larry Grimaldi and I were truly inspired by the kids’ courage as they grappled with two identities that are often at odds with each other," says co-director Kirk Marcolina. The documentary has won numerous “best documentary” awards, including Los Angeles’ Outfest and New York’s Newfest. "Most importantly, the film has helped educate and create an important dialogue in both the gay and Christian communities."

As the doc crisscrossed the country, playing at straight and gay film festivals and for religious groups, the filmmakers were unsure of how people would react to the subject matter. "I assumed there would be people in both the gay and Christian communities who loved the film and those that hated it. It's not a simple issue for either side, as there's a lot of anger and confusion out there," Grimaldi told a reporter, happy to report that the film was universally embraced by audiences. "One woman told me she called her 36-year-old son at midnight after the screening to tell him she loved him and to apologize for the weight he had on his shoulders during his youth. I'm hoping this is an indication that the tides are turning on issues of spirituality and sexual identity."

Camp Out is available from Amazon, Netflix and other fine retailers.

John Barrowman, openly gay star of stage (Sunset Boulevard) and screen (Torchwood), recently appeared in The Making of Me, a BBC One documentary examining the science behind what makes people act the way they do. Several celebrities were selected for the series for various reasons; Barrowman participated in order to understand what makes a person gay.

In an article for BBC News Magazine, Barrowman writes, "just because I'm comfortable with my sexuality doesn't mean that I'm not curious about it and that's one of the reasons I agreed to take this journey to discover the making of me."

The series premiered on July 24, but only on England's BBC One, and very few clips have been made available to an audience outside of the UK. From what we've seen, the episode looks carefully constructed and endlessly fascinating, so if you, dear reader, has any connection whatsoever with BBC One, please urge the network to have the special air here in the States!

While we wait patiently for a broadcasting miracle, meet his very sweet parents by clicking on the link here.

And meet his very cute partner, Scott Gill, by viewing the clip below.

U People is a documentary that takes the filming of a music video and turns it into a forum on being black, female, and lesbian in America. Sometimes race/gender/sexuality are explored jointly, sometimes separately, but always with passionate voices. Are labels to be embraced or denied? Are black women included in feminism? Are LGBT people included in black civil rights activism? What is the definition of manhood, of womanhood? How much should lesbians who pass as straight be taken to task for enjoying heterosexual privilege? What about lesbians who pass as men and enjoy that privilege? When a person formerly known as a lesbian comes out as a "straight" male, what does that mean for his relationship with the lesbian community? How does race complicate gender and sexuality, how does gender complicate race and sexuality, and how does sexuality complicate gender and race?

Last night at the Ford Amphitheater, several OUTFEST films were given top honors at the festival's annual Awards Night. Were the World Mine (pictured) was named outstanding U.S. dramatic feature while XXY was awarded best international dramatic feature. Sex Positive won best documentary. Best dramatic short was Countertransference; La Corona (The Crown) was best documentary short.

Tye Olson was awarded best actor for Watercolors; Nicole Bilderback was best actress for The New Twenty. James Bolton earned the screenwriting award for Dream Boy.

Audience awards went to Watercolors for first dramatic feature; Hamlet 2 was named favorite dramatic feature; A Place to Live, documentary feature; I'm Jin-Young, dramatic short; La Corona, documentary short; and Hamlet 2, soundtrack.

For a complete list of winners, please click here.

And congratulations to everyone!

A timely and moving documentary, A Jihad for Love presents the story of devout Muslims struggling to reconcile their sexuality with their faith. The film, cut from about 400 hours of footage, had a noticeable impact on its audience at OUTFEST, where people accustomed to the LGBT experience in the United States were presented with visions of a world both familiar and markedly worse. The familiar came in the form of religious argumentation over the acceptability of being gay or lesbian, with questions about textual interpretation of the Qur'an closely echoing the debate American gays most frequently hear related to the Christian Bible. The frightening came in images and stories of gays forced to seek refugee status from their home country in order to escape ruined lives and the threat of death. Though some subjects revealed their faces to the camera, others kept their identities hidden, with the filmmaker's blurring of those faces serving as an inescapable reminder of their constant fear.

Australian woman Poppy Stockell has fallen in love. Two potential problems:

It's STILL Elementary is the follow-up film to the 1996 surprise phenomenon It's Elementary. The original film, directed by Academy Award winner Debra Chasnoff, was a short documentary intended to guide teachers in discussing gay issues with children at the elementary school level. It's STILL Elementary tells the backstory.

When It's Elementary was released in 1996, it was truly groundbreaking. Very few school administrators thought it was possible to discuss gay or lesbian issues with young children. But when cameras followed teachers actually giving the lesson in their classrooms, many viewers had an "a-ha!" moment: Of course kids can understand these issues! Viewers watched as children critically discussed their own internalized homophobia, telling their teachers what they had learned (and mis-learned) from media and examining why some people think the way they do about gays and lesbians.

The film was really well-received, screening at festivals across the nation and then around the world. Many school districts were clamoring for it. Chicago Public Schools actually mandated that every single elementary school in the district work the film into its curriculum.

However, when It's Elementary secured a television deal with PBS, suddenly, the right wing attacked. Hateful propaganda was generated from anti-gay extremist groups, several of whom used the film to unify its base. PBS stations stood firm in the face of opposition and aired the film.

Perhaps the most poignant moments in It's STILL Elementary, though, is the follow-up with teachers and students featured in the first film, ten years later, to see how lessons about LGBT people changed their lives. It is incredible how many straight people confessed that participating in the film forever changed their opinions about gays and lesbians, and how they still use the lessons learned to educate others about their treatment of the LGBT community.

Both It's Elementary and It's STILL Elementary are available on DVD. You can buy copies by clicking here.

Any gay or gay-adjacent person who has been to Laguna Beach, CA has been to the Boom-Boom Room. Guaranteed. This bar and club, originally called The South Seas, has been a haven for gay and lesbian people all over Southern California for 60-plus years. In the early days, closeted stars like Rock Hudson would travel from Los Angeles to spend time in a community that was accepting of gays and lesbians. In fact, Laguna has a long history of being inclusive; it was the first city in the nation to elect an openly gay Mayor, Robert Gentry. The Boom's long-lasting success is a testament to the citizens of Laguna Beach, accepting a diverse population into its picture-perfect scenery.

However, in late 2005, the landmark Boom Boom Room dance club and the adjoining Coast Inn were sold to make way for a boutique hotel and five-star restaurant. Filmmaker and activist John Keitel knew that by doing this, developers would be destroying a piece of gay history. He decided to take action.

Saving the Boom is a short film outlining the efforts made by a small group of gay men to save the beloved bar. From a successful petition-signing (5000+ signatures from Laguna residents!), to a well-received appeal to the city council (all agreed the Boom should be saved), to protesting at the Ocean's 13 premiere (it was rumored George Clooney and Brad Pitt were the ones trying to tear down the Boom), the film shows such inspiring heart and determination.

Unfortunately, the Boom was shuttered on September 3, 2007. Keitel hopes a gay buyer will snap up the property and restore the club to its original glory, but presently, the Boom remains empty -- but still in tact.

Watch Saving the Boom here.
 

Word is Out was originally released in 1978. Six burgeoning filmmakers had banded together in the mid-'70s in order to create an oral history about the gay community. Their tireless efforts produced an engrossing documentary: 26 people of many different ethnicities from across the United States talked freely about their sexuality, their identity and their place in the world as gay and lesbian adults. It was the first of its kind: a film that put real gay and lesbian people in front of the camera to speak candidly about their lives.

Luckily, the OUTFEST Legacy Project for Film Preservation acquired the original print and restored the fading film to its original glory. The Legacy Project is a collaboration between OUTFEST and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and is devoted to saving and preserving LGBT films. OUTFEST screens one of the Project's restored films every July festival. (Last year, it was Parting Glances. In 2009, expect to see Choosing Children and Queens at Heart.)

When introducing the film at its premiere last night, OUTFEST Interim Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer told the capacity crowd, "It is so important to preserve LGBT history. If we don't do it, no one else will." (Cue thunderous applause!) "Word is Out," she continued, "is a crucial part of queer history."

Upon seeing the film, I can see why. With each new interview, I found I held a new affection and greater understanding of each person portrayed. I marveled at the filmmakers' editing selections, their ability to weave individuals' stories into a seamless tale. There were similarities that spanned generations, genders, national origin: young gay kids being sent to state hospitals for shock treatments in an effort to "cure" their homosexuality; police harassment and brutality; a feeling of "sickness," "otherness," "wickedness"; the need to play a role, to "act straight," "act macho," "act butch."

Yes, there are many sad stories in Word is Out. Shockingly sad. But there is also so much laughter and hope and love within the film as well. These people are proud to be gay. They are proud to be who they are, to live as they are, to love who they want. It is such a privilege, as a  viewer, to see people at their most vulnerable, open up and share their emotional awakenings, ultimately coming to terms with loving their true selves.

A 30th Anniversary special DVD of Word is Out is being released to coincide with a theatrical release in 2009. The DVD will even include a "Where Are They Now" follow up with surviving participants. For complete updates -- and to pre-order the DVD -- please visit the official site.