Film/Video

Pioneers of Queer Cinema

A collage of six stills from films in the Pioneers of Queer Cinema series.
Start your Pride celebrations early with a month of the best of queer cinema!
May 04, 2023 – May 25, 2023

Throughout May, the touring series Pioneers of Queer Cinema presents some of the most engaging, provocative, and inspiring works from more than 70 years of LGBTQ+ filmmaking. Films portraying and documenting the LGBTQ+ community have historically been underrepresented and underseen in the mainstream media landscape—and overlooked by institutions charged with film preservation. In 2005, the UCLA Film & Television Archive joined with Outfest to create the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, dedicated to documenting, preserving, and exhibiting LGBTQ+ film and television and now home to more than 44,000 queer moving-image holdings. To share this work, Pioneers of Queer Cinema was conceived to introduce and reacquaint audiences with landmarks in LGBTQ+ produced and themed films. The Wex is excited to present this incredible lineup and welcome Todd Wiener, Motion Picture Curator at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, on May 4 for an overview of this vital ongoing project.

This series is made possible by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, IndieCollect, and Outfest with the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and The Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation.

Learn more

A black-and white film still of a line of men holding signs that read “Harvey Milk Supervisor” (left). A film still of two white people, wearing blonde wigs, being interviewed on the street (right).
35MM Print
past Film/Video

The Times of Harvey Milk (Rob Epstein, 1984)Preceded by Coming Out (Arthur J. Bressan Jr., 1972) and Always on Sunday (Gay Girls Riding Club, 1962)Introduced by Todd Wiener, Motion Picture Curator, UCLA Film & Television Archive

Thu, May 4, 2023
Collage of three stills from the films in this program.
35MM Print
past Film/Video

The Watermelon Woman (Cheryl Dunye, 1996)Followed by A Comedy in Six Unnatural Acts (Jan Oxenberg, 1975) and Choosing Children (Debra Chasnoff, 1984)

Thu, May 11, 2023
Film still featuring two white men kissing (left). A black-and-white fragmented photo in three pieces, featuring a man holding another man who is leaning backward (right).
past Film/Video

Blackstar: Autobiography of a Close Friend (Tom Joslin, 1977)Preceded by Fireworks (Kenneth Anger, 1947) and Oblivion (Tom Chomont, 1969)

Thu, May 18, 2023
Two black-and-white film stills. On the left, a man holds a woman over his knee to spank her. On the right, a man (Steve Buscemi) wearing a leather jacket peaks over his black sunglasses.
35MM Print
past Film/Video

Dottie Gets Spanked | Parting Glances (Todd Haynes, 1993)(Bill Sherwood, 1986)

Sat, May 20, 2023
Collage of three film stills from shorts in this program.
35MM Print
past Film/Video

Pioneers of Queer Cinema Shorts

Thu, May 25, 2023
Side-by-side still images from the films The Times of Harvey Milk, The Watermelon Woman, and Parting Glances
Read, Watch & Listen

Preview: Pioneers of Queer Cinema

Wed, May 03, 2023

SUPPORT FOR FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation