Category: Documentary

‘This is Ballroom’ takes a backstage look at the Brazilian drag and queer performance scene

Conceived in New York during the 1960s, when two Black queens left the white-dominated pageant contests behind to create their own scene, ballroom culture has long been a space of freedom, expression, and transgression.

Some fifty years later, the ballroom scene in Brazil is thriving, with houses across the country teaching the art of shade.

Directed by queer Brazilian artists Juru and Vitã, This Is Ballroom stages a real-life ball in a city warehouse. Riotously soundtracked, the film only pauses for breath to illuminate the lives of its trans-led cast. Away from the glitz of the dance floor, these interviews reveal simmering racial and gender tensions.

Capturing the spirit of a new, emerging generation, This Is Ballroom celebrates this energetic subculture as a bounteous and transformative space for queer people of color.

Watch the trailer for This is Ballroom below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Studio One Forever’ takes a deep dive into a unique time and place in queer history

From 1974 to 1993, Studio One and its adjoining live music venue, The Backlot, became symbols of hope and community for gay men during tumultuous times.

Amidst the rise of gay rights, disco’s heyday and the devastating AIDS crisis, the club offered sanctuary from rampant homophobia and police oppression. Studio One was where legends like Chita Rivera and Eartha Kitt performed, and rising stars like Roseanne Barr and Rosie O’Donnell ignited their careers.

Through personal accounts, the new documentary Studio One Forever delves into the nightclub’s history, examining how the backdrop of a progressing gay liberation clashed with 1980s conservatism and the escalating AIDS nightmare.

A testament to an important era, this unique and insightful new doc from director Marc Saltarelli immortalizes the club’s legacy for future generations.

Watch the trailer for Studio One Forever below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

Alan Cumming, Rupert Everett and Adam Lambert examine the life and legacy of Noël Coward

Playwright, composer, leading man, Oscar nominee, Tony winner, Time Magazine cover-star. The dazzlingly talented Noël Coward did it all – even spying for the crown during World War II.

As revealed by the lively new documentary Mad About the Boy, Coward was a master of self-invention. Raised in a working-class boarding house with no formal education, he transformed himself into the ultimate upper-crust British sophisticate, dishing out relentless charm and wit that winked, always proudly, toward his barely-veiled homosexuality.

Narrated by Alan Cumming, with Rupert Everett serving as Coward’s voice, and featuring songs by Adam Lambert, Mad About the Boy reclaims Coward for queer history. Previously unseen home movies show Coward cavorting with handsome male lovers among the queer elite of the time, while staying closeted publicly.

Dive into this affectionate look at one of the past century’s most fascinating artists. Mad About the Boy is now available on Dekkoo. Watch the trailer below.

‘Avant-Drag!’ gets intimate with a tight-knit group of Athens-based drag performers

With police brutality and homophobic violence against LGBTQ+ individuals in Greece on the rise, the new documentary Avant-Drag! offers an exhilarating look at ten Athenian drag performers who deconstruct gender, nationalism, belonging, and identity while facing transphobia and racism.

As entertaining as it is thought-provoking, this new film from Greek director Fil Ieropoulos challenges societal norms and reshapes perceptions about LGBTQ+ culture by capturing the intimate lives of a tightly-knit group of drag performers, proving that being ‘othered’ has never felt so familiar.

The film captures the vibrancy of Athens’ underground drag scene and its role in pushing boundaries and expressing dissident identities. It goes beyond the mainstream representations of drag, focusing on more radical, explicitly political, and raw performances.

Juxtaposing magical realism, political commentary, and outrageous performances, Avant-Drag! is a love letter to Athens – a city that can be as oppressive as it can be a refuge for art freaks and a hot-bed for creativity.

Watch the trailer for Avant-Drag! below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A new documentary examines the life and legacy of photographer George Platt Lynes

George Platt Lynes began his career photographing celebrities – and it’s those portraits, along with his extravagant fashion work, that he’s best remembered for today.

George’s heart, his passion and his greatest talent lay elsewhere, however – in his work with the nude male form. This work, sensuous and radically explicit for its time, has only recently been discovered for the revolution that it represents – a man capturing his fantasies as a gift, as well as a window into a future that Lynes’ camera saw coming before anyone else did.

From visionary art director Sam Shahid, the riveting and informative documentary Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes features a stunning collection of photography from the 1930s through the 1950s, uncovering the lesser known side of the artist’s life – including his gifted eye for the male form, his long-term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.

Watch the trailer for Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes below. The documentary is now available on Dekkoo.