Category: Documentary

A legendary entertainer and pioneer gets her due in the documentary ‘Miwa: A Japanese Icon’

Male actor Akihiro Miwa came to prominence in Japan back in 1968 while playing the glamorous heroine of the film Black Lizard.

A legendary entertainer and a pioneer of gay activism, Miwa popularized androgyny as a fashion statement, fusing the masculine and the feminine into a new generation of aesthetics. This evolved into performing as a woman and living off-stage as a man.

With glitter, wit, evening gowns and enchanting storytelling, Miwa: A Japanese Icon, the celebrated new documentary from director Pascal-Alex Vincent, looks back over a 50-year career and a fascinating life in Japanese music, film and television.

Having sold millions of records, Miwa continues to fight for gay rights, among other issues. Miwa: A Japanese Icon reveals the life story of this wonderful performer and unapologetic social critic.

Watch the trailer for Miwa: A Japanese Icon below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Seed Money’ looks into the life of legendary gay porn producer and philanthropist Chuck Holmes

As the head of Falcon Studios, Chuck Holmes became one of the most influential gay figures of the 20th century, his work viewed by millions of men at a time when most cinematic representations of gay life were either blatantly homophobic or strictly relegated the art house.

Starting in the early 1970s, Chuck revolutionized the newly legal gay porn industry, assertive in his belief gay men deserved positive representations – and that quality gay films would help them change their sense of self.

He fought legal battles and personal demons, surfacing in the late ’80s as a major contributor to the growing gay rights movement — only to find that the community he helped create now thought of him as a liability.

Through extensive use of film footage, archival material and interviews with Chuck’s friends, lovers, activists and fellow adult filmmakers, the groundbreaking feature-length documentary Seed Money follows the sensational story of Chuck’s incredible rise, his cultural and philanthropic contributions to gay culture and his struggle to achieve respect – even in death.

Watch the trailer for Seed Money below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

A filmmaker shares the final years of his elderly gay uncle in the moving documentary ‘Much Ado About Dying’

When filmmaker Simon Chambers receives a call from his elderly gay uncle – who states, gravely, that he thinks he may be dying – he takes it as a summons.

As it turns out, eccentric Uncle David, a retired, Shakespeare-obsessed actor living alone in a cluttered, mouse-infested house in London, is being dramatic… sort of.

For the next five years, Chambers both cares for and documents him, through all of his performative exuberance, anarchic charisma and mood swings, as various people, including a sexy young hustler, possibly try to take advantage of the precarious situation.

As their lives become encumbered by hospital visits, a house fire and Britain’s inadequate eldercare system, the young filmmaker – also single and queer – reflects with aching honesty on what may await him in the years to come.

A must-see documentary by turns both joyously funny and achingly sad, Much Ado About Dying is a thought-provoking study of what it means to live – and die – with dignity.

Watch the trailer for Much Ado About Dying below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything’ takes viewers on an intimate trip through Southern Decadence

The action-packed documentary To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything follows the lives of drag queen extraordinaires Laveau Contraire and Franky Canga as they prepare for Southern Decadence, a weekend of queer celebration in New Orleans.

During this behind-the-scenes journey, we meet a rich community of Southern artists who proudly challenge social norms and the boundaries of self-expression.

Showcasing the diversity of New Orleans while teaching a poignant lesson about knowing your worth, this new film from director Stuart Sox provides a personal perspective from the performers as well as the producers, as Laveau strives to create more opportunities for BIPOC performance artists.

From drag queens to burlesque performers and everything in between, To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything is a lively portrait of a nearly 50-year tradition and the diversity community that pulls it together year after year.

Watch the trailer for To Decadence with Love, Thanks for Everything below. The documentary is now streaming on Dekkoo.

‘Room for a Man’ is a deeply personal, remarkably assured doc about identity and sexuality

One of the first things that writer, director and documentary subject Anthony Chidiac confesses in his deeply personal film Room for a Man, is that he is paralyzed by fear. He finds the very concept of life in the outside world overwhelming.

Chidiac lives with his mother, a French teacher, in Beirut, and rarely leaves the house. His home is a refuge, but in some respects it’s also a prison. To Anthony, the outside world feels like a hostile environment. That’s partly because of his sexuality – something that his own family refuses to accept. His mom wanted him to become a notary, so that he would earn a lot of money and become ‘a real man.’ But that’s not how he sees himself.

When his bedroom undergoes a renovation, much to his mother’s dismay, Syrian construction workers arrive to do the remodeling. As they peel away at the walls, Anthony engages them in an exploration of his own identity and sexuality within the confines of the apartment.

As the construction workers come and go in the freshly embattled household, unexpected passions get stirred. Through the process of renovation – and the making of this film – Anthony finally begins to blossom and embrace his own identity.

Though he may suffer from insecurities, his filmmaking is remarkably self-assured. Room for a Man is a courageous, stylish and ultimately life-affirming cinematic experiment.

Watch a short trailer for Room for a Man below. The film is now streaming on Dekkoo.