Hopscotch/Roadshow DVD (82mins)
It was not until 1973 that the American Psychiatry Association declared that homosexuality was not a psychiatric disorder, and this opened the doors for filmmakers to get these previously forbidden stories onto film. Before this time, there could be a police raid on a cinema that was screening films with queer content, and the audience would be arrested!
This documentary tracks the history of queer cinema from the 1940’s to today. Queer directors talk about their struggles and frustrations as well as their successes and the audience gets to relive footage from some of the groundbreaking films such as Mysterious Skin, Go Fish and Elephant. Actors talk about how frustrating it was not to be able to put a name to who they were, and the triumphs of coming out and being part of the movement to claim public space for all queer people.
The eventual inclusion of queer content into mainstream cinema has certainly not been without a considerable amount of struggle, and Fabulous pays tribute to the pioneers. It also lets us celebrate some of those more recent additions that have been embraced by all filmgoers such as Boys Don’t Cry, Paris is Burning, But I’m a Cheerleader, Monster and Brokeback Mountain. Films do make a difference – they get under our skin and reflect our world back to us. It is good to see something that documents the history of queer cinema over the last 60 years.
