Rock Hudson and George Michael Spotlights spearhead a wave of LGBTQ-themed documentaries this summer
This summer, a queer-themed documentary series will hit streaming services and theaters, exploring everything from the lives of celebrities (Rock Hudson, George Michael) to a look at people born intersex.
THE WALK
June 21st
Directed by Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker, the HBO film The walk tells the story of New York’s Meatpacking District from the perspective of the transgender prostitutes who lived and worked there.
THE REAL GEORGE MICHAEL: PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST
June 25th
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The late pop star, who came out as gay in 1998, is the subject of a doc (available on multiple VOD services including Tubes) which explores his career and personal ups and downs. The film includes interviews with his music manager Simon Napier-Bell, his lover and longtime partner Kenny Goss and other luminaries Stevie Wonder, Rufus Wainwright and Stephen Fry.
ELDORADO: EVERYTHING THE NAZIS HATE
June 28
Directed by Benjamin Cantu, the Netflix doc Eldorado: everything the Nazis hate, see a 1920s nightclub, Berlin’s Eldorado, which flourished during the Weimar Republic before Nazism suppressed it and its freedoms. “A hundred years ago, many LGBT people in Germany experienced their sexual and emotional freedom for the first time, followed shortly after by the most extreme form of their oppression. This film attempts to bring back memories of these great movements,” says executive producer Felix Kriegsheim.
Netflix
ROCK HUDSON: ALL HEAVEN ALLOWS
June 28
The HBO film delves into the double life of the iconic star and symbol of heterosexual masculinity, who died of AIDS in 1985 at the age of 59. writes DAY‘s David Rooney in his review of the film.
EVERYONE
June 30th
Directed by Academy Award-nominated director Julie Cohen (RGB), the film Focus Features Everyone explores the lives of those born intersex and spotlights the voices calling for an end to unnecessary surgery. According to the filmmakers, “The film tells the stories of three people who have come from childhoods filled with shame, secrecy and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adults after each decides to put the advice aside. doctors to keep their bodies a secret and instead came out as authentic selves.
KOKOMO CITY
July 28th
D. Smith’s documentary, released by Magnolia Pictures, chronicles the lives of four black transsexual prostitutes in New York and Atlanta, one of whom – Koko Da Doll – was shot and killed in April after filming was completed. In his review of Kokomo city last February, DAY called the film a courageous documentary with “hard-hitting delivery styles, scintillating personalities and kaleidoscopic perspectives”.
A version of this story first appeared in the June 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to register now.