“Problematic” Queer Films with Sav Rogers

Queers do Cinema is back! Gearing up for a whole new season in the new year, we stop to look back on the Queer films of 2024 and talk about the films we loved! ‍ PLUS: Does Queer subtext make a movie Queer, or is it just a celebration of the closet? 

No film genre is more preoccupied with our culture’s sexual anxieties than Horror, so of course there’s a fine line between Horror and Queer Horror. We are joined by Kay Lynch, founder of the Salem Horror Fest, to unpack the complex history (and promising future) of Queer Horror. Since even the earliest horror films are laden with “horrific” depictions of gender and sexuality and camp in a way that makes it sometimes feel like all horror is Queer horror. But contemporary filmmakers have ditched the coding and consistently make explicitly Queer horror films on all budgets. Plus: Is there a Queer horror film that earns a comparison to “Get Out”? Our hosts debate!

We dive deep into the problem of the “problematic,” joined by special guest Sav Rogers, whose 2023 documentary Chasing Chasing Amy dives deep into his relationship with Kevin Smith’s problematic 1997 “lesbian falls for a straight guy” rom-com. We dig into the problematic films we hate and the problematic films we love anyway. We talk about Chasing Amy, about the usefulness of outrage, and how to preserve our cinematic past without throwing out everything that offends.

Happy Juneteenth! To celebrate, we are joined by the inimitable Cheryl Dunye to talk about the canon of Queer Black cinema. What makes a movie Queer Black cinema, and who gets to tell Queer Black stories? How did New Black Cinema and New Queer Cinema historically converge to create a new movement, with The Watermelon Woman as an iconic debut from Cheryl? We talk about Cheryl’s television work (Lovecraft Country) and what’s it like to be telling Queer Black stories onscreen today. PLUS: Our hosts share some of their favorite Queer Black films we think you should watch!

June is here, and the world is covered in rainbows once again. Our hosts take some time to reflect on the institution that Pride has become in our culture, and explore our own ambivalence about Pride — the joy and the cynicism. What is the relationship between Pride and Queer film festivals in the cities we serve? What happens when Queer community organizations need to compete with each other for corporate dollars? What does it mean for our community to be so heavily marketed to? ALSO: We share what films embody the spirit of Pride for us, and make some recommendations for inspiring, feel-good, or fiery Pride pics to watch this month!

We take a moment to reflect on the passing of a great friend of Queer cinema, Michael Gamila, and to discuss the role that Queer film festivals play in our history and in our communities. We are joined by Steven Weisenreder from ImageOut and Shane Engstrom from Out Film CT to discuss the history of their film festivals and what it means to run a Queer film festival outside of a major city. We chat about how 80s activism led to a wave of creation of Queer film fests, in places from community meeting rooms to mob-run porno theaters, and we talk about the role that Queer film festivals can still play for a contemporary audience who are now generations removed from their founding.

We are joined by director Chase Joynt (Framing Agnes, No Ordinary Man) for a discussion of trends in Trans cinema. In recent years, the world has seen an outpouring of innovative, formally inventive, and emotionally compelling Trans films. While traditional Trans narratives still have a place, the films of the Trans New Wave are being made for and by Trans people, and look past explainers and transitions to explore in full the complexity of Trans lives on screen.

We kick off with a chat about what we saw at the Berlinale Panorama, the unofficial kickoff of the Queer film festival season.  Why is Berlin so important to Queer Cinema? And then we dive back into the discussion of Queer genres — and why are there so many the lesbian period drama? How do years of Queer cinema build us up to expect our gay characters to meet bad fates? PLUS: Is the “coming out film” the only genre that belongs to Queer cinema?

Everyone knows what film genres are: science fiction, horror, mystery, comedy. But what does it mean to make a genre Queer? Is it telling the story of a genre with Queer people included? Or does it involve changing how the story is told, and finding new surprises in old structures? Plus: How can filmmakers subvert homophobic genre tropes, like Queer/Trans villains and victims? Whose job is it to undo decades of harmful representation? 

WARNING: WHITE LOTUS SPOILERS! Blast from the past! Remember the early 2000s? While the world was reeling from 9/11 and the beginning of new wars, literal and cultural, a lot was going on in Queer film in this changed landscape. The digital video revolution helped make it cheaper to make Queer films (for better and for worse), and Hollywood was producing some good Queer work too -- though now some of it feels problematic in hindsight. But can we still approach and appreciate those films for what they were at the time? PLUS: were the 2000s the golden age for the lesbian comedy?