“A celebration and clarion call to the community through a program of seven films.”
Wicked Queer: Boston’s LGBTQ+ Film Festival has been in existence since 1984, making it the fourth longest-running LGBTQ+ film fest in the country. That’s quite a feat, and the all-volunteer crew behind the Queer Film Institute that runs the event is still at it, “build[ing] community and to celebrate Queer storytelling and filmmaking through the uplifting of voices and stories not yet heard and to present and preserve the vibrancy of our histories.”
With their 39th full festival set to take place next March and April, before this year is over they’ll be hosting a Wicked Queer: Docs mini fest from Nov. 18 to 21 at the MFA and Brattle Theatre. The lineup is spectacular and we have included it below.
“In a time where authentic representation is demanded and well needed, Wicked Queer: Docs will be a celebration and clarion call to the community through a program of seven films,” organizers said.
All Man: The International Male Story (USA)
dir. Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed
Sunday, November 20, 8:00 PM at Brattle Theatre
A nostalgic and colorful peek behind the pages and personalities of International Male, one of the most ubiquitous and sought-after mail-order catalogs of the ’80s and ’90s.
Casa Susana (France/USA)
dir. Sébastien Lifshitz
Sunday, November 20, 2:00 PM at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
In the ’50s and ’60s, deep in the American countryside at the foot of the Catskills, a small wooden house with a barn behind it was home to the first clandestine network of cross-dressers.
Esther Newton Made Me Gay (USA)
dir. Jean Carlomusto
Friday, November 18, 8:00 PM at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A feature documentary about a pathbreaking cultural anthropologist, dog agility enthusiast, and iconic butch lesbian. Now entering her seventh decade writing about queer communities, Esther Newton’s life’s work has influenced generations of activists and scholars.
The Radical (South Africa)
dir. Richard Finn Gregory
Monday, November 21, 8:00 PM at Brattle Theatre
Muhsin Hendricks is the world’s first openly gay imam. Despite opposition, he established a radically inclusive mosque in Cape Town. Now, he fights for LGBTQ Muslims to be embraced in the countries where their existence is outlawed.
A Run for More (USA)
dir. Ray Whitehouse
Saturday, November 19, 8:00 PM at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Frankie Gonzales-Wolfe goes on a personal journey and questions her relationship to her community as she runs for city council in San Antonio, Texas, and attempts to become the first openly elected transgender official in Texas.
Nellie & Nadine (Sweden/Belgium/Norway)
dir. Magnus Gertten
Sunday, November 20, 5:00 PM at Brattle Theatre
Nelly and Nadine is the unlikely love story between two women falling in love on Christmas Eve, 1944, in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. For many years their relationship was kept a secret.
Uýra: The Rising Forest (Brazil/USA)
dir. Juliana Curi
Saturday, November 19, 5:00 PM at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Uýra, a trans-indigenous artist travels through the Amazon forest on a journey of self-discovery using performance art and ancestral messages to teach indigenous youth and confront structural racism and transphobia in Brazil.
Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.
