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The banality of evil is one of the subjects of this Channel 4 documentary on the gruesome 1993 gay-bashing murder of Nicholas West in conservative Tyler, Texas. The story unfolds in graphic detail, through forensic photographs, visits to the crime scene, courtroom and police interrogation transcripts, death-row interviews with the killers, and conversations with West’s friends in the gay community.

Director Paul Yule turns an unflinching outsider’s eye on some absurdly grotesque features of Bible Belt culture, noting the ways it fosters a climate of anti-gay violence. Yule depicts with equal clarity, however, the sense of common decency and respect for the law that compelled public servants in this profoundly conservative city to seek justice on behalf of the victim of a heinous hate crime.

A tale of gays, guns and God, Lone Star Hate reveals the increase of violent acts of bigotry in Texas, a state where Christianity is turning ever more militant, and gun ownership is defended with religious zeal.

Rampant Baptist fundamentalism acts as a backdrop to this shocking tale from small town, Tyler. In 1993, Nicholas West, a young gay man, was abducted, tortured and brutally murdered by a gang of bible-beating gun-slingers. The three sensational trials which followed prompted Tyler’s community to reflect on its views on faith and humanity. Award-winning director, Paul Yule, interviews West’s killers, their families, lawyers and the ordinary folk of Tyler as he follows the trials to their extraordinary finale.

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Phillip and Dieter nearly suffocate hiding their sexual identity in the face of puritanical small town values. Joined by a mysterious German relative, the three misfits escape to the big city searching for a place to belong.

Three young men head to the big city for adventure and end up exploited and alone on the unforgiving urban streets in this cautionary drama. Initially set in New Ulm, Minnesota, it follows the exploits of two sixteen-year-old boys, the good looking Dieter and the mischievous Phillip. Both boys are find life in the small, largely Teutonic and conservative burg oppressive and unbearably dull. Some excitement comes in the form of Udo, the German nephew of Dieter’s aunt. Phillip abruptly leaves townafter Dieter spurns his tentative sexual advances. Dieter stays behind and endures taunts and gossip about his being gay. When his aunt dies, Udo takes the money he inherited and buys a sports car. He and Dieter then follow Phillip to the city

Queens of Heart: Community Therapists in Drag – (USA, 2006)

QUEENS OF HEART este un film documentar care priveşte în detaliu psihologia travestiului, examinând cunoştinţele necesare pentru ca un bărbat să se transforme în femeie pe scenă şi interacţiunea dintre artist şi public. Documentarul a fost filmat într-un club gay legendar din oraşul american Portland, OR.

QUEENS OF HEART brings to the screen the first psychological study of drag performance, set in the oldest surviving female impersonation club in the United States. Portland’s Darcelle XV Showplace has become a rite of passage for young women throughout the Pacific Northwest celebrating their ‘last night out’ before getting married. Seventy-five year old Darcelle XV, co-proprietor, performer, and activist, comforts and confronts her audiences, from the brides gone wild and their nervous male companions, to gays and lesbians celebrating a step in coming out, to older women recovering from an illness or divorce. (Soundtrack music: Pink Martini)

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The man with the irony mask – (Australia, 1998)

This documentary portrays the life and death of performance artist and AIDS activist, Brenton Heath-Kerr. Through his repertoire of performances, costumes and photographs, Heath-Kerr challenged perceptions, dominant stereotypes and myths which he thought underpinned the gay communities and notions of gay identity. An emigre of drag and a gender misfit, Heath-Kerr understood that often holding a mask up to society had more political impact than holding up a mirror.

A Scarlett Pictures Film. Writer/Dir/Co-Producer. Paul Andrew. Prod. Kath Shelper.

‘The nature of the disease means your life is shortened and this concentrates your creativity and passion and the urge to express yourself honestly. I’ve realised I wouldn’t have created any of my work if my path had been different.’

It was Heath-Kerr’s HIV positive status that led him to re-evaluate his life, stop working in ‘straight’ jobs and explore his creativity. He began by making ‘little, fun, sort-of-light-up things – spinning gadgets’ to accessorise outfits but it was his insecurity with his physique that initially led him into making entire costumes, ones that enclosed the body completely. He began to explore how people are ‘read’ through image, commenting on how much importance society places on this reading yet how superficial and unreliable it can be.

‘My reason for covering the whole body, face, hands and usually I only leave the eyes.. is that I want to express the human being as actually any image. It’s just a shell and principally we’re all the same underneath. Differences are surface. They are what we do, not who we are.’

Heath-Kerr’s costumes involve complete characters although the actual personalities are developed only with the wearing of the piece, a strange experience in itself. ‘I make everything pretty fitting and, with the nature of mask, you experience a whole sense of suffocation but then beyond that something happens. it’s a sort of spiritual experience. Your range of vision is very narrow, which is the same for most costumes. That adds to the sense of delirium.’

He also used photography to explore other aspects of his characters’ personalities, often revealing a more private self through placing them in unexpected situations, such as the macho Tom in a face pack scrubbing the kitchen floor.

For Heath-Kerr, the impetus to make a costume began with a major event such as the Mardi Gras or an exhibition opening and the character revolved around the image he wished to project there. ‘I’ve tried as much as possible to give them a longer lifespan than just one event. Of course, when I first started they were things I only wore for the party then trashed.’

Heath-Kerr believed his lack of formal art training enabled his particular form of art to develop because he did not have the restriction of thinking about what should or should not be done.

Brenton Heath-Kerr died of an AIDS-related illness in 1995. He was 33.

The only gay on the estate? – (UK, 2011)

‘Brilliantly Moving’ The Guardian

First-time director Michael Ogden makes a personal journey back to his roots in Manchester, exploring his past as a closeted gay teenager and meeting up with his childhood best friend, David, a boy he bullied for being gay.

Michael lived in a neighbourhood where being gay was far from accepted. To hide who he really was, he led a double life; to the outside world he was a straight, teenage boy playing football with the lads and going out with local girls while secretly lusting over Ryan Giggs posters.

Fearing his secret would be exposed, he also decided that his best friend at the time, a camp lad called David, had to go. Sixteen years later Michael has decided to retrace his past. He wants to know what happened to David after he attacked him in the school playground all those years ago.

This First Cut film provides an intimate look into Michael’s journey as he quickly discovers that he not only needs to confront his past, but also his present. Michael still hasn’t told his parents that he’s gay or that his flatmate is actually his boyfriend of five years. For Michael, this film becomes an opportunity to clear the air once and for all, confronting those closest to him with who he really is, including an emotional encounter with the boy he bullied all those years ago. First Cut is the critically acclaimed, eclectic documentary strand that showcases distinctive new films by up-and-coming directors.

Produced, directed and shot by: Michael Ogden
Edited by: Marc Davies
Exec Producer: Helen Littleboy
Copyright Channel 4 Television.

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Un documentar de scurt metraj despre Carine, Holly, Dominique şi Vanessa, patru artişti de travesti care prezintă un spectacol  într-un club gay din Gainesville, Florida. Film realizat la University of Florida.

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A personal and revealing experience with the Gay Pride Parade in Pittsburgh during the summer of 2012.

For most of my life I have identified as a lesbian. As I got older acceptance became easier to find. For my documentary, we were all asked what was important to us. What story did we want to tell? What in society mattered to us? For me, the decision was simple. I set out to tell my story of self-acceptance while also showcasing the LGTBQ lifestyle in Pittsburgh. Specifically the annual Pride festival held each June. In my adventures this summer I met so many interesting people who were willing to share their individual stories and what it truly means to have pride. On this journey I learned so much about myself and what it means to be gay today. „Over the Rainbow” takes you on an amazing ride to Pittsburgh Pride 2012 and so much more.

Jackpot: Un film de scurt metraj de Adam Baran Este anul 1994. Internetul este încă la începuturile sale. Jack Hoffman, un adolescent de 14 ani porneşte într-o aventură personală pentru a găsi şi păstra pentru sine o colecţie întreagă de reviste gay porno, aruncare de cineva într-un tomberon de gunoi…undeva la marginea oraşului.

Winner – Best Short Film – 2013 Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2013 Reykjavik International Film Festival – Golden Egg Competition
2012 Iris Prize Festival
2013 Frameline: San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival
2012 Outfest: The Los Angeles LGBT Film Festival
2013 Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
2012 NewFest: The NY LGBT Film Festival
2012 Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2013 Puerto Rico Queer Film Fest
2013 Toronto Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2013 Philadelphia QFest
2012 Kahshish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival
2013 Outflix Film Festival (Memphis)
2013 Amsterdam Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2012 Skieve Filmer (Oslo)
2013 Dayton LGBT Film Festival
2013 Fresno Reel Pride
2013 image+nation Montreal
2013 Tampa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2013 Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival

Charles – (Holland, 2002)

Un film documentar despre cântăreţul şi artistul de travesti gay Charles Lücker AKA Vera Springveer (1965-2008)

A musical portrait from Amsterdam, full of jazz and rock-‘n-roll, gays and straights, champagne and meditation. On dark desires and stiletto heels in the mud. On wild nightlife and inner peace.

Documentary by Eddi Bal about singer/drag queen Charles Lücker AKA Vera Springveer (1965-2008)
(Dutch with English subtitles)

Gay & Night September-October 1999 p. 27
column lust for life

It’s all happening in Vera’s Lounge!

Celebrities like Bette Midler and Marry Manilow preceded her with renowned performances in the steamy Continental Bathhouse in the Big Apple. This autumn sees our very own diva Vera Springveer with a new show in Amsterdam’s famous Thermos sauna following last year’s huge success, Vera will be once again receiving famous and sweet-voiced female guests in Vera’s lounge.

What could be a better than winding up a wild, hot weekend with a trip to the sauna, to indulge yourself a little and go on the razzle before reality sinks its sharp teeth into you on Monday morning. You and all those horny hunks eager to snatch a little last bit of fun before the weekend draws to a close. It is in this cruisy setting, can you imagine that we find Vera Springveer performing with her combo, the Dean Martinis, as they entertain the crowd with jazzy and easy tune covers. For one hour on every 3rd Sunday of the month. And each time with a different celebrity guest. The tunes range from classics like „Fever” and the subtle and melancholy „Always something there to remind me” to pick-me-up numbers like „Feeling Good”. Amusement it certainly is, but entertainment too, with a serious undertone. For between the numbers and quips there’s always that gentle Vera reminder to play it safe.The numbers are well chosen to suit the mood, and they seem to go down well with a crowd slowly recovering from a weekend of drinks, drugs and sex.

Vera’s guests and fellow songstresses are all performers she knows well from various shows and acts she has toured with all over the country. And when asked to put in a guest appearance at the sauna, most jump at the chance. Vera: „Well, just imagine it. All those half-naked them with just a towel around the waist. And every now and again a veritable barge pole sauntering past. The girls just can’t believe their eyes.” The show’s formula has changed slightly from last season. The four shows each have a separate theme. October’s is Jealousy and Adultery, and of course there will be a repertoire of appropriate songs, including „He’s making love to you, but he’s thinking of me”. In November, the theme is Drops Outs and the year’s fourth and final theme will be The Day After. Vera: „For that last show I’ve picked a song by Stockard Chenning ‘There are worse things I could do’. Seems just the right choice to get a bit of a message across. You know, it doesn’t matter how much of a slut someone might seem, just as long as they’re safe.”

„In each show I sing a few songs, my guest sings one and we end with a duet. I chat away with the audience, to my guest and basically talk my way from one song to the next. All light fun entertainment for a relaxed Sunday afternoon in the sauna.”

Arjen Broekhuizen