Weeks of Dec 22 & 29
Trailblazing German director Rosa von Praunheim (1942-2025) died this week, leaving a massive body of work and an impressive legacy as a director and activist. Of his over 150 works, he will likely remain best-known for It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives, which shocked German audiences when it aired on TV in 1973 with both its candid depiction of gay life and sharp critique of the bourgeois and heteronormative parts of gay culture.
He won a Teddy Award this year, documented 70s gay liberation (Army of Lovers), the AIDS crisis (Silence = Death), and early trans rights movements in the 90s (Transsexual Menace), but also directed camp comedies and epics like Jeff Stryker-starring Can I Be Your Bratwurst, Please? and City of Lost Souls.
Unfortunately, almost none of his work is available in the US -- you might be able to find some unauthorized streams if you look hard -- but hopefully we can look forward to a full tribute to Praunheim in the new year.
Just Added
Castration Movie Anthology i. Traps & ii. The Best of Both Worlds
Jan 10 & 11, 5:30 PM @ Brain Dead Studios
Director/star Louise Weard & co-star Vera Drew in person
Louise Weard's Hi-8 trans epic continues, with another five hour chapter that brings us to a trans-separatist cult in New York City. Join Weard with co-star Vera Drew for this special two-night event to celebrate the LA premiere of part two -- and you should catch up now, since part three is coming in 2026!
Tickets from Brain Dead Studios
Knife+Heart
Fri, Jan 9, 9:00 pm @ Brain Dead Studios
Paris, Summer 1979. Anne produces third-rate gay porn. After her editor and lover Lois leaves her, she tries to win her back by shooting her most ambitious film yet with her trusted, flaming sidekick Archibald. But one of her actors is brutally murdered and Anne gets caught up in a strange investigation that turns her life upside-down.
Tickets from Brain Dead Studios
Happy Together
Tue, Jan 27, 7:30 pm @ Vidiots Eagle Theater
Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, the brokenhearted romance at the center of this groundbreaking film, about a gay couple from Hong Kong trying to start over in Argentina, will leave you in tears over and over again.
Udo Kier Remembered
Most readers here may recognize out German actor Udo Kier, who died at 81 last month, from his scene-stealing role in My Own Private Idaho as a German businessman who picks up the two main characters and treats them to a one-man lamp-lit cabaret act.
Kier had many memorable roles over his career, which started as leading man for many of Paul Morrissey's exploitation movies of the 70s, and was a frequent collaborator of Dogme 95 auteur Lars Von Trier. To celebrate Kier's many contributions to the cinema, American Cinematheque is screening a tribute series to his work:
Udo Kier Remembered at American Cinematheque
More Chantal Ackerman
American Cinematheque also continues their tribute to Belgian auteur Chantal Ackerman, with January screenings of Les Rendez-vous d'Anna and Portrait d’une jeune fille de la fin des années 60 à Bruxelles.
Chantal Akerman: An American Cinematheque Retrospective
Femme Filth Film Festival
Femme Filth Fest (FFF) returns for year three! LA's festival dedicated to screening (in their own words) "gross, taboo, transgressive, and egregious films made by women and queer/trans people" features centerpiece films Fucktoys and Sugar Rot, plus two radical short film blocks!
Dance Camera West
A home for celebrating dance film for 24 years, Dance Camera West's January festival this year includes a tribute to director/choreographer David Roussève.
David Roussève Retrospective
Jan 22, 7:30 PM @ Theatre Raymond Kabbaz
Four films directed by David Roussève will be screened including Bittersweet, Chili Pepper, Two Seconds After Laughter, and Pull Your Head to the Moon.
Tickets from Dance Camera West
This Week
Tangerine
Dec 22, 10:00 pm & Dec 24, 4:00 pm @ Los Feliz 3
A new queer Christmas classic, Tangerine follows trans workers Sin-Dee and Alexandra on a holiday odyssey across Los Angeles. Shot on a micro budget on three iPhones, Tangerine is a triumph of scrappy indie can-do--that led to Gotham and Spirit awards for co-star Mya Taylor.
Tickets from American Cinematheque
Carol
Tue, Dec 23, 7:30 pm @ Vidiots Eagle Theater
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Tokyo Godfathers
Wed, Dec 24, 7:00 pM @ Los Feliz 3
On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.
Tickets from American Cinematheque
Milk
Sun, Dec 28, 8:00 pm @ Brain Dead Studios
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
Tickets from Brain Dead Studios
Paris is Burning
Fri, Jan 2, 7:00 pm @ Vidiots Eagle Theater
This iconic documentary, filmed over seven years at the beginning of the AIDS crisis in New York City's ballroom scene, captures the end of a "Golden Age" drag scene--and introduced a whole lot of Queer vocabulary to mainstream audiences.
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
Jan 4, 9 & 10, various times @ Vidiots Eagle Theater
As an unknown and deadly disease begins to spread, legend has it that it is transmitted between two men, through a simple glance, when they fall in love. While people are accusing her family, Lidia must find out whether this myth is real or not.
