Spandex Sapiens

The skateboarding community worships Brian Anderson as a god, but for many years kept his sexuality a secret from nearly everyone in his life. Our guy Reda sat down with Brian and some of his closest friends to talk about being gay in the professional skateboarding industry and why he chose now to come out.

A day that could also be a life. A young man who could also be an older woman. A nightmare that could also be a dream. In Tunisia, while it could also be somewhere else: on the border between the necessity and the fear to make a film, the necessity and the fear for the revolution, is This day won’t last a cooperation with a distance. That is how this self portrait turns into a group portrait. Clandestine, but straight from the heart: an end that could also lead to a new beginning.

Vicky is fisherman by day and bar owner at night. When she was a little boy her dream was to be a radio soap opera star, nowadays she dreams of falling in love again. How is it possible that a small, barren place in the third world has managed to achieve this special form of freedom and tolerance?

Former child prodigy James Harries and his family may at first sight seem to be a houseful of geniuses, but although every single member has a Ph.D. in Metaphysics, we soon discover that some were purchased from a fake university in the USA, while the others were awarded to them by themselves. They regard themselves as morally, intellectually, and financially superior to the rest of society, even though the clan (housed in a mock mock-Tudor cottage in the middle of a Cardiff council estate) includes a convicted arsonist, an astral projectionist, a former Bunny Girl, a part-time private detective and a transgender daughter (James is now Lauren), all of whom seem to live their lives in a parallel universe.

In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay" movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.

Dance and prostitution play the same role for Cristhian’s body. Virtuosity, desire, technique, and sex intertwine, granting coherence to a way of life that offers many answers to few questions. A leitmotiv that reconciles opposites and contradictions. Answers that are sometimes painful, like all truths.

Between Red and Purple is a documentary showcasing stories of setbacks but also triumphs. As article 534 remains unquestioned, the LGBTQ+ community in Lebanon also faces a deniable society.

A box found in an abandoned storage unit unearths a time capsule of correspondences from a forgotten era: the underground drag scene in 1950s New York City. Firsthand accounts and newly discovered footage help cast a long overdue spotlight on the unsung pioneers of drag.

The memory and testimony of two characters: Fernando García, known as Pinolito, who was a child actor in the seventies and Doña Lilia Ortega, his mother, an actress. Fernando came out as a transvestite, some years ago, and now calls himself Coral Bonelli. They live together in Garibaldi yearning for their past in the movies, while Coral bravely comes to terms with her gender identity. They both still perform.

Portrait of the last year of the life of famous New York drag queen Consuela Cosmetic.

Majur is a native and gay spokesperson from the village of Pobore, on the countryside of Mato Grosso. His main activity is to be the main common link between the village people and the big town where they fight for their culture and claim for their rights.