Beyond Moonlight: Black Queer Life in Film
11 films about Black queer people, culture, and history
In honor of Pride month, I am highlighting films that honor the complexity of Black queerness and transness across generations. I also wanted to celebrate independent films that many folks may not know about because they are often overshadowed by mainstream films like Moonlight, Rafiki, or Pariah (all great films, but there’s so much more!).
The films selected are some of my favorites and I encourage you to check them out throughout to learn more about Black queer and trans people, our culture and our history.
Shakedown (2018) - Documentary
Directed by Leilah Weinraub
Synopsis: Charting the eight-year run of Shakedown, a peripatetic black lesbian strip club in Los Angeles, director Leilah Weinraub attempts “to portray the before and after of a utopic moment.” Weinraub presents a world unto itself, shaped by the desires and pleasures of its community. Shot with the tenderness of a home movie, SHAKEDOWN captures the propulsive, dreamlike atmosphere of the club and achieves a stunning intimacy with its subjects.
Where to Watch: Criterion
The Aggressives (2005) - Documentary
Directed by Eric Daniel Paddle
Synopsis: Filmed over the course of five years, this bold, candid documentary follows the journeys of six masculine-presenting, genderqueer New Yorkers who defy labels in their quest to live authentically. Capturing both the struggles they face as queer people of color and the vibrant community—rooted in the Black and Latinx ball and club scenes—that sustains them, THE AGGRESSIVES gives voice to these myriad and complex expressions of masculinity.
Where to Watch: Criterion
Queenie (2020) - Short Documentary
Directed by Cai Thomas
Synopsis: Queenie is a seventy-three-years-young Black lesbian who has called the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn home since 1988, but she is ready to move to a building that better meets her mobility, safety, and social needs as an aging elder. She applies to Stonewall Residences, New York City’s first affordable housing for LGBT elders, hopeful that she’ll be able to live out her final days in a new place she can call home.
Where to Watch: Criterion
Kiki (2016) - Documentary
Directed by Sara Jordenö
Synopsis: 25 years after Paris Is Burning introduced the art of voguing to the world, Kiki revisits New York City’s thriving underground ballroom scene. It’s a larger-than-life world in which LGBTQ youths of color are empowered by staging elaborate dance competitions that showcase their dynamic choreography, fabulous costumes, and fierce attitude. It’s also a safe haven for struggling, at-risk teens who find acceptance, support, and friendship within the Kiki community. Granted intimate access to the scene, filmmaker Sara Jordenö introduces viewers to some of Kiki culture’s most prominent personalities, going beyond the glamour of the balls to highlight the serious challenges facing queer black and Latino young people. Bringing together heartrending personal stories with incredible displays of creative expression, Kiki is “exhilarating…an indelible, must-see ode to gay New York” (Manohla Dargis, The New York Times).
Where to Watch: Buy on Rent on Youtube
Out of the Shadows - Short Documentary
Director Unknown? (If anyone knows the director, comment below!)
Synopsis: This short documentary portrait of black gay men and black transgender women in Philadelphia is narrated by poet Essex Hemphill.
Where to Watch: Youtube
LEGENDARY: 30 Years of Philly Ballroom - Short Documentary
Directed by Raishad M. Hardnett, Cassie Owens, Lauren Schneiderman
Synopsis: An inside look into the effort to preserve Philadelphia’s ballroom scene, a Black LGBTQ safe-space that has endured for 30 years. A film produced by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Where to Watch: Youtube
Baby (2019) - Short Narrative
Directed by Jessie Lavandov
Synopsis: Baby is a queer coming-of-age love story that introduces us to the world of Ali, a Domincan-American teenager from the Bronx, on a Saturday afternoon.
Where to Watch: Youtube
Pronouns (2016) - Short Narrative
Directed by Michael Paulucci
Synopsis: A Chicago teenager decides to reveal their true identity during a spoken word performance to be interrupted by an uninvited guest. A heartfelt look at the intersectionality between youth, spoken word, and family.
Where to Watch: Short of the Week/Vimeo
Behind Every Good Man (1967) - Short Narrative
Directed by Nikolai Ursin
Synopsis: Produced several years before the historic Stonewall uprising for LGBTQ rights in 1969, director Nikolai Ursin's gently-activist short Behind Every Good Man (c. 1967) provides an illuminating glimpse into the life of an African-American trans woman. In strong contrast to the stereotypically negative and hostile depictions of transgender persons as seen through the lens of Hollywood at the time, the subject of Ursin's independent film is rendered as stable, hopeful and well-adjusted. The resulting intimate portrait serves as a rare cultural artifact of transgender life and African-American life in the U.S. at the mid-century.
Where to Watch: Youtube
Happy Birthday, Marsha! (2017) - Short Narrative
Directed by Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel
Synopsis: Happy Birthday, Marsha! is a film about iconic transgender artist and activist, Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson, and her life in the hours before she ignited the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime Video
MAJOR! (2019) - Documentary
Directed by Annalise Ophelian
Synopsis: MAJOR! explores the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a formerly incarcerated Black transgender elder and activist who has been fighting for the rights of trans women of color for over 40 years.
Miss Major is a veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion and a survivor of Attica State Prison, a former sex worker, an elder, and a community leader and human rights activist. She is simply “Mama” to many in her community. Her personal story and activism for transgender civil rights intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960s to today. At the center of her activism is her fierce advocacy for her girls, trans women of color who have survived police brutality and incarceration in men’s jails and prisons.
Where to Watch: Vimeo on Demand
Thanks so much for sharing this dope ass list of films. I've seen some of them but I'm excited to check out the others. For me, it's important to note that many of folks behind the scenes are NOT Black people shooting, directing, and producing Black trans and queer subjects. Of course, there are many reasons for that but I find it important to uplift that reality. Thanks again.
Excited to watch many of these films! Greatly appreciate this list. Thank you. I am diving more into queer film as a means to connect while feeling more disconnected than usual. Mainstream films, while great, seem to lack a depth of rawness that I desire. Looking forward to the day when films created by black queer folx about black queer folx are readily accessible.