Jenkins will also appear in person on January 5th for a conversation, scheduled between screenings of Moonlight and his 2008 feature debut, Medicine For Melancholy.
It’s been such a success and brought Jenkins so much “ones to watch” attention, that NYC’s Film Society of Lincoln Center has scheduled a 6-day series of films that inspired Jenkins titled Illuminating Moonlight ( from January 4-9. Struggling with his drug addicted mother and attraction to a friend who will come to betray him, it’s an achingly emotional, gorgeously shot, superbly acted, and most of all restrained and intimate artwork. Nominated for five Golden Globes and adapted from Tarell McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, Barry Jenkins’ acclaimed drama comprises three episodes in the life of Chiron, a young gay black Floridian: childhood, adolescence, and mid-20s.
To get a jump on the latter, we’ve included a handful of movies to watch for next year as well!
Some films, of course, are still making the rounds while some have wider 2017 debuts scheduled (or are yet to be announced).
Here are 12 of 2016’s must-see LGBTQ films, which have screened at festivals, played at movie theaters, and/or appeared on digital streaming and on-demand services. They also represent exciting new work by both familiar filmmaker names: (André Téchiné’s Being 17) and new breakout talents ( Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins), and first-time feature directors (Andrew Ahn of Spa Night). In fact, from new twists on gay coming of age dramas to winking lesbian mystery-comedies to uplifting documentaries, these films serve as a virtual travelogue traversing Europe, South America, Asia, and of course, North America.
Borrow a streaming service password from family– however you define it!–and enjoy.The year 2016 contained some tragic twists and turns, but it’s also been a mighty fine year for LGBT cinema, with true diversity represented in subjects, themes, and the countries of origin. Representation matters, and these films provide a variety of archetypes, stories and styles for you to lose and/or find yourself in. Pride– real pride– requires self-knowledge, and it's hard to know who you are when you can't see who you can be. While gay characters tended until much too recently to be one-dimensional, white, marginal, and doomed, in 2018 Barry Jenkins won a Best Picture Oscar telling the layered and hopeful story of a gay Black man in Moonlight. Queer cinema has evolved too, from the shoestring brilliance of The Watermelon Woman to the big-budget glitter-fest that is Rocketman. But queer characters have come a long way in a relatively short time, from the self-loathing middle-aged men of 1970's The Boys In The Band to the headstrong misfits of this summer's Fire Island. LGBTQ-centered films are still pretty rare– particularly from major studios, as the buzz around Bros reveals. But it's also an opportunity to learn your queer history, and a self-curated LGBTQ film festival is a great way to do that. It's a great time to march, and to party, and to be marketed to. It's Pride Month, as a whole lot of rainbow corporate logos have already told you.