The Abominable Crime

Paternal Instinct

July 2004 •English

In contrast to the recent spate of gay parent documentaries Paternal Instinct is a fascinating and absorbing insight into the breeding process. We follow two gay men in their search for a suitable surrogate mother, a Wiccan from Maine, and then the agonizing three year long process of trying to get her pregnant. There is the anguish as they discover the impotent link in the fathering chain, the comedy of the repetitive conception rituals and the ecstasy of the birth of their child. With unfettered access to the participants, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Murray Nossel charts every step, and the camera never flinches. Whether you're into the whole parenting thing or not, the sheer humanity of this piece makes it totally absorbing.

Boys on Film 18: Heroes

April 2018 •English

Boys On Film comes of age with uplifting and powerful tales recounting the lives of everyday heroes striving for their own identities and fighting for the right for us all to be ourselves. Volume 18: Heroes includes ten complete films: Dean Loxton's "Dániel" starring Csémy Balázs, Hilda Péter, and Henry Garrett… Niels Bourgonje's "Buddy" starring Daniel Cornelissen and Tobias Nierop… Tamara Shogaolu's animated "Half A Life"… Victor Lindgren's "Undress Me" starring Jana Bringlöv Ekspong and Björn Elgerd… Sam Ashby's "The Colour Of His Hair" starring Sean Hart and Josh O'Connor… Hope Dickson Leach's "Silly Girl" starring Ciara Baxendale, Mollie Lambert, and Jason Barker… Søren Green's "An Evening" starring Jacob Ottensten and Ulrik Windfeldt-Schmidt… Alejandro Medina's documentary "AIDS: Doctors And Nurses Tell Their Stories"… Kai Stänicke's "It's Consuming Me" with Volkmar Leif Gilbert… and Mikael Bundsen's "Mother Knows Best" starring Alexander Gustavsson and Hanna Ullerstam.

Church & State

August 2018 •English

Church & State is the improbable story of a brash, inexperienced gay activist and a tiny Salt Lake City law firm that joined forces to topple Utah’s gay marriage ban. The film’s ride on the bumpy road to equality in Utah offers a glimpse at the Mormon church’s influence in state politics and the squabbles inside the gay community that nearly derailed a chance to make history. Church & State is a story of triumph, setback and a little-known lawsuit that should have failed, but instead paved the way for a U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized gay unions nationwide.

Andrew and Jeremy Get Married

January 2004 •English

Director Don Boyd's portrayal of the extraordinary love story between a retired bus driver from Croydon and a retired teacher from Chelsea. One took to cruising public toilets and succumbed to drug addiction, crime and prison before personal rehabilitation. The other moved in a social sphere of dinner parties and T S Eliot readings at the seaside, yet had struggles of a different kind. (Storyville)

Difficult Love

October 2010 •English

The film is a portrayal of Zanele Muholi, a lesbian photographer working in the South African GLBT community. This thin, combative woman is already a world-wide famous artist. She defines herself as a "visual activist" in order to highlight her commitment to politics, to communicating ideas and to art. Her work includes: provocative nudes (like a female Mapplethorpe); young Zulu couples, dressed in traditional costumes, embracing each other; a homeless socially excluded lesbian couple; a dignified portrait of Victor Mukasa, the gay human rights leader from Uganda; wonderful shots of Zanele with her white partner. Beautiful and poetic pictures which are "militant" in nature since they condemn homophobia, poverty, and the public and private conflicts of a country divided between tradition and modernity.

The Salivation Army

April 2002 •English

A tale of blood, sex, spit, spunk and cult recruitment. “This Is the Salivation Army” was, in his own words, a queer pagan punk publication produced by Scott Treleaven from 1996-1999. The film tracks the rise and demise of Treleaven's zine and the strange cult it spawned.

Far from the Tree

September 2019 •English

Parents of children who have Down syndrome, dwarfism or autism share intimate stories of the challenges they face. Tracing their joys, challenges, tragedies, and triumphs.

This is Jessica

August 2021 •English

Jessica Bair, a longtime LGBTQIA+ rights advocate with Human Rights Campaign, shares her struggle to remain in her Mormon faith despite coming out as transgender.

Orgullo | Pride - Visión Zoo

January 2018 •Spanish

The 34th

August 2017 •English

An emotional look at the struggle for marriage equality in Ireland.

BEAT. Contour. Snatched. How Drag Queens Shaped the Biggest Makeup Trends

December 2018 •English

How drag queens sharing tips and tricks in dressing rooms shaped the face of today’s mainstream makeup industry.

I Am a Woman Now

December 2011 •English

Whoever wanted a sex reassignment surgery in the 1950's could do so in Casablanca, at French gynaecologist Georges Burou's clinic, without fear of psychological examination. The French transgender singer known as Coccinelle was one of the first to use Burou’s services, and many others followed. Michiel Van Erp’s film follows five women who underwent surgery during that time, just before the sexual revolution and the Gay Liberation movement of the 1960's. Intimate interviews reveal their lifestyle, what made them change their sex, how it influenced their lives, and how they cope with the unavoidable ageing.

Playout

October 2023 •Italian

A short documentary which, starting from the experience of its five protagonists, takes us inside the team which presents itself not only as a tool for access to sport, but also as a political means for the entire transgender community to claim its identity and all rights denied.

Les Invisibles

November 2012 •French

Several elderly homosexual men and women speak frankly about their pioneering lives, their fearless decision to live openly in France at a time when society rejected them.

Gay USA

August 1977 •English

Documentary about the gay rights movement during the year of 1977, capturing the intersections of diversity in queer life; from vox pop style interviews with lesbian feminists, street drag queens, and straight allies to taking a look at the fight against Anita Bryant and her notorious "Save Our Children" campaign.

Love, Scott

March 2018 •English

One fateful night, after leaving a bar in his home town of Nova Scotia, musician Scott Jones was subjected to a vicious and targeted attack which left him paralysed and in a wheelchair. Despite Scott knowing that this was a homophobic hate crime, the assault was not treated as such in the courts, or by the media. As Scott rebuilds his life, he is forced to make sense of the way the incident was handled while also struggling to make peace with his attacker. Taking place across the three years following this life-changing ordeal, close friend and filmmaker Laura Marie Wayne gracefully charts the impact of the attack on Scott’s life, both physically and mentally. The resulting documentary is a tender, heartbreaking and inspiring testament to one man’s strength and resilience.

Le charme de l'ambiguïté

January 1974 •French

From transvestites to transformers, we will follow the trail that will lead us in different and famous Parisian music-halls, such as the mythical Alcazar of Paris, La Grande Eugène. Whether they are below or beyond their character, often these men who are looking for themselves look at life with the humor of despair. Why this need to "transform" themselves? Why is it always the men who cross-dress and not the women? Why did the public flock to these shows in the 1970s and 1980s? Interpretations of famous characters such as Diana Ross, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, the Peter Sisters, the Andrew Sisters, Zizi Jeanmaire, Judy Garland, Sarah Bernhardt, among others, contribute to making this musical document an essential testimony of this era.

Indestructible

December 2022 •Portuguese

He is a sensitive boy who represses his true personality. After experiencing traumatic experiences, our protagonist begins to open to the world on a journey that made him the person who is. This is not the complete story, but shows a trajectory of overcoming and change.

The Legend in Me

October 2024 •English

20th-century Canadian sports legend Lionel Conacher begat a line of other star-athlete descendants. But in this simultaneously nostalgic and forward-looking documentary, their 21st-century progeny explores the very different fields of non-binary queer identity.

Man Made

May 2018 •English

From adoption and homelessness to navigating relationships and overcoming self-harm, the four transmen in MAN MADE all have something else in common: they are all bodybuilders. Through the lens of FTMFitCon, the world’s only FTM bodybuilding competition, we delve into the lives of Dominic, Rese, Mason, and Kennie as they define what it means to be a man while contextualizing that definition through the social, racial, and economic realities of their lives. For the men of MAN MADE, it’s not about winning—it’s about stepping on stage and being seen for everything they are.