University Libraries: LGBTQIA+ History Month: Media

Streaming Film Collections

Here are specific collections of streaming film on various LGBTQIA subjects:

Selected Films and Documentaries

And the Band Played On
A chronicling the early years of the AIDS epidemic, when a handful of individuals fought indifference, prejudice, ignorance and politics to battle a deadly epidemic that would soon change the face of the world.
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
An Olympic athlete; a gay activist; a boy with hemophilia; a recovering heroin addict; a closeted Navy commander: five very diverse lives that shared a common fate.
more...less...
Their lives "along with thousands of others" are woven together in a giant memorial patchwork quilt, that is solemnly unfolded in the US capitol to protest the government's refusal to respond to a growing epidemic.
How to Survive a Plague
Faced with their own mortality, an improbable group of mostly HIV - positive young men and women broke the mold as radical warriors taking on Washington and the medical establishment.
more...less...
Despite having no scientific training, these self - made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time. How To Survive A Plague is the story of how activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition.
Moonlight
A moving and transcendent look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young man growing up in Miami. His epic journey to adulthood, as a shy outsider dealing with difficult circumstances, is guided by support, empathy and love from the most unexpected places.
Paris is Burning
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene.
more...less...
Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women-including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza-PARIS IS BURNING brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Marianne is hired to paint the wedding portrait of Héloïse. As the women orbit each other, intimacy and attraction grow as they share Héloïse's first moments of freedom.
Stonewall Uprising
Stonewall Uprising explores the dramatic events that launched a worldwide civil rights movement.
more...less...
When police raided a Mafia-run gay bar in Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn, on June 28, 1969, gay men and women did something they had not done before-they fought back. As the streets of New York erupted into violent protests and street demonstrations, the collective anger announced that the gay rights movement had arrived.
United in Anger: A History of ACT UP
An inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic.
more...less...
Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government neglect. The film takes the viewer through the planning and execution of a half dozen exhilarating major actions including Seize Control of the FDA, Stop the Church, and Day of Desperation, with a timeline of many of the other actions that forced the U.S. government and mainstream media to deal with the AIDS crisis. UNITED IN ANGER reveals the group's complex culture - meetings, affinity groups, and approaches to civil disobedience mingle with profound grief, sexiness, and the incredible energy of ACT UP.