Best movies like Homos in France

In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He went on to write "The Celluloid Closet", the first book to critique Hollywood's portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.

This searing investigative work shadows a group of activists risking unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ program raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Unfettered access and a remarkable approach to protecting anonymity exposes this under-reported atrocity–and an extraordinary group of people confronting evil.

After a lifetime of hiding, Chely Wright becomes the first commercial country music singer to come out as gay, shattering cultural stereotypes within Nashville, per conservative heartland family and, most importantly, within herself. With unprecedented access over a two-year period, including her private video diaries, the film layers Chely's rise to fame while hiding in the late 90's with the execution of her coming out plan, culminating in the exciting moment when she steps into the media glare to reveal she is gay. The film shows both the devastation of internalized homophobia and the transformational power of living an authentic life. The film also documents the conflicting responses from Nashville, the heartland and the LGBT community as Chely Wright prepares for an unknown future.

Essay documentary explores eroded emulsions and images for lost vestiges of lesbian and gay culture. First feature by a pioneer of lesbian cinema, Hammer weaves gay and lesbian couples with footage that unearths the forbidden and invisible history of a marginalized people.

Claude and Ellen are best friends who live in a not-so-nice area of New York. They're involved in the subculture of 90s youth, complete with drugs, live music, and homophobia. All is changed one night when a violent and meaningless death rocks their lives.

In Uganda, a new bill threatens to make homosexuality punishable by death. David Kato - Uganda's first openly gay man - and his fellow activists work against the clock to defeat the legislation while combating vicious persecution in their daily lives. But no one, not even the filmmakers, is prepared for the brutal murder that shakes the movement to its core and sends shock waves around the world. (from imdb)

Though gay-themed stories about "coming out" and accepting one's sexuality are not uncommon in Western countries, such tales are still rare in many conservative African nations. Considered a ground-breaking film in its native Guinea, and filmed amidst a storm of controversy, Mohamed Camara's Dakan is the first of its nations films to directly address issues surrounding homosexuality. The story centers on the romance between two 20-year-old men, Manga and Sory who are first seen making out in a car. The trouble begins when Manga tells his widowed mother about his love for Sory, who is busy contending with his outraged father. The parents insist that the two never see each other again. Manga's mother then uses witchcraft to cleanse her son and change him into a heterosexual. Time passes and eventually Manga begins to date a girl. But it soon becomes apparent that try as he might, Manga's heart belongs to Sory.

A feature-length documentary that explores the immense changes that occurred for gays, lesbians and transgender people living in the Global South. In the last decade of the 20th Century, a new heightened visibility began spreading throughout the developing world and the battles between families, fundamentalist religions, and governments around sexual and gender identity had begun. But in the West, few people knew about this historic social upheaval, until 52 men on Cairo’s Queen Boat discothèque were arrested for crimes of debauchery. That explosive story focused attention to the lives and trials of gay people coming out in the developing world and the film chronicles those events.

Police detective Joe Leland investigates the murder of a gay man.

Investigates the corrupt judicial system under which Alain Mar'caux and his wife Edith were arrested on accusations of pedophilia horrific acts they never committed- and the years he spent fighting to get out of prison, clear his name and keep his family.

The story of the persecution of homosexuals and intellectuals in Cuba under Fidel Castro's dictatorship, from the beginning of the Cuban Revolution (1953-59) until the early 1980s. Interviews with relevant personalities of Cuban culture who suffered persecution demonstrate that concentration camps for gays existed in Cuba.

The Parade, in a tragicomic way, tells the story about ongoing battle between two worlds in contemporary post-war Serbian society - the traditional, oppressive, homophobic majority and a liberal, modern and open-minded minority... The film, which deals with gay rights issues in Serbia, features footage of the 2010 Belgrade gay pride parade. The film introduces a group of gay activists, trying to organize a pride parade in Belgrade.

Under small-town scrutiny, a withdrawn farmer’s daughter forges an intimate friendship with a worldly but reckless new girl in 1960s Oklahoma.

A family man torn between the love for his family, the boundaries of religion and the freedom to choose whom to love.

A portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.

Seventeen-year-old Anne just fell in love with Sasha, the most popular girl at her L.A. public high school. But when Anne tells her best friend, Clifton—who has always harbored a secret crush on her—he does his best to get in the way.

Jared, the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a gay conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith.

This MTV film dramatizes the horrific hate-crime killing of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. In 1998, Shepard, a gay college student, was savagely beaten by Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, who left their victim to die. Flashbacks paint a picture of Shepard's life and provide insight into why the killers, who initially set out to rob the young man, would commit such a brutal murder.

While the fight for LGBTQ Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum, the 1970s witnessed horrific custody battles for lesbian mothers. Mom's Apple Pie: The Heart of the Lesbian Mothers’ Custody Movement revisits the early tumultuous years of the lesbian custody movement through the stories of five lesbian mothers and their four children. Narrated by Kate Clinton, the documentary interviews the sons and daughters who were separated from their mothers, the mothers themselves, and one woman who made the difficult decision to flee with her children.

Between September 2012 and May 2013, France is debating the upcoming marriage equality laws. During those nine months, sociologist Irène Théry talks about what is at stake with her son Mathias Théry, who will make a movie with Étienne Chaillou out of those hours of conversations. It is a documentary about the social debate in France, but also about family and intimacy.

Based in Quebec, this film is a portrait of lesbian and gay families as well as the story of how they organized out of conditions of violence and discrimination to win recognition of their relationships, families and parenting rights. Also tells the story of the landmark case in Quebec that broke the ban against same-sex marriage, making Quebec the third province in Canada to recognize equal marriage.

After serving in the military for more than twenty years, including a tour of duty in Vietnam, Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer (Glenn Close) had seen her share of battles. But nothing could prepare her for the fight ahead: an intensely personal struggle against the U.S. Army when she becomes the highest ranking officer ever to be discharged for being a lesbian. With the support of her partner Diane (Judy Davis), Cammermeyer undertakes an against-all-odds battle against the Army's policy. But to do so, she must risk everything – her career, her privacy and even the love of her family.

CHOOSING CHILDREN is a pioneering film about parenting in non-traditional families and helped to open dialogue about the meaning and reality of the "modern family." This film takes an intimate look at the issues faced by lesbians and gay men who decide to become parents after coming out.

The Bruce McArthur serial killer case shocked Canada’s largest city, and the whole country, when he was convicted of eight grisly murders. How did McArthur avoid arrest for nearly a decade? This film explores the untold story of Toronto’s Gay Village, and the victims of these horrific crimes.

Just as Simone works up the courage to tell her conservative Jewish family she's a lesbian, she finds herself attracted to a male Senegalese chef.

The Continental Baths, a favorite hangout of New York homosexuals, provides the background of this socially conscious comedy drama that tries to examine the relationships between gay and heterosexual people. The story centers around a macho, heterosexual piano player who gets a job at the notorious nightclub and must therefore reconsider his attitudes. His girl friend helps him too. In the end, he winds up becoming sure of his sexuality when he tries to sleep with a gay man.

How did Hollywood pitch movies about gays and lesbians between 1956 and 1977? Here are theatrical trailers for 27 mainstream and art-house films, presented chronologically from "Tea and Sympathy" to "Outrageous!" More than half are films released between 1968 and 1972. Half are dramas and half are comedies, with farce dominating the films released after 1971. At least three advertise X-rated films: "The Killing of Sister George," "Midnight Cowboy," and Visconti's "The Damned." There's no voice-over commentary for this compilation, but it does include advertisements for snacks and one warning against public displays of affection aimed at "her" to control "him."

A cinematic homage to the Front Homosexual d'Action Révolutionnaire, the first gay rights movement in France, AllesandroAvellis' compassionate drama tells the tale of a young activist living in Paris when homosexuals had no place in society. The year is 1968; Marc is adrift in the city after failing in his efforts to gain national acceptance for gay rights. One day, during a park pick-up, he meets Andre, a small town factory worker still exploring his sexuality but convinced that he will one day marry and start a family. Over the course of the next three years, Marc and Andre continue their heated affair as Marc continues to advocate fiercely for gay rights while butting heads with his close-minded father, a Paris police officer.

Believe it or not, Mick Jagger was not the first bisexual. In fact, 'going both ways' dates back to ancient Greece, when heterosexuality was not the norm. This fascinating documentary, featuring John Cameron Mitchell and French pop star Yelle, explores and uncovers the history and modern-day perceptions of this often misunderstood culture. Interviews with prominent artists, designers, and writers are interspersed with archival footage from around the world.

Following in the wake of Benoît Poelvoorde and Philippe Geluck, comedians, actors and other Belgian singers have established themselves in France in recent years, in the media and on stage. But, if we appreciate them today, this was not always the case. In this documentary, director Olivier Monssens acts as the spokesperson for his compatriots. Through testimonies and delicious archive images, he returns to the not-so-distant era when our neighbors were considered friendly but somewhat idiotic people. The film is also an opportunity to understand what characterizes the Belgian spirit by focusing on some of its facets: humor and its famous local variation, self-deprecation, cinema and music.

Now known internationally as the world's first "gay hometown," San Francisco's Castro District was a quiet, working-class neighborhood of European immigrants only a few decades ago. In this documentary, the story of the Castro's transformation is told by those who lived it, young and old, straight and gay. It's a tale of social upheaval, exuberant street culture, political assassination, and the inspiring coming-of-age of an entire community an ongoing saga even today.

Reunion of six short films having homosexuality as theme: "The Absolution of Anthony", by Dean Slotar, depicting a 16-year-old boy living with a Catholic grandfather in Bronx; "Smear", by Sam Zalutsky, telling the story of a boy who is in love with a straight friend; "Front Room", by Pierre Yves Clouin, an experimental short showing a gay physical relationship; "Fairy Tale", by David Kittredge, when a man decides to introduce his boyfriend to his homophobic family; "Ferkel" or "Piglets", by Luc Feit, showing an old lady who tries to ruin a sexual encounter; and "Stanley Beloved", by Simon Chung, telling the story of a boy who, before going to study abroad, decides to spend a summer day with his best friend.

A family of friends is forever changed when two of the friends realize that their love for one another goes beyond the confines of their conventional relationship.

A filmmaker continues shooting his film after his funding is pulled - a grim reality he has kept secret from his cast. His mind awash in the noise of memory and morphine, he reflects on his own life through the characters in his script. The story is told with highly stylistic vignettes projected in the black void of his mind, bringing to life each of the characters he has created on paper. "Phantom Images" explores the new challenges confronting gay men - and the cultural changes that have made communication between generations more difficult.

"An Affirmative Act" is pro-gay marriage film, starring Charles Durning, Eric Etebari, Costas Mandylor, Rachael Robbins, and Blanche Baker, about a lesbian couple where one pretends to be a man in order for the two to get married and equal benefits. A slice of life of a young, professional married couple with their darling baby turns a sharp, dark corner when the pair are arrested and charged with several counts of fraud. The reason: Terry and Samantha Succi aren't the man and woman that they purported to be... Terry and Samantha married under false pretenses, ignoring state law that discriminates against homosexual partners and prohibits them from receiving the same rights and benefits as their straight counterparts.