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FILMS TO WATCH THIS PRIDE MONTH

Tuesday 20 Jun 2023

Gen Sandle

Happy Pride month! To mark the occasion, some of The Lexi team have rounded up some of their favourite LGBTQ+ films to watch this Pride (and beyond). Happy Pride everyone!

Gen’s Top 10 Titles for Pride

Gen is the Lexi's marketing and communications manager.

No spoilers - but I’ve made a point of including a number of films in my list that include positive queer experiences: as much as I love a tragic, doomed love story (looking at you, Brokeback Mountain), it’s also important, and refreshing, to see queer representation on screen which delivers positive and healthy narratives, and which inspires hope. These are in no particular order!

1. PRINCESS CYD, Stephen Cone, USA, 2017

From queer filmmaker Stephen Cone, Princess Cyd is a dreamy portrait of a young woman who discovers her pansexuality while spending a lazy summer sunbathing and discussing novels in her writer aunt’s pleasantly overgrown garden. A warm and gentle film, it’s an uplifting watch - and it may cause you to pine for a carefree summer romance.

2. MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, Gus Van Sant, USA, 1991

Gus Van Sant’s 1991 account of two gay hustlers, My Own Private Idaho, was groundbreaking when it was first released, bringing the queer experience to a broad audience, and shattering taboos. A tender and trail-blazing love story starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, it’s a cult favourite for a reason.

3. RAFIKI, Wanuri Kahiu, Kenya, 2019

From Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu, Rafiki - the first Kenyan film to premiere at Cannes - sees a romance unfold between two teenage girls in a nation where same-sex relationships are illegal. The young women are pulled in conflicting directions - they both desire to live their dreams and exist without apology, yet they also wish to lead secure lives free of fear. Yet in spite of it all, Rafiki remains a surprisingly uplifting, hopeful account of love in a highly intolerant society.

4. THE MATRIX, Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski, USA, 1999

By now, it’s fairly common knowledge amongst anyone who’s seen - or heard of - The Matrix, that the film was intended by the Wachowski’s as a metaphor for the trans experience. Long rumoured to be an allegory of transgender identity, Lilly Wachowski recently confirmed the speculation. Aside from the metaphorical nature of the plot - it’s also perhaps one of the most famous films ever made by trans directors, making it a win for transgender and gender non-conforming representation by all accounts.

5. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, Céline Sciamma, France, 2020

From Céline Sciamma, whose directorial career has validated the experiences of queer women time and time again, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a story of a portrait artist who falls for the young woman she’s been commissioned to paint, it’s a poignant account of a forbidden romance on a windswept Island Brittany, France. A masterclass in yearning gazes and romantic tension so palpable that you could cut it with a knife

6. GOD'S OWN COUNTRY, Francis Lee, UK, 2017

In the Yorkshire dales, Johnny, a young farmer, sees his life changed by Romanian migrant worker Gheorghe, after the pair fall for one another when Gheorghe is hired to help around the farm. Though not entirely repressing his sexuality, Johnny hasn’t quite accepted himself either - resulting in an emotional yet unsentimental story of masculinity and unexpressed feelings. God's Own Country will linger on your mind long after you've watched it.

7. APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR, Desiree Akhavan, USA, 2014

In Appropriate Behaviour, Shirin - the daughter of Iranian immigrants - is dealing with a break up, and is considering coming out to her parents - but she’s not quite sure which label to use. A funny and warm account of a bisexual woman just trying to live her truth and feel accepted, it’s an especially refreshing insight into the bi experience, something that’s truly important given the damaging prevalence of bisexual erasure.

8. FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES, Toshio Matsumoto, Japan, 1969

Last year, we screened Toshio Matsumoto’s Funeral Parade of Roses as part of our celebration of Trans-Led Cinema. Set in the gay underground of 1960s Tokyo, it follows Eddie, a young trans woman, as she becomes embroiled in a volatile love triangle. A subversive masterpiece.

9. WATER LILIES, Celine Sciamma, France, 2007

Celine Sciamma’s debut title, Water Lilies is an unflinching and emotional account of a love triangle which emerges between three girls who meet at a pool one summer. A powerful portrait of the emotional intensity inherent to the relationships - both platonic and romantic - that we form as teenagers, and the passion and cruelty that can emerge as a result.

10. SHOW ME LOVE, Lukas Moodysson, Sweden, 1998

A Swedish film set in a small town where everyone wants nothing more than to leave, Show Me Love is a snapshot of the angsty agony of growing up, and a film that's as sweet and joyful as it is sometimes melancholic and painfully awkward. When Agnes - a lonely teenage girl with few friends - finds herself developing feelings for the popular but ascerbic Elin, what follows is an unexpected and free-spirited love story.

Rosie’s top 10 titles for Pride
Rosie is the Lexi's cinema and programme director.

In no particular order!

1.THE L-SHAPED ROOM Bryan Forbes, UK, 1962