Even the arrival of fall and the allure of an approaching awards season isn’t a guarantee of quality at your local movie theater lately, as the unforgivable sidelining of Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie à Deux recently proved. Luckily, you can always count on the queer indie film scene to add some hidden gems to your watchlist — and when it comes to finding new LGBTQ+ releases, NewFest has you covered.
Based in New York City, the LGBTQ+ festival was founded in 1988 as a direct response to the AIDS crisis. It has since grown into one of the most prominent queer festivals in the country, in addition to programming that champions indie film and television year-round. And in more recent years, you don’t even have to head to the Big Apple to partake in the festival’s offerings, thanks to NewFest’s much-appreciated virtual component.
Several buzzy queer titles, such as the Netflix trans cartel musical Emilia Pérez and Andrea Arnold’s coming-of-age tale Bird, are limited to in-person screenings only. However, many of this year’s 2024 queer selections are thankfully available online from October 10 to 22, giving cinephiles the opportunity to enjoy plenty of films from the comfort of their living rooms. You can buy ticket packages or select virtual individual screenings here. Curious about where to start? Below, we’ve rounded up 10 films to stream virtually during NewFest 2024.
ALOK
Odds are you already know the name ALOK. From performing at Edinburgh Fringe to launching the #DeGenderFashion initiative, the nonbinary poet and public speaker has done it all. This eponymous documentary short promises to paint an intimate portrait of ALOK’s life and journey as a modern queer figure. The film’s behind-the-scenes team is pretty starry, too — it’s directed by photographer Alex Hedison and produced by her wife, Academy Award winner Jodie Foster.
Life Is Not A Competition, But I’m Winning
If you’re missing Paris Olympics coverage, then the German documentary Life Is Not A Competition, But I’m Winning is right up your alley. The docu-essay cycles through Olympics history, casting a spotlight on athletes who have faced discrimination for existing outside of the racist and binary standards that have been perpetuated throughout the hallowed sporting event’s history. Screening at NewFest mere weeks after the transphobic abuse that cisgender Algerian boxer Imane Khelif endured at the 2024 Olympics, the film imagines a future when the abilities and bodies of all people are represented on the world’s stage.
SHORTS: Queer Lives Across Time and America
Presented in partnership with the American LGBTQ+ Museum, this NewFest shorts program focuses on connecting queer and trans stories throughout recent American history. The 15-minute short Barbette + Fontaine, for instance, tells the story of a Texas drag queen connecting with her forebearer from nearly a century ago through her art. Meanwhile, the 12-minute Trans Heaven, Pennsylvania recounts how hundreds of trans women turned a small Pennsylvania town into a haven for weekend-long parties and community-building.
Somebody Somewhere Season 3, Episodes 1 + 2
HBO’s Somebody Somewhere has long been one of the most underrated comedies on TV, and thanks to NewFest, you have the opportunity to see the first episodes of its third and final season early. Starring co-creator Bridget Everett as Sam, a 40-something woman trying to chart a path forward after moving back to her rural Kansas hometown to care for her late sister, the series gives the middle-American queer community some long overdue nuance onscreen. If you’re looking to fill the Schitt’s Creek-sized hole in your heart, this slice-of-life dramedy is well-worth a watch.
This Is Ballroom
On the edges of Rio de Janeiro, a rich ballroom culture thrives thanks to the boundless creativity of local Black and brown trans and queer artists. With This Is Ballroom, local filmmakers Juru and Vitã offer an electrifyingly immersive look into the subculture over the course of one ball. Juxtaposing live performances with performer interviews, the documentary delves into an up-and-coming generation of queer and trans Brazilians seeking freedom within an art form that was first conceived in mid-20th century New York City.
Tops
“What top did you wanna wear after top surgery?” That’s the question that filmmaker Ames Pennington asks in their new mockumentary, fittingly titled Tops. Modeled after early aughts sitcoms like MTV Cribs, the film finds Pennington campily parodying the transmasc experience by bursting into the homes of subjects hoping to make their very first trans friend.
Gondola
In the wake of Georgia’s parliament approving sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, the tiny European country’s queer filmmaking scene feels more essential than ever. Director Veit Helmer’s Wes Anderson-esque lesbian romance film Gondola is no exception. Set in the Georgian mountains, the film tells the story of two cable car attendants who fall for one another. The catch? Their romance is entirely dialogue-free.
Looking For Langston + Tongues United
This NewFest retrospective double feature looks back at two groundbreaking films dedicated to exploring Black male queer identity. Isaac Julien’s documentary Looking For Langston blends archival footage with black-and-white paeans to reflect on iconic Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes’ life and influence on Black queer history. Meanwhile, Marlon Riggs’ Tongues United intimately captures the lives of several Black gay men at the height of the AIDS crisis, highlighting their tight-knit community and culture.
VENENO Season 2: Dressed In Blue
Inspired by true events, the first season of the Spanish limited series Veneno followed journalism student Valeria Vegas (played by Lola Rodríguez) as she set out to meet and write a biography of her idol, real-life trans legend Cristina “La Veneno.” Now, the series is back for a second season, which turns its attention toward the seminal 1983 documentary Dressed in Blue, which told six Spanish trans women’s stories over the course of a luncheon. Veneno season 2 finds Valeria tracking down the original subjects of the documentary in order to carry on their personal legacies. To complement the series, NewFest is also virtually screening an HD restoration of Dressed in Blue.
I’m Not Everything I Want To Be
The monumental 2022 film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed used photographer Nan Goldin’s life and activism as a lens to explore the power of queer art to effect political and social change. The new documentary I’m Not Everything I Want To Be takes a similar approach, albeit with a different subject and historical setting. Centering on Czech photographer Libuše Jarcovjáková’s work and diaries, the film paints a portrait of one artist’s journey toward queer acceptance and rebellion from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, when Prague was gripped by political turmoil that preceded the Velvet Revolution.
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