Gay Documentary Movies & Short Films

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln

2024 Documentary

Examines the intimate life of America's most consequential president, Abraham Lincoln.

SHORT FILM

Danny Wylde

2015 Documentary, Drama

Discover the art of being a former adult film star in this intimate portrait of Danny Wylde.

SHORT FILM

Bayard & Me

2017 Documentary

Bayard Rustin, the man behind the March on Washington, found love with Walter Naegle. In the 1980s, Bayard adopted Walter to secure the legal bond marriage couldn’t offer. Years later, Walter recalls their life together and the quiet link between gay love and the civil rights struggle.

Queendom

2023 Documentary

In defiance of Russia's anti-LGBTQ laws, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow.

SHORT FILM

Michael, a Gay Son

1980 Documentary

By following one young man through the process, this documentary attempts to give the audience an idea of the expereinces and feelings involved in that most uncomfortable of coming of age processes... Coming out.

SHORT FILM

Drawings of My BF

2021 Documentary

An artist and his muse discuss their relationship and how they became lovers.

The Carnival

2021 Documentary

The Carnival is depicted with the picturesque precision and vitality. The film shows not the parade itself, but the preparation for it, the expectations, the last hours before the event, when the bodies are transformed. The film turns the eve of the happening into a source of mystery and visual excitement.

SHORT FILM

Lasting Marks

2018 Documentary

In 1987, police in England acquired a video of a group of men participating in consensual sadomasochistic sex acts. The tape launched one of the largest vice investigations in British history, code-named Operation Spanner.

Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer

2017 Documentary

A documentary portrait of Brazilian ballet star Marcelo Gomes.

SHORT FILM

Cartagena Boy

2021 Documentary

Five Venezuelan boys leave their country in search of opportunities and means to support their families. They travel to hostile streets in Cartagena facing a reality far different from their hopes and dreams.

SHORT FILM

Shape Up: Gay in the Black Barbershop

2017 Documentary

Sheds light on the vital role barbershops play within the black community while examining the often complicated relationship that black gay men have with these spaces.

SHORT FILM

Bedding Andrew

2014 Documentary

On the eve of his 30th birthday, Andrew, a man with Cerebral Palsy, reflects on his first sexual encounter and how the event shaped his identity as a gay man.

SHORT FILM

The Black Cop

2022 Documentary

A former police officer reflects on his complicated past, confronting the moments when he suffered from racism within the force and the times when he contributed to it himself.

SHORT FILM

Voguing: The Message

1989 Documentary

Traces the roots of the gay Black and Latino dance form, which appropriates and plays with poses and images from mainstream fashion.

SHORT FILM

Kings America Made

2020 Documentary

This film traces a young Black boy’s search for peace in America as he confronts mental trauma, emerging sexuality, and haunting visions of death. His inner journey is reflected through the real life testimonies of four gay Black men living in New York City.

100 Years of Men in Love: The Accidental Collection

2022 Documentary

A unique, moving, and joy-filled collection of vintage photographs of men in love from the 1850s to the 1950s. Taken when male partnerships were often illegal, the photos were found at flea markets, in shoe boxes, family archives, estate sales, and old suitcases.

Leave It to Levi

2019 Documentary

About the life and rise of gay adult star Levi Karter. It presents his origins as a young Ohio boy named Luke, the only son and adopted child of a single mother, he later left college to pursue his dream of becoming an adult film star.

Ruminations

2018 Comedy, Documentary

A profile on Rumi Missabu, the iconoclast cofounder of San Francisco's infamous Cockettes. Through archive footage, animation and new interviews with stars from SF's queer art past, his lurid tales in and out of the spotlight are revealed as he reinvents himself at the end of his life.

Pride & Protest

2020 Documentary

In the wake of the Birmingham protests against LGBTQ+ relationship education in primary schools, a team of queer community reporters of colour challenge homophobia and call out racism in LGBTQ+ spaces.

SHORT FILM

Nidhal

2022 Animation, Documentary

This is the story of Nidhal, a gay Tunisian who defended the rights and freedoms of queer people on a local radio station. The resulting controversy and death threats led him to seek asylum in the Netherlands.

No Sad Songs

1985 Documentary

Jim and Catherine share personal stories of love and loss amid the AIDS epidemic in Canada, interwoven with performances highlighting its profound impact on society and individuals.

Real Boy

2016 Documentary, Musical

An intimate story of a family in transition. As 19-year-old Bennett Wallace navigates early sobriety, late adolescence, and the evolution of his gender identity, his mother makes her own transformation from resistance to acceptance of her trans son.

Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy

2022 Documentary

Follows the behind-the-scenes odyssey to get Midnight Cowboy produced, as well as the tumultuous era in which the movie was released and embraced.

Pride Divide

1997 Documentary

An exploration of the global unity and divisions among gay men and women in the face of homophobia and sexism.

Sex/Life in L.A.

1998 Documentary

Exploring the behind-the-scenes lives of those involved in L.A.'s adult movie industry.

101 Rent Boys

2000 Documentary

Exploring the lives of night workera and diverse perspectives on topics like safety tips.

Daddy and Papa

2002 Documentary

Delves into the lives of gay men who choose to raise children, challenging traditional notions of family.

Gay Documentary Movies & Short Films

All Gay Documentary Films

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln

Danny Wylde

Bayard & Me

Queendom

Michael, a Gay Son

Drawings of My BF

The Carnival

Lasting Marks

Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer

Cartagena Boy

Shape Up: Gay in the Black Barbershop

Bedding Andrew

The Black Cop

Voguing: The Message

Kings America Made

100 Years of Men in Love: The Accidental Collection

Leave It to Levi

Ruminations

Pride & Protest

Nidhal

No Sad Songs

Real Boy

Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy

Pride Divide

Sex/Life in L.A.

101 Rent Boys

Daddy and Papa

Gay Documentary Collections

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