Biographical Gay Films - Gay Films Matter

Eismayer

2022 Drama, Romance

Vice Lieutenant Eismayer, the most feared trainer and macho figure in the Austrian Military, secretly lives as a gay man. His world is upended when he falls for a young, openly gay soldier, based on true events.

George Michael: Portrait of an Artist

2023 Documentary

The remarkable life of George Michael is revealed through the heartfelt stories of fellow musicians and friends who admired and cherished him.

The Male Gaze: Wandering Hearts

2026 Compilation

Are we destined to make the same mistakes in life? Is my teacher attracted to me? Is this more than just a one-night stand? Will my family forgive me? What does the future hold? For these lost souls questioning their paths in life, there are a multitude of answers. A collection of 6 short films.

COMING SOON

Mickey & Richard

2026 Documentary

A portrait of 80s gay adult film star Mickey Squires and the man who performed him, Richard Bernstein.

Eisenstein in Guanajuato

2015 Comedy, Drama, Romance

Venerated Soviet filmmaker Eisenstein travels to Mexico in 1931 after being shunned by Hollywood. Once he arrives in Guanajuato plans begin to change as he encounters a different culture and becomes drawn into the Mexican Revolution.

SHORT FILM

The Typist

2015 Drama

The forgotten history of a gay Korean War veteran tasked with writing the military discharges of outed gay seamen.

Enfant Terrible

2020 Drama

A documentary exploring the life, creative vision, and lasting influence of legendary German New Wave filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, whose groundbreaking work reshaped modern cinema.

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.

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

David

2022 Drama

David Shannon navigates the horrors of the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1980s. He strives to embrace his empathy and compassion for those who are openly despised by society for being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Anatomy of a Male Ballet Dancer

2017 Documentary

A documentary portrait of Brazilian ballet star Marcelo Gomes.

SHORT FILM

Happy Birthday, Marsha!

2017 Drama

The story of extraordinary transgender rights activists, pioneers, and friends, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, in the hours before the Stonewall riots.

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

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.

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.

SHORT FILM

Butterflies in Berlin – Diary of a Soul Split in Two

2019 Animation, Drama

Are you willing to pay the cost of being yourself, even if it differs from and challenges others? Find the courage to be yourself to inspire an awareness of diversity, to break down the barriers of discrimination.

Taxi to the Toilet

1980 Comedy, Drama, Romance

Frank, balancing his public-school teaching with a hidden nightlife seeking anonymous intimacy, navigates a turbulent relationship with Bernd amid conflicting desires for stability and adventure.

Savage Nights

1992 Drama, Romance

Jean, 30, navigates a tumultuous love affair with Laura, 17, while coming to terms with his HIV-positive status.

The Einstein of Sex

1999 Drama

The life story of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German Jew and pioneer in sexology, focuses on his fight against anti-sodomy laws and establishment of the First Institute of Sexual Sciences in 1920s Berlin, amid rising Nazi threats.

COMING SOON

The Captive

2025 Drama

In 1575, the young Miguel de Cervantes is taken prisoner and sold to the fearsome Hassan, Bajá of Alger. While awaiting a ransom, he devises a daring escape plan.

Uncle Roy

2026 Documentary

As 93-year-old Roy Blakey faces life-threatening dementia, his niece races to preserve his legacy - a figure skater, ice show archivist, and gay photographer whose male nudes etched into history - before his curtain call.

SHORT FILM

All Boys Aren’t Blue

2021 Drama

A firsthand account of trials, tribulations, and triumphs that have made George M. Johnson into the person they are today.

Last Exit Gran Canaria

2025 Documentary

Tim Lienhard, raised in a Catholic family in southern Germany, traces his late-in-life transformation into a provocatively performative drag persona. He reflects on identity, sexuality, aging, and self-esteem with shameless openness and humor.

SHORT FILM

Nowhere To Be Found

2015 Documentary

Matt Smith, an openly gay young man in rural South Carolina, reflects on his first relationship with a man and its tragic end. Examines the difficulties of being gay in rural America.