FilmStruck Celebrates Pride Month With Seminal LGTBQ Films

FilmStruck will once again celebrate Pride month this June with five curated collections dedicated to exploring LGBTQ themes and artists in cinema. Actor and cultural icon Alan Cumming and drag legend and playwright Charles Busch will offer first-hand and heartwarming accounts of cross-dressing as artistic expression, while Orange is the New Black’s Lea DeLaria provides insightful and comedic commentary celebrating classic lesbian cinema in specially produced mini documentaries.  Featuring more than 30 quintessential classic and modern films addressing LGBTQ issues, including Cabaret (1972), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013), FilmStruck’s Pride month showcase offers an extensive examination of how far Hollywood and global cinema have come in portraying same-sex love on screen.

FilmStruck’s curated lineup of LGBTQ films will celebrate movies that have had an impact in cinematic history with special themes including:

• Dressing the Part, streaming 6/1/18: Alan Cumming and Charles Busch offer their experiences and thoughts on this cinematic look at cross-dressing as an art form with films ranging from 1959’s Some Like It Hot to 2001’s Hedwig & The Angry Inch
• Star of the Week: Liza Minnelli, streaming 6/8/18: named as one of Out Magazine's "12 Greatest Female Gay Icons of All Time," Liza Minnelli shines in films like Cabaret (1972) and Tell Me You Love Me, Junie Moon (1972)
• Written by Tennessee Williams, streaming 6/8/18: featuring films based on the iconic playwright’s works like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
• Director of the Week: Derek Jarman, streaming 6/15/18: featuring nine feature films from director and AIDS activist Jarman, like Sebastiane (1976) and Jubillee (1978) as well as a documentary of his life and work narrated by Tilda Swinton, Derek (2008)
• Classics of Lesbian Cinema, streaming 6/22/18: Lea DeLaria examines these seven Sapphic films including the first feature film directed by a black lesbian, The Watermelon Woman (1996), and an adaptation of Jane Rule’s novel, Desert Hearts (1985)

  “FilmStruck will explore LGBTQ themes in cinema and celebrate gay and lesbian filmmakers who have played such an important role in film history. As part of our celebration we will discuss the ways in which cultural and societal institutions have often suppressed sexual orientation over the course of history, including in film,” said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming & production for TCM and FilmStruck. "Our lineup of curated film collections for Pride month will celebrate movies that have reached new audiences with sympathetic and inclusive storytelling.”