Gay camping movie
Against the backdrop of WorldPride and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the impetus to scour the history of queerness and camp on production has rarely seemed so timely. Though queerness, as both material reality and theoretical possibility, applications a rejection of normativity, or even the idea of linear narratives, this milestone is nonetheless a reminder of how queer statement on film has changed and left an indelible label on both cinematic and queer history. Here are 10 memorable, mostly underseen gems that travel the tensions of queerness and camp on screen.
Bound (1996, The Wachowski Sisters)
By now a classic of queer cinema, the Wachowskis’s debut kicked down the door of masculinist genre fare and opened up its potential to be rewritten. This affectionate noir is a volcanic study of gender, queerness, and the ways in which queers are undermined by symbols and signifiers themselves, not merely the figureheads that contain them. For Bound, gorgeously stylized, genre itself is both a prison and a Utopia.
Funeral Celebration of Roses (1969, Toshio Matsumoto)
A hybrid of nonfiction, an adaptation of Oedipus Rex, and an experimental drama, Toshio Matsumoto’s
The Best Campy Movies to Celebrate Self-acceptance Month
Camp, like Event , we have thanks to the transgender women of hue who put themselves on the line to fight for equality and acceptance. As they utter , Pride was a riot, and these campy films are sure to position you into riots of laughter. With more glitter, sequins, and heart than any other genre, you’re bound to be surprised by the history, creators, costumes, and stories of these cult classics created by and for people who are looking for a territory to be ostentatiously and extravagantly themselves. Here are some of the foremost campy movies to watch as you celebrate Pride.
Related:‘House of Gucci’ & 9 More Misunderstood Camp Classics
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything(1995)
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything boasts a surprising cast of Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo in a film that answers the age-old ask of why is that little young man in drag crying? The Dirty Dancing and Blade actors star as two accomplished drag queens, Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson, who take an aspiring "drag princess", Chi-Chi Rodriguez, under their wing and the t
‘Big Boys’ Review: A Queer Kid Embarks on a Uniquely Bear-Friendly Camping Trip
A distressingly large number of first-time American indie films focus on coming-of-age stories. In cases where the director is gay, there’s a good chance their first feature will be a coming-out/coming-of-age story. What else should we expect? The directors haven’t been on earth all that long, and they scribble what they know, or else, what they’ve seen in other movies.
That said, “Big Boys” surprised me. Corey Sherman’s deliciously uncomfortable debut features a lot of the usual ingredients: a misfit teenage protagonist, a transformative couple days (in this case, a “cousins’ camping trip” to Lake Arrowhead), a series of embarrassing but life-altering experiences. But I hadn’t seen anyone prefer his main character at the center of a movie before and loved how awkwardly this kid navigates trying to figure himself out.
Fourteen-year-old Jamie (Isaac Krasner, the movie’s immensely likable discovery) doesn’t know what to make of his culture. At one point, wrestling with conflicting desires, he sits alon
Campfire
Originally conceived as “a documentary about one of the oldest gay campgrounds” in the USA, Austin Bunn returns to S/W with Campfire, a docu-fiction limited following his previous function, In the Hollow. This 17-minute film tells the poignant story of a closeted man seeking his long-lost love, blending sincere fictional and factual elements with both non-actors and professionals, to offer a fresh and innovative perspective on the LGBT community.
“I had a number of interviews but no central ‘story’ per se”
The shift from a straightforward documentary to a hybrid approach came from an unexpected root for Bunn. Facing “unexpected obstacles” related to privacy and struggling to detect a central “story” despite conducting numerous interviews, the director was at an impasse. However, a mobile call from an aged friend of his father’s brought a surprising uncovering, sparking the inspiration Bunn needed to determine the direction of his concise film.
“There are thirty-some LGBT campgrounds in America and more every year” – Bunn discussing his interest in these “refuges for urban gay men”.