Rentals

Gay Cinema - Out of the Archive

Here are the pioneers, the iconoclasts, the brave - from landmark portraits of LGBT life preserved by the BFI National Archive to gay classics that blazed their own trail around the world.
Representation of LGBT characters in film and TV is a contentious subject, interwoven with the fight for equality which gathered pace through the latter half of the 20th century. If lesbians and gay men had cause for concern about how their lives were depicted on screen, bisexual and transgender representation was almost non existent. There have been glimmers of hope: the landmark features of the 60s, the ‘New Queer Cinema’ of the early 90s; the pioneering TV plays of the 70s, and the tabloid-bating serials which saw in the new Millennium. This collection offers a chance to look back, to revisit and discover - not just the icons of gay cinema but the lesser-known treasures. Many of these shorts and features were made with the backing of the BFI Production Board, which championed gay filmmakers throughout the 80s and 90s.
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Baby Baby

Drama 2000 12 mins Director: Wiz

A teenager (Ben Whishaw) pays a sexually charged visit to the swimming pool.

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3 Steps to Heaven 3 Steps to Heaven

Drama 1995 87 mins Director: Constantine Giannaris

Edgy mixture of black comedy and urban drama about a woman uncovering the hidden truths about her dead lover.

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Scrubbers Scrubbers

Drama 1982 93 mins Director: Mai Zetterling

1980s borstal drama – billed as the female Scum – featuring Amanda York and Kathy Burke as inmates in a ruthless women’s prison.

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Caravaggio Caravaggio

Biopic 1986 93 mins Director: Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.

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The Chocolate Acrobat The Chocolate Acrobat

Fantasy 1995 38 mins Director: Tessa Sheridan

An elderly woman in a care home strikes up a sensual, nostalgic relationship with a young nurse.

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A Bit of Scarlet A Bit of Scarlet

Documentary 1996 71 mins Director: Andrea Weiss

Billed as 'a kind of post-modern queer soap opera for Britain', Andrea Weiss' documentary tells a sharp story.

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The Angelic Conversation The Angelic Conversation

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1985 81 mins Director: Derek Jarman

The Angelic Conversation sees Derek Jarman conjure an evocative and radical visualisation of Shakespeare’s love poems.

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The Clearing The Clearing

Animation & Artists Moving Image 1993 7 mins Director: Alexis Bistikas

An intriguing and poetic short film – a man (Derek Jarman) walking on Hampstead Heath is lured through the woods by the sound of a saxophone.

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Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon

Biopic 1998 87 mins Director: John Maybury

Derek Jacobi and Daniel Craig star as artist Francis Bacon and his muse George Dyer in John Maybury’s darkly exquisite biopic.

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Madagascar Skin Madagascar Skin

Drama 1995 91 mins Director: Christopher Newby

John Hannah stars as a painfully shy gay man who escapes the city in Chris Newby’s extraordinary second feature.

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Orlando Orlando

Fantasy 1993 93 mins Director: Sally Potter

Tilda Swinton stars in Sally Potter's dazzling interpretation of Virginia Woolf's novel.

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Sebastiane Sebastiane

Historical drama 1976 85 mins Director: Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress

A distinctly bold and sensual reclaiming of gay history, Jarman here tells the sexually intense story of the 4th-century martyr.