From Pride Month to Flemish film classics and animation, join this spectacular programme of cinema greatness at the Barbican this June.
Throughout the 1960s, a decade of seismic social change which culminated in the Stonewall Riots, great directors worldwide created bold films that dared to depict queerness on screen.
Despite homosexuality still being illegal in many countries around the world, including the UK and the USA, filmmakers managed to create fearless works – sometimes openly, sometimes coded – that dared to show LGBTQ+ lives on screen.
Films such as drag pageant documentary The Queen, vibrant Spanish musical Diferente and sensitive Canadian drama Winter Kept Us Warm offered queer audiences a much-needed point of identification, when any same-sex sexual activity had to take place in the shadows.
Short films and experiments, often made underground and sometimes used as tools of resistance, offered new ways for LGBQT+ people to express themselves. Meanwhile, exploitation films sensationalised LGBTQ+ lives, yet today hold value as time capsules of contemporary attitudes.
Times: Various timings and days between June 9 and July 7.
Tickets: Prices vary depending on event and screening types, but can be reserved in advance.
