With the surprise win of Moonlight at the 89th Academy Awards for Best Picture, what could have been the year of the musical has become a banner year for LGBT cinema in 2017 instead.
Awkward moments because of an erring envelope aside, the LGBT movie Moonlight was the highlight at the recent Oscars.
But Moonlight was just the cream of the crop as 2017 has already shown potential as being a most friendly-LGBT year for cinema.
Last January, independent films shown at the Sundance Film Festival was peppered with a lot of LGBT movies.
LGBT cinema in 2017: Dee Rees’ Mudbound
Not an LGBT film per se but Mudbound director Dee Rees has just became one of the most talked about directors in Hollywood.
A black lesbian director, Rees debuted with the critically acclaimed Pariah, a coming-of-age story of an African-American discovering her lesbianism.
She was also behind the bio pic of known lesbian blues singer Bessie Smith in Bessie, that starred Queen Latifah.
With Mudbound, she translated the novel with the same title into a film, about two WWII soldiers coming home and adjusting to post-war life.
LGBT cinema in 2017: Craig Johnson’s Wilson
SNL alumnus Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader became dramatic actors in Craig Johnson’s 2014 The Skeleton Twins. It was a crowd favorite at the Sundance during its run.
This time around, the gay director tackles the graphic novel Wilson by Daniel Clowes. The film was described as kitschy and reminded people of the dry humor of John Waters.
“Tackling this material was a tricky proposition, but the movie pulls off some endearing qualities thanks to director Craig Johnson,” wrote Eric Kohn for Indie Wire.
LGBT cinema in 2017: Call Me by Your Name
James Ivory is back to indie films by writing the script for Call Me by Your Name from the novel of the same title.
He wrote it along with the director Luca Guadagnino. It’s about a 17 year-old boy who has a relationship with an academic who stayed with them in their family villa in Italy one summer.
LGBT cinema in 2017: This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous
In this documentary by Barbara Kopple, Gigi was once a man named Gregory, who used to post fashion videos on YouTube from his own room. Then he suddenly came out as transgender woman.
The documentary is about Gigi’s personal life, and the love and support of her family as she transitioned.
LGBT cinema in 2017: Axolotl Overkill
The German film was an adaptation of its director, Helene Hegemann, from her own best-selling novel of the same name.
Axolotl is a Mexican salamander with amphibian tendencies. It never develops to anything than what it is, i.e. an axolotl is eternally young.
The film is about 16 year-old Mifti, who falls obsessively in love with the older, white collar criminal Alice.
LGBT cinema in 2017: Moonlight
Then of course there’s the LGBT film Moonlight, which shows three parts of a boy’s life, including his struggles with his sexuality.
With its recent win at the Oscars, we’re sure Moonlight will be on everyone’s list of must-watch movies this year.
