Let us know if you find any other links to free queer films: leedsqueerfilmfestival@gmail.com
Please note: inclusion on this list does not necessarily mean LQFF have seen the films or are endorsing them. So if you watch something and love it or hate it, let us know!
Please also note: this is a UK-centric list. We cannot guarantee all links will be available outside the UK and sadly we don't have the resource to test this. Thank you for understanding!
Film Year Running time Description Link Expiry date? Access info
120 BPM 2017 2hr23m Director Robin Campillo draws on personal experience of gay activism in 1990s Paris to tell the story of anti-AIDS pressure group, ACT UP, as their campaign of direct action ramps up https://www.channel4.com/programmes/120-bpm 28/3/20 French with English subtitles
A Bigger Splash 1974 1hr44m Semi-fictionalized documentary biopic of British artist David Hockney. After a difficult break-up, Hockney is left unable to paint, much to the concern of his friends. http://www.ubu.com/film/hockney_splash.html In English, no subtitles available
A Year in Transition 2018 1hr10m Trans man and film maker Lorne Clarkson documents their friend Issa’s personal journey as a 20 year old Arab-American trans masculine person. A positive and charming insight into coming out, taking hormones, having top surgery, and finding solace in the trans community. CN: discussion of surgery and misgendering https://vimeo.com/259562788 In English with English or French subtitles available
Aban + Khorshid 2014 16m Inspired by true events, Aban and Khorshid is an intimate portrait of two lovers, glimpsing into the world in which they met, moments before their execution for being gay. https://vimeo.com/147873227 In Persian with English subtitles
Acid Soda 2017 10m A love story between a mouse and a ballerina. https://vimeo.com/222200243/3066b4374b In English, no subtitles available
Alan Bennett's Diaries 2016 59m Inspired by his acerbic and often hilarious diaries, this documentary shows Alan Bennett as he has never been seen before. The film follows Bennett to New York, the scene of his early triumph in Beyond the Fringe, to his community library in Primrose Hill which, he despairs, some would rather see turned into a pizza restaurant, to the East Coast railway line, which he would like to see renationalised, and to the village in Yorkshire he calls home. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b086kc2c/alan-bennetts-diaries 31/3/20 In English with English subtitles available. Audio Description available.
All Out! Dancing in Dulais 1986 23m The original 1986 documentary which the film 'Pride' is based on. Radical queers at the time were involved with supporting the miners in the 1985/5 Miners’ strike and we in the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ Group made a record of our involvement with a mining community in South Wales. https://vimeo.com/22972867 In English, no subtitles available
Alone With People 2014 30m Growing up gay in the US South, a high school girl seeks the help of a therapist to come out to her family and friends in this coming-of-age story. https://vimeo.com/136354421 In English, no subtitles available
Anya Kneez: A Queen in Beirut 2018 11m Drag artist Anya Kneez moves back home from New York To Beirut. https://vimeo.com/224944116 In English with English subtitles
Apart From Everything 2017 20m After a two-year absence and a recent stint in rehab, Fran returns home to Toronto. Struggling to live soberly for the first time in her adult life, she must face the emotional fallout of her disappearance and make amends with the girlfriend and the brother she left behind. https://vimeo.com/160495898 In English, no subtitles available
BalaclavaQ Various Various More than 60 queer artists films. Balaclava.Q is an international queer visual art project & collective that seeks to connect, promote and create platforms for queer artists. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXMzQZCY5Oyl-VJmtOdF6HQ?fbclid=IwAR0lvU7CsxHq0LgTLSrn04W-cnfuNt3r96ljEPUxGpGDRMSjCad7w-ahqmA Auto-generated captions available
Balloon 2019 16m In the brutal battlefield of junior high, Sam has always tried to stay below radar. But all that changes when he discovers he has super powers. https://vimeo.com/371525503 In English with English or Spanish subtitles available
Barbara Hammer - A Selection of Films 1968 onwards ~1hr40m As part of Company Gallery's "In Company With" series, a selection of films by Barbara Hammer will be available for viewing online. A suggested donation to Queer | Art, which helps organize the Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Film Grant is encouraged. https://www.queer-art.org/donate https://vimeo.com/showcase/incompanywith Silent/ No Dialogue/ In English, no subtitles available
Beautiful By Night 2014 29m A documentary following three older drag entertainers at Aunt Charlie's Lounge in San Francisco's Tenderloin. With Olivia Hart, Collette LeGrande, and Donna Personna. https://vimeo.com/106252146
Beautiful Thing 1995 1hr 30m Glen Berry and Scott Neal star in Hettie MacDonald's coming-of-age/coming-out comedy-drama. Two outwardly very different teenage boys explore their mutual sexual attraction. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/beautiful-thing In English with English subtitles available
Bedding Andrew 2014 5m Short doc about gay sex and disability. https://vimeo.com/94185101 In English, no subtitles available
Before Stonewall 1984 1hr27m Documentary history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. https://youtu.be/cvvk9jDDjKg In English with German subtitles. Autogenerate English captions available.
Behind Every Good Man 1967 9m Produced several years before the historic Stonewall uprising for LGBT rights in 1969, director Nikolai Ursin's gently-activist short provides an illuminating glimpse into the life of an African-American trans woman. https://youtu.be/ylnNsO9KFq4 In English, no subtitles available
Believer 2018 1hr33m Believer follows Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds on a new, personal, mission to explore how The Mormon church treats its LGBTQ members. With the suicide rate rising amongst teens in the church’s home state of Utah, his concern with the church’s teachings forbidding same-sex sexual behaviour sends him on path of acceptance and change. Believer follows Dan and openly gay ex-Mormon and lead singer of Neon Trees, Tyler Glenn, as they create LoveLoud, a festival they hope will reconcile the church and members of the LGBTQ community. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p06mns2n/believer In English with English subtitles available
Beyond “There’s always a black issue Dear" 2018 35m The film explores and celebrates black LGBT identities. Demarcating the particular influence that Black LGBT culture has had upon Fashion, Fine art, Dance, Music and Language, much of which has been appropriated by the cultural mainstream. The cast vividly recall daring to be different. Ballet dancing boys, and make-up wearing, gender-fluid school days, are described with humour and honesty. Their experiences shed new light on the UK in the 1970s/80s. Creating their own identities in a time when, ‘if you were black you could be either Reggae or Soul’, these are the untold stories where 1970s, Soul, Disco, Punks and Blitz Kids met in underground clubs, like The Four Aces in Dalston and Crackers in Soho. Beyond captures a vital historical period, moving through the 70s, 80s and early 90s into the explosion of queer culture at Taboo. https://vimeo.com/307596231 In English, no subtitles available
Being Marcus 2019 28m Observational documentary, providing an honest insight into the experiences of a Deaf trans man. https://www.bslzone.co.uk/watch/being-marcus In BSL and English with English subtitles available
BFI Flare Due to cancellation Flare have put their programme online which can be watched for free if you sign up for a 14 day trial version of BFI Player OR free for 7 days with Amazon Prime. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/collection/lgbt-britain 29/3/20
Bloodsisters 1995 1hr9m From pushy bottoms to macho femmes, Bloodsisters is an A-Z documentary guide that takes an in-depth look at the San Francisco Leatherdyke scene during the mid-nineties. For the 25 year anniversary of Michelle Handelman's ground-breaking documentary the London BFI Flare 2020 Festival programmer Jay Bernard organized a post-screening panel called BODILY AUTONOMY to discuss the significance of Bloodsisters 25 years on–and current consent laws that restrict queer sexualities and subcultures. Link includes the original film plus interviews. https://vimeo.com/showcase/bloodsisters In English, no subtitles available
Brace 2015 25m After coming out and leaving his girlfriend, Adam dreams of finding acceptance within London's gay scene. His burgeoning freedom is soon challenged when he meets Rocky, a handsome stranger who is harboring a secret that he desperately wants to share with Adam. As their bond strengthens and Rocky prepares to reveal his secret to Adam, their fledgling romance is ruptured by a cataclysmic event that forces the truth to come out in the most explosive manner. CN: transphobia, violence https://vimeo.com/131741261 In English, no subtitles available
Burton Before And After 2018 15m Shown at LQFF 2018. Burton Before and After is an intimate portrait of transition, memory, and friendship. https://vimeo.com/336700775 In English with English subtitles
By Hook or by Crook 2001 1hr 38m By Hook or by Crook chronicles the tale of two unlikely friends who commit petty crimes as they search for a path to understanding themselves and the outside world. Silas Howard plays Shy (a transgender man), who leaves his small town after the death of his father, and heads to the big city to live a life of crime. Along the way, he encounters Valentine, a quirky adoptee, in search of his birth mother. An immediate k