Happy Pride Month everyone! It’s time for a deep dive!
We’ve seen A LOT of great LGBTQ+ films over the years, so we decided to compile a giant list of films and documentaries for your viewing pleasure.
We couldn’t include everything. Believe it or not, our original list was much, much, much longer than this one! But it was honestly a bit too much. So instead, we decided to present you with a more curated list of some of our personal favorites. The films below range from aesthetic masterpieces to camp classics to groundbreaking works of historical significance. Enjoy!
[Editor’s Note: Please keep in mind that every work of art is a product of its time, and many of the older films need to be understood in the context of the eras when they were originally created.]
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) — directed by Stephan Elliott
Ailey (2021) — directed by Jamila Wignot
Aimée & Jaguar (1999) — directed by Max Färberböck
Albert Nobbs (2011) — directed by Rodrigo García
All About My Mother (1999) — directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Ammonite (2020) — directed by Francis Lee
Bad Education (2004) — directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Bambi (2013) — directed by Sébastien Lifshitz
Beau Travail (1999) — directed by Claire Denis
Beefcake (1999) — directed by Thom Fitzgerald
Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (1984) — directed by Greta Schiller
Bessie (2015) — directed by Dee Rees
Better Than Chocolate (1999) — directed by Anne Wheeler
The Birdcage (1996) — directed by Mike Nichols
Black is... Black Ain't (1995) — directed by Marlon Riggs
Born in Flames (1983) — directed by Lizzie Borden
Bound (1996) — directed by Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski
Boys Don't Cry (1999) — directed by Kimberly Peirce
The Boys in the Band (1970) — directed by William Friedkin
Brokeback Mountain (2005) — directed by Ang Lee
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2003) — directed by Nancy Kates
The Business of Fancydancing (2002) — directed by Sherman Alexie
Butley (1974) — directed by Harold Pinter
Cabaret (1972) — directed by Bob Fosse
La Cage aux Folles (1978) — directed by Édouard Molinaro
Call Me By Your Name (2017) — directed by Luca Guadagnino
Caravaggio (1986) — directed by Derek Jarman
Carmin Tropical (2014) — directed by Rigoberto Pérezcano
Carol (2015) — directed by Todd Haynes
Carrington (1995) — directed by Christopher Hampton
Chavela (2017) — directed by Catherine Gund & Daresha Kyi
Chris & Don: A Love Story (2007) — directed by Guido Santi & Tina Mascara
The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970) — directed by Irving Rapper
The Celluloid Closet (1995) — directed by Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
Chutney Popcorn (1999) — directed by Nisha Ganatra
City of Lost Souls (1983) — directed by Rosa von Praunheim
Claire of the Moon (1992) — directed by Nicole Conn
Close (2022) — directed by Lukas Dhont
Cloudburst (2011) — directed by Thom Fitzgerald
The Children's Hour (1961) — directed by William Wyler
The Cockettes (2002) — directed by Bill Weber and David Weissman
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) — directed by Robert Altman
Dakan (1997) — directed by Mohamed Camara
Dallas Buyers Club (2013) — directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Dance of the 41 (2020) — directed by David Pablos
The Danish Girl (2015) — directed by Tom Hooper
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017) — directed by David France
Death in Venice (1971) — directed by Luchino Visconti
Desert Hearts (1985) — directed by Donna Deitch
Die, Mommie, Die! (2003) — directed by Charles Busch
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020) — directed by Sam Feder
Doña Herlinda and Her Son (1985) — directed by Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
The Dreamers (2003) — directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Drunktown's Finest (2014) — directed by Sydney Freeland
Dzi Croquettes (2009) — directed by Tatiana Issa & Raphael Alvarez
Edge of Seventeen (1998) — directed by David Moreton
Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement (2009) — directed by Susan Muska & Gréta Ólafsdóttir
Edward II (1991) - directed by Derek Jarman
Everything Went Fine (2021) — directed by François Ozon
A Fantastic Woman (2017) — directed by Sebastián Lelio
Farewell My Concubine (1993) — directed by Chen Kaige
Fire (1996) — directed by Deepa Mehta
Fish and Elephant (2001) — directed by Li Yu
Foxfire (1996) — directed by Annette Haywood-Carter
Framing Agnes (2022) — directed by Chase Joynt
Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) — directed by Toshio Matsumoto
Funny Boy (2020) — directed by Deepa Mehta
Gendernauts: A Journey Through Shifting Identities (1999) — directed by Monika Treut
Girls Will Be Girls (2003) — directed by Richard Day
Glen or Glenda (1953) — directed by Ed Wood
Gods and Monsters (1998) — directed by Bill Condon
Golden Gate Girls (2013) — directed by S. Louisa Wei [Wei Shiyu]
The Gospel According To André (2017) — directed by Kate Novack
Happy Together (1997) — directed by Wong Kar-wai
Heavenly Creatures (1994) — directed by Peter Jackson
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) — directed by John Cameron Mitchell
The History Boys (2006) — directed by Nicholas Hytner
History Trilogy [Nitrate Kisses (1992), Tender Fictions (1996) & History Lessons (2000)] — directed by Barbara Hammer
The Hunger (1983) — directed by Tony Scott
In a Year of 13 Moons (1978) — directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (1995) — directed by Maria Maggenti
I Am Divine (2013) — directed by Jeffrey Schwarz
I Killed My Mother (2009) — directed by Xavier Dolan
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) — directed by Patricia Rozema
Je Tu Il Elle (1974) — directed by Chantal Akerman
Jeffrey (1995) — directed by Christopher Ashley
Kate Bornstein is a Queer & Pleasant Danger (2014) — directed by Sam Feder
Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story (2019) — directed by Posy Dixon
The Killing of Sister George (1968) — directed by Robert Aldrich
Kinky Boots (2005) — directed by Julian Jarrold
The Legend of the Underground (2021) — directed by Nneka Onuorah & Giselle Bailey
Les Biches (1968) — directed by Claude Chabrol
Lilies (1996) — directed by John Greyson
Little Richard: I Am Everything (2023) — directed by Lisa Cortés
Lizzie (2018) — directed by Craig William Macneill
Longtime Companion (1989) — directed by Norman René
Looking for Langston (1989) — directed by Isaac Julien
Ludwig (1973) — directed by Luchino Visconti
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) — directed by George C. Wolfe
Ma vie en rose (1997) — directed by Alain Berliner
Mädchen in Uniform (1931) — directed by Leontine Sagan
Major! (2015) — directed by Annalise Ophelian
Mama Gloria (2020) — directed by Luchina Fisher
Maurice (1987) — directed by Merchant/Ivory (Ismail Merchant & James Ivory)
Mikaël (1924) — directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Milk (2008) — directed by Gus Van Sant
Monica (2022) — directed by Andrea Pallaoro
Montreal Main (1974) — directed by Frank Vitale
Moonlight (2016) — directed by Barry Jenkins
My Beautiful Laundrette (1986) — directed by Stephen Frears
My Name Is Pauli Murray (2021) — directed by Betsy West & Julie Cohen
My Own Private Idaho (1991) — directed by Gus Van Sant
The Naked Civil Servant (1975) — directed by Jack Gold
No Ordinary Man (2020) — directed by Aisling Chin-Yee & Chase Joynt
North Sea Texas (2011) — directed by Bavo Defurne
Nowhere (1997) — directed by Gregg Araki
Olivia (1951) — directed by Jacqueline Audry
Orlando (1992) — directed by Sally Potter
The Orphic Trilogy [The Blood of a Poet (1930), Orpheus (1950) & Testament of Orpheus (1960)] — directed by Jean Cocteau
P.S. Burn This Letter Please (2020) — directed by Michael Seligman & Jennifer Tiexiera
Pain and Glory (2019) — directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Paragraph 175 (2000) — directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
Pariah (2011) — directed by Dee Rees
Paris Is Burning (1990) — directed by Jennie Livingston
Paris Was a Woman (1996) - directed by Greta Schiller
Pink Narcissus (1971) — directed by James Bidgood
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) — directed by Céline Sciamma
Portrait of Jason (1967) — directed by Shirley Clarke
Presque Rien (2000) — directed by Sébastien Lifshitz
Purple Noon (1960) — directed by René Clément
The Queen (1968) — directed by Frank Simon
Queen Christina (1933) — directed by Rouben Mamoulian
Querelle (1982) — directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Quinceañera (2006) — directed by Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer
Running with Scissors (2006) — directed by Ryan Murphy
Satyricon (1969) — directed by Federico Fellini
Sebastiane (1976) — directed by Derek Jarman
Saving Face (2004) — directed by Alice Wu
Scorpio Rising (1964) — directed by Kenneth Anger
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017) — directed by Matt Tyrnauer
Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria (2005) — directed by Victor Silverman & Susan Stryker
A Secret Love (2020) — directed by Chris Bolan
A Single Man (2009) — directed by Tom Ford
Sordid Lives (2000) — directed by Del Shores
Southern Comfort (2001) — directed by Kate Davis
Stranger Inside (2001) — directed by Cheryl Dunye
Strangers on a Train (1951) — directed by Alfred Hitchcock
The Stroll (2023) — directed by Kristen Lovell & Zackary Drucker
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) — directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Summer of 85 (2020) — directed by François Ozon
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) — directed by John Schlesinger
Swoon (1992) — directed by Tom Kalin
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) — directed by Anthony Minghella
Tangerine (2015) — directed by Sean Baker
Tea and Sympathy (1956) — directed by Vincente Minnelli
Teorema (1968) — directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Thérèse and Isabelle (1968) — directed by Radley Metzger
Time to Leave (2005) — directed by François Ozon
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) — directed by Beeban Kidron
Tomboy (2011) — directed by Céline Sciamma
Tongues Untied (1989) — directed by Marlon Riggs
Torch Song Trilogy (1988) — directed by Paul Bogart & Harvey Fierstein
Total Eclipse (1995) — directed by Agnieska Holland
The “Trash Trilogy” [Pink Flamingos (1972), Female Trouble (1974) & Desperate Living (1977)] — directed by John Waters
Trilogy of Life [The Decameron (1971), The Canterbury Tales (1927) & Arabian Nights (1974)] — directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Two Spirits (2009) — directed by Lydia Nibley
Un Chant d'Amour (1950) — directed by Jean Genet
Venus Boyz (2002) — directed by Gabriel Baur
Vera (1986) — directed by Sérgio Toledo
Victim (1961) — directed by Basil Dearden
Vita & Virginia (2018) — directed by Chanya Button
Water Lilies (2007) — directed by Céline Sciamma
The Watermelon Woman (1996) — directed by Cheryl Dunye
The Wedding Banquet (1993) — directed by Ang Lee
What We Do Is Secret (2007) — directed by Rodger Grossman
Wigstock: The Movie (1995) — directed by Barry Shils
Wilde (1997) — directed by Brian Gilbert
Wildhood (2021) — directed by Bretten Hannam
Women in Revolt (1971) — directed by Paul Morrissey
Woubi Chéri (1998) — directed by Laurent Bocahut & Philip Brooks
The Wound (2017) — directed by John Trengove
XXY (2007) — directed by Lucía Puenzo
Y Tu Mamá También (2001) — directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Young Soul Rebels (1991) — directed by Isaac Julien
Tell us in the comments which LGBTQ+ films you love! What are some of your favorites?
OMG!!!! 🥳 🌈
What a list! I have seen several of these films and it's hard to pick a favorite-- la Cage aux Folles, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Hedwig, Sordid Lives among others. I can't pick just one. I really liked the Cockettes documentary as well.