There’s something for everyone in this new season
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE FROM THE QUEEN, USA 1968, DIR FRANK SIMON
Travel back in time at the Barbican Cinema this summer with their new season Queer 60s: LGBTQ+ Cinema In The Decade Before Stonewall. Taking place between 9 June and 7 July, the iconic cinema will be screening the films that defined queer culture in the 1960s.
This follows the Barbican’s previous Queer 80s and Queer 70s seasons in previous years, celebrating LGBTQIA+ cinema throughout history. Coinciding with Pride Month, Queer 60s will focus on how filmmakers were able to create queer joy, amplify queer voices and provide representation at a time when being LGBTQIA+ was illegal in many countries. The season will open with Frank Simon’s classic documentary The Queen, which focuses on the build-up to a 1967 New York drag pageant.
Rebecca Fons, the Head of Film at the Barbican, said: “For the past three years, the Barbican has been exploring LGBTQ+ representation on screen and behind the camera. Beginning in 2023, we’ve travelled back in time through the 90s, 80s, and 70s, taking an annual cinematic journey to showcase stories that reflect queer lives, celebrate icons, and revisit revolutions. With Queer 60s, we present titles that represent acts of defiance in a decade where homosexuality was still a considered a crime and films where the subtle suggestion of queerness serves as a shout of rebellion. From canonical documentaries to films primed for discovery, we look forward to sharing these ten years with audiences.”
Other screenings include Ingmar Bergman’s drama Persona (1966), which features an intense relationship between a nurse and an actress. There will also be several shorts programmes available throughout the month, including Gay Erotica From The 1960s, Queer Britain On Screen In The 1960s and more.
Alex Davidson, curator of Queer 60s, said: “It is astonishing that so many great queer films were made in the 1960s, a decade of incredible social change, despite same sex sexual activity being illegal in so many countries around the world. Discovering rare and seldom screened queer works, including psychological dramas, musicals, documentaries and home movies, has been incredibly rewarding. I am so excited to see these fantastic films come back to life on our cinema screens.”
The month will also host several special screenings, such as Film Rarities And The Films of Edwards Owens, a collection of rare queer cinema accompanied by a live score by students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Audiences can also dip their toes into rare queer film with the Bits And Bobs From The 1960s shorts programme, featuring a recorded introduction by curator Jenni Olson. From a queer teen on their holidays to a love-seeking trans woman, there is something for everyone.
Find out more here: queer-60s-lgbtq-cinema-in-the-decade-before-stonewall
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