LGBT Faith & Equality Film List
A list of some of the best feature and documentary films exploring LGBT people and religion — including several new releases alongside other widely available films and including a handful of hard to find but significant titles worth seeking out.
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30 titles
- DirectorStephen ConeStarsMolly KunzEric HulsebosTyler RossA vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.
- DirectorMacky AlstonStarsGene RobinsonA documentary on Gene Robinson, the openly gay bishop who set a precedent in New Hampshire state politics, and the battle for LGBT people to receive full acceptance in the faith.
- StarsAl PacinoMeryl StreepEmma ThompsonSeveral disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
- DirectorSandi Simcha DubowskiStarsShlomo AshkinazySteve GreenbergNathan Lopes CardozoA cinematic portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.
- DirectorC. Jay CoxStarsWes RamseySteve SandvossMary Kay PlaceA promiscuous gay party animal falls for a young Mormon missionary, leading to crisis, cliché, and catastrophe.
- DirectorAvi NesherStarsFanny ArdantAnia BuksteinMichal ShtamlerTwo brilliant young women discover their own voices in a repressive orthodox culture where females are forbidden to sing, let alone speak out.
- DirectorDaniel G. KarslakeStarsImogene RobinsonVictor RobinsonGene RobinsonAn exploration of the intersection between religion and homosexuality in the U.S. and how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to stigmatize the gay community.
- DirectorParvez SharmaStarsMuhsin HendricksA.K. HoosenMazenA documentary on gay, lesbian, and transgender Muslims across the Muslim and Western worlds.
- DirectorRussell MulcahyStarsSigourney WeaverHenry CzernyRyan KelleyTrue story of Mary Griffith, gay rights crusader, whose teenage son committed suicide due to her religious intolerance. Based on the book of the same title by Leroy Aarons.
- DirectorReed CowanSteven GreenstreetStarsSpencer JonesTyler BarrickDustin Lance BlackA scorching indictment of the Mormon Church's historic involvement in the promotion & passage of California's Proposition 8 and the Mormon religion's secretive, decades-long campaign against LGBT human rights.
- DirectorJon GarciaStarsNick FerrucciBenjamin FarmerBrian J. Saville AllardThe Falls is a feature film about two missionaries that fall in love while on their mission.
- DirectorBrian DannellyStarsJena MaloneMandy MooreMacaulay CulkinWhen a girl attending a Christian high school becomes pregnant, all of her former friends turn on her and she is ostracized and demonized.
- DirectorJamie BabbitStarsNatasha LyonneClea DuVallMichelle WilliamsA naive teenager is sent to rehab camp when her straitlaced parents and friends suspect her of being a lesbian.
- DirectorJeff LondonStarsRon PetronicolosJason SumabatPatrick Orion HoestereyPaul is completing his last year of Bible College but is struggling with some desires that may get him thrown out of school.
- DirectorHaim TabakmanStarsZohar StraussRan Khalil DankerTinkerbellA married, Orthodox, Jerusalem butcher and Jewish father of four falls in love with his handsome, 22-year-old male apprentice, triggering the suspicions of his wife and the disapproval of his Orthodox community.
- DirectorJoshua LimStarsMark CirilloLinda J. CarterPhilip WillcoxA closeted student at a conservative theological seminary, struggles to come to terms with his nurtured beliefs and coming out to himself, his friends, and his only surviving family member. At this low point mentally and emotionally, Ryan ends up in a troubled online relationship which leads him to question everything he has known about God and Love.
- DirectorAntonia BirdStarsLinus RoacheTom WilkinsonRobert CarlyleA homosexual Catholic priest finds out during confessional that a young girl is being sexually abused by her father, and has to decide how to deal with both that secret and his own.
- DirectorKy DickensStarsTerri AbbottJames BankstonRyan BarrettA documentary that faces down the controversies between homosexuality and religion, examining Bible verses quoted as condemnatory, and discussing alternative meanings.
- DirectorRobert CaryStarsJeremy GlazerChad AllenDavid PetruzziA sex and drug-addicted young man who is forced into a Christian-run ministry in an attempt to cure him of his "gay affliction," where instead he is faced with the truth in his heart and spirit.
- DirectorRoger Ross WilliamsAn account of the American Evangelicals' attempts to indoctrinate their Christian Right beliefs in Uganda.
- DirectorBrendan FayTaking A Chance On God chronicles the extraordinary life and legacy of 85 year old John McNeill, gay Catholic priest, founder of the LGBT spiritual movement, and pioneering voice of gay liberation. Refusing to betray his own conscience, McNeill stood up to the man who became Pope Benedict XVI and would not be silenced. The Film depicts McNeill's remarkable journey: growing up in Buffalo, escaping death as a POW in Nazi Germany, falling in love with his husband, writing groundbreaking books, coming out on national television, calling for compassion and justice during the AIDS crisis, and celebrating the unique spiritual gifts of LGBT people. Theologians, journalists, activists, and LGBT religious figures, including openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, movingly testify to McNeill's influence and importance.
- DirectorChris BelloniStarsRayan RayanThis intimate documentary I AM GAY AND MUSLIM follows a number of young Moroccan gay men in their exploration of their religious and sexual identity. The men portrayed in the film openly share their personal experiences and talk about the ambiguity and secretiveness of the life they feel condemned to live, although some have openly acknowledged their sexual orientation.
- DirectorArthur DongStarsBrian BennettKathleen BremnerPaul BremnerWhat happens when religiously conservative Christian parents have children who "become homosexual?" FAMILY FUNDAMENTALS is filmmaker Arthur Dong's personal attempt to answer that explosive question.
- DirectorIrena FayngoldHineini (Hebrew for 'Here I am') chronicles the story of one student's courageous fight to establish a gay-straight alliance at a Jewish high school in the Boston area and the transformative impact of her campaign on everyone involved. Beyond the struggle to create a supportive environment for gay and lesbian students and teachers at the school, this is the story of a community wrestling with the very definition of pluralism and diversity in a Jewish context. Shulamit Izen enters 9th grade at The New Jewish High School (now Gann Academy) longing to connect more deeply with her Jewish faith. She also starts school as an out lesbian. Using interviews with Shulamit, her family, teachers, and other students - both those who support her campaign and those who oppose it - the film allows the members of this community to tell their own story as it unfolds. What emerges is a potent story of Jewish pluralism and a community navigating the cross-currents of Jewish tradition and social change.
- DirectorTeodoro ManiaciFrancine RzeznikStarsRalph BlairPat BuchananMichael BusseeFocusing on the contemporary religious Right Wing proliferation of curative therapies for homosexuality, this riveting documentary offers historical context as well as a political analysis of this frighteningly large movement.
- DirectorDee MosbacherFrances ReidSylvia RhueStarsJames A. Forbes Jr.Jesse JacksonCarol Moseley BraunProminent religious, intellectual, and political leaders, family members and activists speak out about the role of the Church and the importance of commitment to equal rights and social justice for all people, including lesbians and gay men.
- DirectorMacky AlstonWhen Macky Alston's fellow seminarian, Alan Smith, died of AIDS, Alston had a crisis of faith that caused him to make this documentary. Alston sought out Smith's partner and family and tried to answer the question "Why does God permit such senseless tragedies"
- StarsGeraldine McEwanElizabeth SpriggsFreda DowieJessica, raised in a fanatical cult, endures brainwashing until her forbidden relationship with Melanie opens her eyes. They face cruel treatment for their 'unnatural' bond, but Jessica's spirit overcomes the oppressive teachings.
- DirectorMiguel PicazoStarsCarmen MauraMercedes SampietroAurora BautistaIn the middle of the Spanish Golden Age, a Castilian convent is about to be closed and the nuns residing there dispersed. Then, one of the sisters comes up with a saving idea that could restore well-being to the community: to pretend that she has stigmata on her hands.
- DirectorMaría Luisa BembergStarsAssumpta SernaDominique SandaHéctor AlterioThis fact-based film examines the life of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna), a Roman Catholic nun from Mexico City who, in the midst of the Spanish Inquisition, established herself as an important New World philosopher, poet, playwright and early feminist. When Sor Juana comes under the scrutiny of a vicious archbishop (Lautaro Murúa) for her unconventional ways, she must appeal to a powerful political connection -- the Viceroy's scholarly wife.