Where to get 20th-century LGBT movies?

August 6, 2023 5:10 AM

Where can I access the best selection of 20th-century LGBT movies?

My Netflix list includes the following (in chronological order), but I am running out of time and haven't found them in a few other sources:
* Edward II
* Ode to Billy Joe
* Sebastiane
* Cruising
* Making Love
* Law of Desire
* Orlando
* Grief
* World and Time Enough
* Priest
* The Sum of Us
* Wild Reeds
* Boys on the Side
* Beautiful Thing

I'm also looking for "Mädchen in Uniform".

posted by NotLost to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Best answer: JustWatch can help determine which streaming services have these.
posted by VirginiaPlain at 5:44 AM on August 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

You’re never going to find a broad selection of a particular type of movie, because the streaming market is vertically integrated, with rare exceptions (Netflix, Hulu), or extremely small (Criterion Channel, Mubi, Kanoby.)
posted by rhymedirective at 6:19 AM on August 6, 2023

There is a low resolution copy of The Sum of Us on YouTube, if you're unable to find it through more legitimate sources.
posted by brushtailedphascogale at 8:00 AM on August 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

I don't know how much time you have to devote to this effort over the next couple weeks, but I was in a similar boat----every time a movie came up that was "oh, i'd like to see that" but not urgently enough to act on it immediately, I'd park it on my DVD queue and just wait my turn. When Netflix announced that DVDs would stop shipping ~29SEP2023, I got serious about:

1. pruning stuff off of my queue that was available at my local library (which has an incredible DVD selection).... probably could've been saving some money there, and

2. prioritizing my queue by things I didn't want to miss, and

3. changing my plan from the 3-at-a-time plan (which I'd had since time immemorial) to more-at-a-time, for the "watching movies like it's your part-time job" blast before the end. Right now my queue is 32 movies, and I have 6 weeks left, so I think we're going to make it. if it comes to it, there's an 8-at-a-time(!) plan.

For a post-Netflix DVD world, there's many different libraries that might send you discs. The Brooklyn library famously had that until last summer, but no more. BUT you might be able to get your library to do some inter-library loans to get access to materials from other libraries.

Other hailmarys might include Redbox and Craigslist or some other local sharing/buy-nothing group.

and: Mädchen in Uniform appears to be on YouTube.
posted by adekllny at 8:25 AM on August 6, 2023

Criterion channel has a rotating selection of LBGTQ+ films. Here are some of their recent collections, and here's one of the collections called 20 LBGTQ+ Favorites.
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:34 AM on August 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: What you want is Facets Multi-Media (look for LGBTQ in the list of genres on the right) and their rent-by-mail service.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:44 PM on August 6, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: There are a bunch of smaller lgbtq streaming services out there, like Ovid.tv, which has Sebastiane and offers a free trial. According to Justwatch (that site really is your pal here) Sebastiane is also on Kanopy, which your local library may pay for (mine doesn't; they say it's too expensive), ad well as Metrograph and Flix Fling. Beautiful Thing is available for $3.99 rental from a bunch of the big streamers, e.g.

Here's a recent list of a few other queer streamers, none of which I've tried (most of their movies look like softcore for gay men or have zero reviews on RT so it's a bit of a chore to find out about them).
posted by mediareport at 4:30 AM on August 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

To clarify, Ovid.tv isn't just an lgbt streamer; its focus is on a variety of marginalized voices, controversial subjects and international filmmakers. Apologies for the confusion.
posted by mediareport at 11:57 AM on August 7, 2023