50 Outstanding Films by LGBTQ Directors - LGBTQ+ Literature & Film

50 Outstanding Films by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer-Plus (LGBTQ+) Directors

Here are 50 extraordinary films, all made by LGBTQ directors (comprehensive list here), along with notable LGBTQ-Themed films by non-LGBTQ directors. These pictures span a century and represent almost every genre, from comedy to documentary to science fiction. Some of these pictures do not contain overt LGBTQ+ material, since for decades censorship prevented that. But LGBTQ and ally filmmakers became adept at coding, or “hiding,” such content in ingenious ways. Specifically, here are LGBTQ-related films directed by women. Also see the other LGBTQ+ Cinema resources at this site, including 50 Outstanding LGBTQ-Themed Films. I also have a brief guide to film technology and aesthetics.

So that this list does not turn into a shrine to my favorites, I’ve limited each director to a maximum of three films. For more information, titles are linked to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb); several also link to my reviews. For each film, I’ve indicated its genre(s), and whether it has substantial lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), and/or queer-plus (Q) content.

All About My Mother (Almodóvar / 1999 – drama) – GLBT
Arabian Nights (Pasolini / 1974 – fantasy) [my review] and [my Pasolini Website]
* Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein / 1925 – historical drama) [my mini-review]
* Beauty and the Beast (La belle et la bête) (Cocteau / 1946 – fantasy) [my review]
Bound (the Wachowskis / 1996) – LB
* The Bride of Frankenstein (Whale / 1935 – science fiction) – GB
Children of Paradise (Carné / 1945 – romantic drama) [my mini-review]
Edward II (Jarman / 1991 – experimental drama) – GB [my review and [my Jarman Website]
Effi Briest (Fassbinder / 1974 – drama) [my review and Fassbinder Website]
Female Trouble (Waters / 1975 – comedy) – BT
The Gospel According to [Saint] Matthew (Pasolini / 1964 – historical drama) [my review and Pasolini Website]
Grand Hotel (Goulding / 1932 – comedy/drama)
Hamlet (Olivier / 1948 – Shakespeare adaptation)
The Honeymoon Killers (Kastle / 1969 – suspense / biography)
Howards End (Merchant/Ivory / 1992 – drama) [my mini-review]
If… (Anderson / 1968 – drama)
In a Year With 13 Moons (Fassbinder / 1978 – drama) [my review] and [Fassbin d er Website]
Ivan the Terrible, Part I & Part II (Eisenstein / 1943–1946 – historical drama)
The Last Laugh (Murnau / 1924 – drama)
Meet Me in St. Louis (Minnelli / 1944 – musical comedy) [my review]
The Merchant of Four Seasons (Fassbinder / 1971 – drama) [my review and [Fassbin der Website]
Midnight Cowboy (Schlesinger / 1969 – drama) – GBT
My Fair Lady (Cukor / 1964 – musical comedy) [my note on Cukor]
My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant / 1991 – drama) – GB [my review]
The Night of the Hunter (Laughton / 1955 – suspense) [my mini-review]
* Nosferatu (Murnau / 1922 – horror) [my revie w ]
The Opposite of Sex (Roos / 1998 – comedy) – GB [my mini-review]
Orpheus (Cocteau / 1950 – fantasy) [my mini-review ]
Ossessione (Visconti / 1942 – adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice – suspense) [my mini-review]
Paris is Burning (Livingston / 1990) – LGBTQ
Paris Was A Woman (Schiller / 1995 – documentary) [my review]
The Philadelphia Story (Cukor / 1940 – comedy) [my mini-review]
Poison (Haynes / 1991 – experimental drama) – GB
Pygmalion (Asquith / 1938 – comedy)
Rebel Without a Cause (Ray / 1955 – drama) – GB
Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli / 1968 – Shakespeare adaptation)
Salò (Pasolini / 1975 – horrific drama) – GLBT [my review and Pasolini Website]
Sebastiane (Jarman & Humfress / 1976 – historical drama) – GB [my review and Jarman Website]
See the Sea (Ozon / 1997 – suspense) [my review]
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Paradjanov / 1964 – experimental folk drama)
Show Boat (Whale / 1936 – musical drama)
Stories from the War on Homosexuality: Coming Out Under Fire (1994), Licensed to Kill (1997) & Family Fundamentals (2002) (Dong – documentary) – GLBT [my review]
A Story of Floating Weeds (1934) & remake Floating Weeds (1959) (Ozu – dramas)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (Schlesinger / 1971 – drama) – GB [my review]
Tarnation (Caouette / 2004 – documentary) – G [my review]
Tarzan and His Mate (Gibbons / 1934 – action/adventure)
Tom Jones (Richardson / 1963 – comedy)
* Tokyo Story (Ozu / 1953 – drama)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) [my review]
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Almodóvar / 1989 – comedy) [my mini-review]

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Notable LGBTQ-Themed Films by Non-LGBTQ Directors

Below are some exceptional LGBTQ-Themed films made by prominent directors who are not LGBTQ-identified. Some of these films, together with selected titles from above, appear among 50 Outstanding LGBTQ Films. I do not mean to “de-gay” anyone, but no reliable source has identified these filmmakers as LGBTQ. Regardless, these are all outstanding films, with some ahead of their time for representing LGBTQ experience.

Advise and Consent (Otto Preminger / 1962)
Alexander (Oliver Stone / 2004)
American Beauty (Sam Mendes / 1999)
Angels in America (Mike Nichols / 2003)
Another Country (Marek Kanievska / 1984)
Beautiful Thing (Hettie McDonald / 1996)
Before Night Falls (Julian Schnabel / 2000)
Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze / 1999)
The Birdcage (Mike Nichols / 1996)
Blood and Roses (Roger Vadim / 1961)
The Boys in the Band (William Friedkin / 1970)
Breakfast on Pluto (Neil Jordan / 2005)
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee / 2005) [my review]
A Bullet for the General (aka Quien sabe?) (Damiano Damiani / 1967) [my mini-review]
Bully (Larry Clark / 2001) [my mini-review]
Cabaret (Bob Fosse / 1972)
The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller / 1996)
Capote (Bennett Miller / 2005)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Joe & Anthony Russo / 2014)
Cat People (Jacques Tourneur / 1942)
Chasing Amy (Kevin Smith / 1997)
The Children’s Hour (William Wyler / 1962)
Chuck & Buck (Miguel Arteta / 2000)
Citizen Ruth (Alexander Payne / 1996)
City Lights (Charles Chaplin / 1931 – the “eccentric millionaire” character)
The Comfort of Strangers (Paul Schrader / 1991)
The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci / 1970)
The Crying Game (Neil Jordan / 1992)
Daughters of Darkness (Harry Kümel / 1971)
The Decline of the American Empire (Denys Arcand / 1986)
Deep Red (Dario Argento / 1975)
Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot / 1955)
Different From the Others (Anders als die Andern) (Richard Oswald / 1919) [my review]
Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet / 1975)
Ed Wood (Tim Burton / 1994)
Enduring Love (Roger Michell / 2004)
Entre Nous (Diane Kurys / 1983)
Farewell My Concubine (Chen Kaige / 1993)
Fellini Satyricon (Federico Fellini / 1969) [my mini-review]
Flesh and the Devil (Clarence Brown / 1926)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell / 1994)
The 4th Man (Paul Verhoeven / 1984)
Frida (Julie Taymor / 2002)
Friends Forever (Stefan Henszelman / 1987)
The Ghost Ship (Mark Robson / 1943)
Gilda (Charles Vidor / 1946)
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (Charles Guggenheim & John Stix / 1959)
Happy Together (Wong Kar-wai / 1997)
The Haunting (Robert Wise / 1963) [my mini-review]
Heavenly Creatures (Peter Jackson / 1994) [my review]
Henry & June (Philip Kaufman / 1990)
The Hunger (Tony Scott / 1983)
I Shot Jesse James (Samuel Fuller / 1949)
In & Out (Frank Oz / 1997)
In Cold Blood (Richard Brooks / 1967)
The Killing of Sister George (Robert Aldrich / 1968)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Hector Babenço / 1985)
The Krays (Peter Medak / 1990)
La Cage aux Folles (Edouard Molinaro / 1978)
Last Summer in the Hamptons (Henry Jaglom / 1995)
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean / 1962)
Les Biches (Claude Chabrol / 1968)
Lianna (John Sayles / 1983)
Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy / 1930)
Mädchen in Uniform (Leontine Sagan / 1931)
Making Love (Arthur Hiller / 1982)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Roeg / 1976)
Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese / 1973)
Michael (Mikaël) (Carl Th. Dreyer / 1924) [my review]
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (Clint Eastwood / 1997)
Mishima (Paul Schrader / 1985)
Monster (Patty Jenkins / 2003) [my review]
Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch / 2001)
The Music Lovers (Ken Russell / 1971)
My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears / 1986)
My Summer of Love (Pawel Pawlikowski / 2004)
Nadja (Michael Almereyda / 1994)
Notes On a Scandal (Richard Eyre / 2006)
Orlando (Sally Potter / 1992)
The Outlaw (Howard Hughes & uncredited Howard Hawks / 1943) [my mini-review]
Pandora’s Box (G.W. Pabst / 1928)
Papillon (Franklin J. Schaffner / 1973)
Performance (Nicholas Roeg & Donald Cammell / 1970)
Persona (Ingmar Bergman / 1966)
Personal Best (Robert Towne / 1982)
Philadelphia (Jonathan Demme / 1993)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (Peter Weir / 1975)
Priest (Antonia Bird / 1994)
The Producers (Susan Stroman / 2005)
Red River (Howard Hawks / 1948) [my mini-review]
Reflections in a Golden Eye (John Huston / 1967)
Rent (Chris Columbus / 2005)
The Ritz (Richard Lester / 1976)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman / 1975)
Rope (Alfred Hitchcock / 1948)
The Servant (Joseph Losey / 1963)
Sex in Chains (Geschlecht in Fesseln) (Wilhelm [William] Dieterle / 1928) [my review]
The Silence (Ingmar Bergman / 1963)
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder / 1959)
Something for Everyone (Hal Prince / 1970)
Sonatine (Takeshi Kitano / 1993)
A Special Day (Ettore Scola / 1977)
Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock / 1951) [my mini-review and my in-depth analysis of a sequence]
Suddenly, Last Summer (Joseph L. Mankiewicz / 1959)
Taboo (Gohatto) (Nagisa Oshima / 1999)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella / 1999)
Tales of the City (Alastair Reid / 1993) [my review]
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Adam McKay / 2006)
This Special Friendship (Jean Delannoy / 1964)
THX 1138 (George Lucas / 1971)
Total Eclipse (Agnieska Holland / 1995)
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles / 1958)
Victim (Basil Dearden / 1961) [my review]
The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot / 1952)
The Wedding Banquet (Ang Lee / 1993)
Wild Reeds (André Téchiné / 1994)
Wilde (Brian Gilbert / 1997)
Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuarón / 2002)
You Are Not Alone (Ernst Johansen & Lasse Nielsen / 1978)
Young Törless (Volker Schlöndorff / 1966)
Zachariah (George Englund / 1971) [my review]

Begun 1997 / Revised March 28, 2021

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