Marcus Hu

A chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to "Brokeback Mountain". Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transgender films, films about diversity and various cultures, documentaries and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?

Billy, a struggling young gay photographer (who likes Polaroids), tired of being the "other man", falls in love with Gabriel, a waiter and aspiring musician who is probably straight but possibly gay or at least curious. Billy tries to get Gabriel to model for his latest project, a series of remakes of famous Hollywood screen kisses, featuring male couples, while also trying to win his affections.