Tongues Untied (1991)

Director Marlon T. Riggs’s controversial classic documentary chronicles the black gay experience. The stories show homophobia and racism: a man refused entry to a gay bar because of his color; a college student left bleeding on the sidewalk after a gay-bashing; and the loneliness and isolation of a drag queen. Some also affirm the black gay male experience: protest marches, smoky bars, “snap divas,” humorous musicology, and vogue dancing. Poet Essex Hemphill recites his poetry as the film moves forward with Riggs telling his own story of growing up. A socio-political experiment to show the marginalized gay blacks, the movie shocks as it denounces popular stereotypes and takes a slap at conformity. It ends with obituaries to AIDS victims and footage of the civil rights movement alongside of black men marching in a Gay Pride parade. A short film with a runtime of 55 minutes, the DVD has special features: a 1991 interview with Riggs, other interviews, and 7 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes·

Le Hasard Fait Bien Les Choses (2005)

Jean-Pierre (Jean-Claude Brialy) is a Swiss professor, writer, and married man, and therefore he is a good candidate to take in a troubled teen. Switzerland has a law that every citizen can be assigned a live-in foster child. But when the court appoints him the guardian of 16 year-old Antoine (Julien Bravo), all hell breaks loose in Jean-Pierre's private life, which he has been secretly sharing with his Cuban lover and masseur, Armando (Antonio Interlandi). Jean-Pierre asks his long absent wife Alice (Sabine Haudepin) to help convince the judge that his is not a proper home for Antoine. He married 10 years ago in a "marriage of convenience" to satisfy his mother and to give Alice Swiss citizenship. He is forced to deal with his depressed wife, his hysterical boyfriend, an endearing "son", blackmail from the father of Antoine's girlfriend, a near fistfight with his wife's jealous ex-boyfriend, and the authorities hot on his tail.

This film is beautifully photographed, charming, comical, the cast is superb, and it gives hope that things will improve for gay people. It is a tender story that looks at the different ways in which love manifests itself, and the conflicts older gay men face in attempting to manage professional lives with personal lives. Sylvette Frydman composed the music score, Thierry Malet wrote the screenplay, and Lorenzo Gabriele directed. The language is in French with English subtitles. The English title is "As Luck Would Have It".