The LGBT Films of Tribeca 2017

From the opening night documentary about Clive Davis, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, to the closing night celebration of The Godfather, the Tribeca Film Festival promises one of its most exciting years yet. There's also plenty to offer LGBT fans, not least among them films about the artist Tom of Finland and the civil rights legend Marsha P. Johnson. See the selections on the following pages. And don't miss the full lineup of films, parties, talks, and more at TribecaFilm.com.

Academy Award-nominated director David France’s (How to Survive a Plague) new documentary centers on self-described “street queen” Marsha P. Johnson, legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto, who along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a trans activist group based in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. Mysteriously, Marsha was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992. At the time, the NYPD pegged her death as a suicide, a claim that Marsha’s comrades have always firmly rejected. Structured as a whodunit, with activist Victoria Cruz cast as detective and audience surrogate, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson celebrates Johnson's lasting political legacy while seeking to finally solve the mystery of her unexplained death. — Loren Hammonds

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Love the Sinner, a short codirected by Geeta Gandbhir and Jessica Devaney, explores the evangelical roots of homophobia in the wake of the Pulse shooting. It is told through the lens of Jessica, who undergoes a journey of transformation from a conservative to an LGBT activist struggling to reconcile with her past. Buy tickets here.

From shunned to celebrated, this is the story of cult-artist Touko Laaksonen (Pekka Strang), better known as Tom of Finland, and the events that influenced his iconic homoerotic drawings. After the trauma of serving in World War II, Touko finds no peace at home as he has to go to increasing lengths to hide his homosexuality, even from his family. As the secret affairs and police crackdowns wear on him, he commits more deeply to his art, drawing inspiration from the uniforms that oppress him. Touko gains confidence from the positive reaction he receives after sharing his explicit drawings of muscular men in sexually uninhibited situations with a select few. But it is only when an American publisher sees them and invites Touko over to the West Coast that his life really takes a turn. Finally being able to walk free and proud in Los Angeles, Tooko dives head first into the sexual revolution, becoming an icon and a rallying point. Touko’s story is unique and unforgettable. Director Dome Karukoski brings him to life, creating a moving portrayal of the man behind the legendary images.​ — Jule Rozite

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Nico (Guillermo Pfening) was a famous actor in Argentina, but in New York, nobody takes notice. After giving up a successful career in his home country for a chance to make it in the Big Apple, he needs to juggle bartending, babysitting, and odd jobs to keep himself afloat. Starting from square one is hard in the city of dreams. With each role Nico takes on, he puts on a new persona in order to fit in. He performs the ideal bartender, the up-and-coming actor, the friend, the father figure. But when old friends from Buenos Aires come to visit, he needs to juggle the image of his old life with the reality of the struggling actor in New York City. 

In a moving depiction of this vibrant city, director Julia Solomonoff’s touching feature presents a portrait of immigrant solitude. Nico faces the difficulty of finding not only a home, but himself amid the indifferent metropolis. Nobody’s Watching questions how we adjust when we lose our audience. — Frédéric Boyer

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Working single mother Amara leaves her two boys at home with domineering Aunt Rose, and Rose has her eyes on the older son, Ulysses (Luka Kain ). Stealing nylons, wearing his mother’s shoes, Ulysses is just beginning to explore his identity and sexuality. When Rose demands an end to it, the boy escapes to the Village and discovers both supportive friends and the inspiration to become exactly what he is feeling inside. The problem: Rose is waiting back home. Luka Kain delivers a magnetic performance as Ulysses — who in his best moments hears music all around, and yet faces some of the worst circumstances imaginable — in this drama about finding a literal sanctum so that you can find yourself. It’s a complicated life Ulysses leads, and Damon Cardasis’s musical coming-of-age story is all the better for tackling multiple sides of the young LGBTQ experience, with compassion and heart combined. — Cara Cusumano

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In this short directed by Marianne Amelinckx, Julia (Iruaní Gómez) goes back to the pool and remembers that sometimes life challenges ourselves to keep going and make decisions. Buy tickets here.

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