'New Queer Cinema'

‘New Queer Cinema’ was a term coined in 1992 by writer and academic B Ruby Rich. Writing in the Village Voice, Rich explored the proliferation of low-budget gay-themed films in the first couple of years of the 1990s. These films were made by first time or unknown directors on very low budgets. They assumed a gay audience, weren’t concerned with positive images or educating “the public” about homosexuality, and were marked by pastiche and a reverence towards canonical European film makers. Such films had won the top prizes at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival (Paris Is Burning and Poison); the gay and lesbian film festival circuit was experiencing its big bang.

Interesting and sensational at the time, the films of ‘New Queer Cinema’ haven’t aged well, and, depending on your viewpoint, can look like anything from masterpieces to travesties (outrate.net holds the latter viewpoint).

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