Lesli Klainberg Movies

Originally produced for IFC, this four-part mini-series exploring sex in independent cinema features the stimulating insight of such acclaimed filmmakers and actors as Catherine Breilat, Guinevere Turner, John Cameron Mitchell, Peter Sarsgaard, and Bilge Ebiri. When it comes to the topic of sex and cinema, it seems that every year filmmakers push the envelope a bit further. As a result, the silver screen has become the ideal medium in which to explore the wide spectrum of human sexuality. In the wake of such scintillating, boundary-pushing indies as Secretary and Nine Songs, filmmaker Lisa Ades explores how sex-centric continues to evolve along with changing public mores. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Originally produced for IFC, this four-part mini-series exploring sex in independent cinema features the stimulating insight of such acclaimed filmmakers and actors as Catherine Breilat, Heather Matarazzo, Atom Egoyan, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ally Sheedy. When it comes to cinema, few topics are more taboo than teen sex. While Elia Kazan was exploring the fragile topic as far back as his 1961 classic Splendor in the Grass, teen sexuality didn't really become a mainstream cinema subject matter until the 1980s - when they began to play an increasingly prominent role in adolescent sex education. With films like Kids and Thirteen pushing boundaries further than ever before, filmmaker Lisa Ades sets out to find out just how the filmmakers approach to this super-sensitive topic has changed over the years. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers, actors, and critics explore the history of queer cinema in this made-for-cable documentary. Eschewing any overarching narration, co-directors Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades illustrate archival footage and film clips with dozens of interviews. They also provide timelines and factoids to punctuate the discussion of specific eras. Although the background material and the interviewees allude to the subtext of Hollywood classics, the bounty of world cinema, and the history of experimental film, the focus remains squarely on the American independent movement, from the 1960s underground through the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s to the post-Brokeback Mountain landscape of 2006. Interview subjects range from cultural commentator Michael Musto and actors Alan Cumming and Jane Lynch to directors John Cameron Mitchell, Jennie Livingston, and Randy Barbato. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema made its bow July 16, 2006, on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Gregory Nava weaves together a series of first hand accounts of the immigrant experience in America for this emotionally powerful, unabashedly-patriotic documentary. Polish Jew Murray Schneider recalls the exultant joy he felt when he was finally reuniting with his family in Ellis Island, while Chinese immigrant Li Keng Wong remembers being forced to lie about his ethnicity in order to circumvent America's draconian anti-Chinese immigration laws. Janie Chatman recalls migrating from her hometown in Alabama (where her former slave father was born) to Chicago in 1940, looking for an escape to the racism and segregation in the South. The final profile concerns the plight of illegal immigrant Eva Canseco, who flees her squalid shanty in Tijuana for a shot at the good life in California. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Paul Monette was a well-regarded gay novelist who (after losing two long-term companions to AIDS) wrote Becoming A Man: Half a Life Story, a memoir which won the Nation Book Award. Ironically, Monette began to receive his greatest acclaim as a writer and produced his deepest and most personal works after he was diagnosed with AIDS. Monette bravely battled the disease's debilitating effects as he struggled to continue his work as a writer and an impassioned AIDS activist before succumbing to the disease in 1995. Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End is a documentary about his life and work that combines home movies and news footage with interviews with Monette, his friends, and his peers. Linda Hunt provides narration, while Jonathan Fried reads from Monette's works. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide