Film series: Queer Classics

Cornell Cinema is pleased to partner with the LGBT Resource Center and QGrads to present a selection of cult classic films that center LGBTQ+ stories of laughter, love, resilience, and community.

Our series will feature three mainstream comedies — the raucous, drag queen road movie To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), Saving Face (2004), a romantic comedy by Alice Wu, and The Birdcage (1996) — alongside Cheryl Dunye's The Watermelon Woman (1996), the latter of which was part of the “New Queer Cinema” movement. “New Queer Cinema” is a term, coined by critic B. Ruby Rich in a 1992 article in the Village Voice, to describe a proliferation of independent films from the 1980s and '90s that centered queer identities in aesthetically radical and politically provocative new ways.

This selection foregrounds queer films written or directed queer people, or otherwise embraced by queer communities, and aims to foster community and connection through the collective experience of the cinema. All are welcome!

Cosponsored by QGrads and the LGBT Resource Center.
 

QGrads is a graduate student organization working to build a strong queer community at Cornell by creating spaces for graduate students of all sexual orientations and gender identities to feel seen, heard, and supported. QGrads are very active on campus, hosting 2+ social or professional events each month throughout the academic year and summer, and serving over 300 members. Their signature events include monthly socials in the Big Red Barn (in collaboration with the LGBT Resource Center) and an annual Queerinar, a research conference highlighting the human element of scholarship. Join their Campus Groups page to receive a weekly email digest of LGBTQ+ focused events on campus and in the community.

LGBT Resource Center is the hub of LGBTQ+ student life and resources at Cornell. Part of the Dean of Students’ Center for Student Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging, the LGBT Resource Center is proud to welcome all LGBTQ+ students to their space, their programs, and this community on campus! 

Special thanks to Tina Coyne, Victoria Serafini, and Hana Barrett for their generous collaboration, ideas, and support.