Before the term ‘queer cinema’ was coined in the 1990s, there were still gay-themed movies being made, and in the US in 1985 – at the height of the AIDS panic – a distributor was born that for the past 30 years has been helping bring LGBT movies to wider audiences.
Wolfe Releasing, the leading exclusive distributor of LBGT cinema, was founded thirty years ago this June. Wolfe was founded by entrepreneur/pioneer Kathy Wolfe to fill a political, cultural, and social need to provide films and videos for the LBGT community initially out of her garage distributing VHS tapes via mail order and LBGT bookstores. Within a few years, the company blossomed into a leading trailblazer in bringing LBGT content to the community, and has since expanded into the world’s biggest distributor of exclusive LBGT film and video – for all audiences worldwide.
By adapting early to technological shifts, they have remained the most successful exclusive distributor of LBGT content, and now provide media to audiences worldwide through the digital platforms, advocate for aggregating LBGT content on companies such as HULU, and continue to be the most savvy and successful industry executives in bringing hundreds of movie titles to audiences across the world – from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, from the urban meccas of the US to remote areas of South America.
“The impact Wolfe has had on the LGBT film landscape is immeasurable,” says Wolfe’s new president Jim Stephens. “Kathy and her team have played a crucial role in blazing the trail for LGBT stories to be created and shared with audiences for generations. Wolfe has remained an innovator in the rapidly changing distribution landscape, while also honoring its core mission: to inspire, entertain, and change the world through the power of film.”
“When we started Wolfe 30 years ago, there were really only a handful of gay films available and we were shipping VHS tapes to people across the US,” says founder and CEO Kathy Wolfe. “Today we deliver hundreds of movie titles to viewers around the world via our WolfeOnDemand.com streaming and download service — from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.”
Wolfe will be holding special events to mark its anniversary, including a presence at numerous LGBT festivals this summer and donating over 70 lesbian DVDs from the Wolfe collection to the June Mazer Lesbian Archives for their permanent collection.
To celebrate the release of the must-see horror ‘Out Of The Dark’ starring Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum, Save The Last Dance) – out on DVD 22nd June 2015 – we are giving away a copy.
As if Lily Tomlin as a lesbian, bohemian grandmother wasn’t enough to ensure Grandma was worth a watch, the trailer also gives us the prospect of Laverne Cox as a tatooist plying her art on the comedienne.
After the success of Gone Girl it was no surprise that Hollywood went looking or more from the novel’s author, Gillian Flynn. A film based on Dark Places is now on its way, starring Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult.
A couple of weeks ago it was announced that Clint Eastwood had found his next film, a movie about the Hero Of The Hudson, Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger.
Although overlooked by many, those who know the 2003 movie Camp tend to love it, and it certainly has a bit of a cult following of people who enjoy not just its music but also how inclusive and affirming it is of everyone from the gay and the overweight, to the nerds and the genderqueer.
Over the years gay people have certainly been maginalised, but for various reasons the extent of that marginalisation has often been overlooked or pushed to one side. For example, that’s certainly true of things such as the ‘Red Scare’ of the 1950s and 1960s in the US.
For a while it looked like we migh never see Boulevard, as despite being Robin Williams’ final movie, no distributor seemed keen to pick it up. However now the film, which also stars Bob Odenkirk, Kathy Baker and Roberto Aguire, is due to open on July 10th in select cinemas in the US, and the trailer for the movie has arrived.
With Incendies, Prisoners and, to a lesser extent, Enemies, Denis Villenueve has shown he’s one of the most interesting directors around, and you’ve got to think teaming up with Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro for Sicario has to be a good idea.
While Kung Fu Panda 2 didn’t do quite as well as DreamWorks Animation has hoped, they’ve moved forward with a third movie, and now the first trailer for the film has arrives, which you can see below.
