Out Magazine recently posted a great feature where they asked their favorite directors and celebrities to name their top gay films: 50 Essential Gay Films.
Here's Gregg Araki's:
Mala Noche (1986, dir. Gus Van Sant)It's a little frustrating because you have to click through each page, but definitely worth the look! What would you add to their list?Gregg Araki, Writer/Director Everyone obviously knows Milk, Good Will Hunting, Elephant, and My Own Private Idaho, but Van Sant made a movie three years before Drugstore Cowboy that is amazing. Shot in 16-millimeter black-and-white on a super-low budget, Mala Noche is everything great cinema should be: bold, provocative, aesthetically gorgeous, and, most important, it feels necessary. It speaks in a voice with something original and meaningful to say instead of falling into the “I just want to be a director and here’s a retread of whatever worked last year” trap that so many young filmmakers seem to fall into. It’s a textbook example of raw talent and passion working with the most modest of means and creating an extraordinary work of art.