Here's where these queer filmmakers started out!
Weekend; Pariah; Bound
Peccadillo Pictures; Focus Features; Lionsgate FilmsIt's a great time to be a fan of queer filmmakers.
Today, many of the best filmmakers in the world are queer, with directors like Todd Haynes, Luca Guadagnino, Dee Rees, and Céline Sciamma being counted among the world's best.
LGBTQ+ directors and filmmakers are getting more chances and more money to make the movies they want, and it's leading to a wealth of great queer movies.
There's also a pack of talented up-and-coming queer directors like Emma Seligman, Jane Schoenbrun, and Andrew Ahn who are adding exciting new voices to cinema.
LGBTQ+ filmmakers are getting to have longer and better careers than ever before. Still, every director has to start somewhere!
Here's a look at 11 debut films from some of Hollywood's most popular and acclaimed filmmakers!
Andrew Haigh - 'Weekend'
While his first feature was technically Greek Pete, which was shot for under £10,000 and debuted at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Haigh got widespread acclaim for his second film, Weekend, in 2011. Weekend follows two men, played by Tom Cullen and Chris New, who start a sexual relationship one weekend before one of them plans on moving to another country. Since then, Haigh wrote and directed Looking, and Looking: The Movie, as well as All of Us Strangers.
Streaming on Pluto.
Luca Guadagnino - 'The Protagonists'
Guadagnino has released six films since his groundbreaking Call Me By Your Name in 2017, including Challengers and Queer from 2024. His debut film was The Protagonists in 1999, which stars Tilda Swinton and Fabrizia Sacchi and follows an Italian film crew who are making a movie about the real-life murder of Egyptian chef Mohamed el-Sayed.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Todd Haynes - 'Poison'
Today, Todd Haynes is known for movies like Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven, Carol, and May December, but his first film is 1991's Poison. Poison is split up into three narratives, titled Hero, Horror, and Homo, and mixes together film styles and genres.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Dee Rees - 'Pariah'
Rees has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for 2017's Mudbound, and Emmys for Outstanding Writing and Directing for the TV movie Bessie (2015). Before that, she released her debut film, Pariah, in 2011. It follows 17-year-old Black teenager Alike (Adepero Oduye) as she comes of age and embraces her identity as a lesbian.
Streaming on Prime Video.
The Wachowskis - 'Bound'
After writing the Richard Donner film Assassins in 1995, the Wachowskis released their directorial debut, the lesbian crime thriller Bound. Bound stars Gina Gershon as Corky, a lesbian ex-con who is hired to paint an apartment when she meets Violet (Jennifer Tilly) and her boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), who is a money launderer for the mob. Together, Corky and Violet plot to steal the mob's money and start a life for themselves. The two sisters went on to make films like The Matrix franchise, Speed Racer, and V for Vendetta, and the show Sense8.
Streaming on Pluto.
Céline Sciamma - 'Water Lillies'
French filmmaker Celine Sciamma's best-known work is Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and she also found success with movies like Tomboy and Petite Maman. Her first film was the lesbian coming-of-age movie Water Lillies, which follows three 15-year-old girls and their sexual awakenings.
Streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Emma Seligman - 'Shiva Baby'
Before she hit it big with the high school comedy Bottoms, Seligman wrote and directed the tense dark comedy Shiva Baby. Starring Rachel Sennott as a young bisexual woman who attends a shiva with her parents, her successful ex-girlfriend, her sugar daddy, and his wife and child.
Streaming on Netflix.
Jane Schnoebrun - 'We're All Going to the World's Fair'
Jane Schnoebrun had a breakout hit with I Saw the TV Glow, and directed the documentary A Self-Induced Hallucination in 2018, but in 2021, they released their narrative feature film debut, We're All Going to the World's Fair. This found-footage film follows a teen girl who gets caught up in a viral online "World's Fair Challenge."
Streaming on Max.
Lee Daniels - 'Shadowboxer'
Daniels has had hits with Precious, The Butler, and his TV show Empire, earning Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Picture. His debut film is Shadowboxer, which stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren as a pair of assassins and lovers who help a woman raise her baby after being hired to kill her.
Streaming on Prime Video.
Andrew Ahn - 'Spa Night'
In 2022, Ahn had a hit with Fire Island, and in 2025, he's releasing his version of The Wedding Banquet. His first feature film was 2016's Spa Night, about a closeted Korean-American teenager who finds a gay cruising spot when he gets a job at a spa. It stars Joe Seo, Haerry Kim, and Youn Ho Cho.
Streaming on Netflix.
Desiree Akhavan - 'Appropriate Behavior'
Before directing the film The Miseducation of Cameron Postand TV shows like Girls, Hacks, I Love That For You, and Tiny Beautiful Things, Desiree Akhavan wrote, directed, and starred in Appropriate Behavior in 2014. The romantic comedy-drama film follows a bisexual Persian American woman named Shirin (Akhavan) after she breaks up with her girlfriend.
Streaming on Tubi.
