La Bola Negra opens Reeling

The Cannes-saluted film kicks off Chicago's LGBTQ+ festival Thursday. It's the first major gay film in the event's 44-year history.

An epic queer love story

The nearly three-hour film links three gay men in stories set before, during and after Spain's Civil War. It was made by and stars gay men.

“An epic queer love story, those don't come along very often.”

Decades of rejection from studios

Reeling founder Brenda Webb would lobby Hollywood for months to screen gay films with no luck. Even Brokeback Mountain was a no.

“When we have gotten them, they've not come easy to us.”

A sea change in attitude

Booking La Bola Negra represents a shift in how mainstream distributors view LGBTQ+ festivals. Netflix sees the queer audience as key to success.

“This is unprecedented in so many ways.”

Films stayed closeted by distributors

Studios didn't want gay films in LGBTQ+ festivals because they feared the gay label would limit audiences. They tried to keep it secret.

“It was a gay film, but it was kept closeted by distributors who were afraid it would limit the audience if they had called it a queer film.”

Netflix picks Reeling for launch

The sold-out Music Box screening Thursday gives ticket holders a first look at the likely Oscar contender. It returns for a theatrical run in October.

Netflix's widest theatrical commitment

The film releases in select theaters Oct. 16 but doesn't stream until Dec. 2. That 47-day window is Netflix's widest theatrical commitment ever.

Best director at Cannes

La Bola Negra premiered at Cannes in May. Co-directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo were jointly named best director.

Big movies for LGBTQ+ stories

The directors wanted to prove queer stories can be big, not just niche. A war movie for straight people, a love story for the community.

“We wanted it to be a big movie to assert that LGBTQ+ stories can be big, that they don't have to appeal to just a niche audience.”

Second-longest-running LGBTQ+ festival

Founded in 1981, Reeling screens 36 features and 59 shorts from 22 countries. It runs Sept. 17-27 at three Chicago venues.

Started in a storefront theater

Chicago Filmmakers began at 6 W. Hubbard St. with a 90-seat theater showing experimental shorts. The festival grew from there.

Enormous success from the start

A documentary filmmaker told the Sun-Times in 1982 that the Lesbian and Gay Film Festival was an enormous success that influenced programs nationwide.

“Their Lesbian and Gay Film Festival was an enormous success. It influenced film programs around the country.”

Meeting Marsha screens Tuesday

This L.A. comedy follows a struggling playwright whose TV star egg donor mom upsets a lesbian wedding proposal. Sponsored by lesbian streamer Tello Films.

The Brittney Griner Story Sunday

This ESPN documentary profiles the 6-foot-9-inch basketball center detained in Russia on drug charges. She was freed in a prisoner swap.

The Celluloid Closet closes fest

The 30th anniversary screening of this landmark documentary critiques Hollywood's history of gay, lesbian and trans stereotypes. Lily Tomlin narrates.

Vito Russo's hellish opening night

Webb remembers the author lugging film clips through canceled flights and bad weather for a 1986 Music Box screening. His showmanship impressed her deeply.

“I was so incredibly impressed that he had gone through this hellish day and that he had such a positive showmanship.”

The magic of queer cinema

For 44 years, Reeling has believed in queer cinema not because it lets us escape, but because it helps us see each other more clearly.

“Not because it lets us escape the world, but because it helps us see the world, and each other, a little more clearly.”