Karen Williams: I Had To Laugh

A chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to "Brokeback Mountain". Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transgender films, films about diversity and various cultures, documentaries and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?

On January 22, 1993 at the historic Castro Theater in San Francisco, Lily Tomlin, Robin Williams, Harvey Fierstein, Marga Gomez, and Lypsinka performed a one-night only benefit for the making of the film The Celluloid Closet, both directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman.

In the early days of the pandemic, Andrea Meyerson, founder of Women On A Roll, launched an online platform for lesbians and queer women. She called it Women On The Net. Five nights a week, Meyerson provided a place for women all over the world to gather and share a wide range of entertaining programming. Feelings of isolation and loneliness were replaced with joy, laughter, and new friends - all via Zoom. An Unexpected Community captures the magic these women shared during one of the most challenging events in our lifetime.

Now known internationally as the world's first "gay hometown," San Francisco's Castro District was a quiet, working-class neighborhood of European immigrants only a few decades ago. In this documentary, the story of the Castro's transformation is told by those who lived it, young and old, straight and gay. It's a tale of social upheaval, exuberant street culture, political assassination, and the inspiring coming-of-age of an entire community an ongoing saga even today.

This hilarious, historic concert film showcases the funniest queer stand-up comics and queer sketch groups working in America today. Outlaugh! takes you on stage and backstage with fiery headliner Lea DeLaria, as well as Bob Smith, Page Hurwitz, Karen Ripley, Jason Stuart, Mark Davis, Sabrina Matthews, Andre Kelley, Jerry Calumn, Stephanie Howard, Jen Slusser, Jason Dudey, Roy Cruz, Charlie Vaughn, Bobaloo, Ariana, Bill Cruz, The Gay Mafia, The Nellie Olesons and Outlaugh! creator Mike Player. Outlaugh! is a rib-tickling ride that captures some of the funniest queers who have ever dared to strut their stuff.

Four women who are lesbian comedians perform and, offstage, talk about their lives: parents and childhood, coming out, becoming comics, the arc of their careers, and its rewards. Marga Gómez is Cuban-Puerto Rican, from New York City. She mines cultural differences, her hobby horse, and National Coming Out Day. Kate Clinton, lapsed Catholic, gets laughs there and from the comedy of the sex act. Karen Williams, African-American from Berkeley, talks about aging and about the need to tell her story. Suzanne Westenhoefer inherits her grandfather's humor, and she jokes about Martha Stewart and airport security. Each is serious about the power of humor to reveal what's at her core.

Out-and-proud comedian Kate Clinton celebrates her 25th anniversary of performing in this blend of stand-up footage, behind-the-scenes clips, interviews, footage of Clinton reading from her book, What the L?, photos and more. With her trademark cutting political satire and clever one-liners, Clinton always puts on a dynamic and hilarious show. Lily Tomlin, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King and other celebrities join in the fun.

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon have been partners in love and political struggle for fifty years. With incisive interviews, rare archival images and warmhearted humor, Joan Biren's 2003 film reveals their inspiring public work, as well as their charming private relationship. When they courageously launched the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955, it became the first public organization for lesbians in America. Today, these tireless activists are educating both the LGBT and aging movements on the needs of older lesbians.

Batman faces off against two foes: the schizophrenic, horribly scarred former District Attorney Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, and the Riddler, a disgruntled ex-Wayne Enterprises inventor seeking revenge against his former employer by unleashing his brain-sucking weapon on Gotham City's residents. As the caped crusader also copes with tortured memories of his parents' murder, he has a new romance, with psychologist Chase Meridian.

An agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past.

A spacecraft is discovered at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, presumed to be at least 300 years old and of alien origin. A crack team of scientists and experts is assembled and taken to the ocean floor to investigate. However, the ship is not as it seems and when a giant perfect sphere is discovered in the cargo bay, things begin to fall apart.

Nelson is a man devoted to his advertising career in San Francisco. One day, while taking a driving test at the DMV, he meets Sara. She is very different from the other women in his life. Nelson causes her to miss out on taking the test and later that day she tracks him down. One thing leads to another and Nelson ends up living with her through a November that will change his life forever.

The true story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, who in the 1970s found that humor is the best medicine, and was willing to do just anything to make his patients laugh—even if it meant risking his own career.

When he finds out his longtime girlfriend is pregnant, a commitment-phobe realizes he might have to change his lifestyle for better or much, much worse.

After experiencing a traumatic misfortune, Jasmine French, a wealthy woman from New York, moves to San Francisco to live with her foster sister Ginger and the firm purpose of getting a new life, but she will be haunted by anxiety and memories of the past.

Roger is a foster child whose irresponsible father promises to get his act together when Roger's favourite baseball team, the California Angels, wins the pennant. The problem is that the Angels are in last place, so Roger prays for help to turn the team around. Sure enough, his prayers are answered in the form of angel Al.

Recently promoted and transferred to the homicide division, Inspector Jessica Shepard feels pressure to prove herself -- and what better way than by solving San Francisco's latest murder? However, as Shepard and her partner, Mike Delmarco, soon discover, the victim shared a romantic connection to her. As more of Shepard's ex-lovers turn up dead, her mind starts to become unstable, and she begins to wonder if she could be the very killer she's trying to track down.

Video store clerk Ed agrees to have his life filmed by a camera crew for a tv network.

Henry Manning has come up with a new way to break out of prison: fake a stroke and get transferred to a nursing home. It's a perfect plan, except for one thing: the woman assigned to take care of him at the nursing home, Carol Ann McKay, has a plan of her own.

An introspective dentist's suspicions about his wife's infidelity stresses his mental well being and family life to the breaking point.

A positive mix of stand-up and sketch comedy by some of today's funniest gay and lesbian comedians. Filmed before a live audience at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall on October 11, 1993, National Coming Out Day.

A travel writer places a personals ad in the newspaper seeking a travel companion. She interviews several interesting characters.

After her live-in lover leaves her for another woman, Desi, a young artist, gets incredibly depressed. Her well-meaning friends try to set her up with a number of women, all of whom Desi finds less than inspiring. Meanwhile, teen skateboarder J.T. harbors wild dreams of meeting her idol, comic Marga Gomez. This film, set in San Francisco's Latina lesbian culture, premiered at the 2000 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Live performance clips are combined with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews in which the performers candidly share their life experiences, offer insights into the art of comedy, and discuss the obstacles facing gays and other minorities within the entertainment industry. Diverse in their approaches these performers share a talent for humor which speaks to universal human experience. What emerges is a hilarious and inspiring film about the power of laughter to communicate, heal, and transcend social prejudices.

Craving laughs? Karen Williams brings her irreverent humor to a sold-out audience at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, Calif. A pioneer in lesbian stand-up comedy, Williams talks about dating younger woman, the bygone days of tireless sex and more. The laughs continue with stories from a lesbian sex workshop, troublesome airline travel, the conundrums of Internet dating and other exploits. It's a sidesplitting hour of delicious humor.

Legendary comedienne Kate Clinton offers her riotous viewpoint on feminism, lesbianism, and life in this one-woman, stand-up performance. Clinton takes on the burning issues of the day – politics, marriage, sex, pop culture and more.