Criterion Channel celebrates love and Black History Month with Desert Hearts, Losing Ground, and more in February

Derek Jarman’s unique approach to gay storytelling and art is no better exemplified than in , a fictional retelling of the short life of Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Nigel Terry stars as the eponymous artist, who recklessly passes his days chasing thrills and bisexual romances. Tilda Swinton made her film debut as one of Caravaggio’s lovers, Lena, along with Sean Bean as Ranuccio. With little bearing on the actual life of the painter, Jarman uses his story as a framework to engage with sexual identity, self-destruction, and art with a deep sense of sensuality.

Helena Bonham Carter’s Lucy Honeychurch rallies against the repressive gender restrictions of Edwardian England in James Ivory’s . Also starring Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Daniel Day-Lewis, A Room With A View follows one woman’s romantic endeavors across Florence and Surrey.

The Criterion Channel has put together a collection on the incomparable James Baldwin, one of the most celebrated Black writers and social critics of the 20th century. This includes the cinéma vérité-style documentary The Price Of The Ticket. With intertwining interviews, public speeches, and Baldwin’s writing, the documentary from Karen Thorsen explores what it means to be Black, impoverished, and gifted in America.

Shot over the course of 12 hours in one night, Shirley Clarke’s seeks to get to the root of one man’s life. Jason Holliday, a gay hustler and aspiring cabaret performer, is the sole subject on screen, with off-camera questions posed by Clarke and her then-partner, Carl Lee. He sings, he sports boas, and offers insight into his life, dreams, and relation to other people. As Holliday recounts his own story, moments of humor quickly turn to heartache, as Portrait Of Jason explores a tragic and complicated man.

One of the most acclaimed music documentaries of all time comes in the form of George T. Nierenberg’s , which delves into the culture and history surrounding Black gospel music in America. While the film takes a look at the state of the genre at the time, it focuses on a few integral artists, including Thomas A. Dorsey, Willie Mae Ford Smith, the Barrett Sisters, and the O’Neal Twins. The word that comes up time and time again when describing this documentary is “joyful,” as it gets to the heart of community, generational ties, and faith. Channeling a passion and soulfulness that can be found in any Sunday service, Say Amen, Somebody, invites anyone and everyone into the house of gospel.

A necessary watch in understanding modern queer culture is Jennie Livingston’s , which documents the underground ballroom culture of ’80s New York City. This invaluable film draws connections between the Latinx and Black LGBTQ+ communities in Harlem and the prevalence of drag and the use of queer slang (ex: house, mother, shade, reading) today. Shot over the course of seven years, Paris Is Burning immortalizes the greats of ballroom and explores how community members established ways of protecting themselves from the harm of homophobia, transphobia, racism, and poverty.