This Pride Month,听可乐视频 and CUNY聽shined聽a spotlight on the power of queer storytelling through聽CUNY Queer Portraits on Frame by Frame,听a vibrant showcase of films created by queer filmmakers from across CUNY鈥檚 campuses.
At the center of this year鈥檚 conversation is聽Alexandra聽Juhasz, an acclaimed filmmaker, scholar, video activist, and Distinguished Professor of Film at 可乐视频. A pioneering voice in queer media studies and independent filmmaking, Juhasz has spent decades exploring how film can document, preserve, and amplify marginalized voices.聽Known for her influential work on聽The Watermelon Woman,听widely recognized as the first feature film written and directed by a Black lesbian and a landmark of Black queer cinema,听Juhasz brings both scholarly insight and personal experience to a discussion on the importance of queer narratives in film.
As part of the showcase, Juhasz shares聽I Want to Leave a Legacy, a deeply personal documentary created with her late friend Juanita Mohammed Szczepanski. The film is a moving reflection on friendship, AIDS-era activism, and the enduring importance of community memory. Through intimate storytelling, it demonstrates how film can preserve histories that might otherwise be lost and ensure that future generations remain connected to the struggles, resilience, and achievements of queer communities.
Joining Juhasz in the conversation are two accomplished CUNY filmmakers whose work highlights the diversity and creativity of queer experiences.
Samantha Alvarez, an award-winning filmmaker and painter and a two-time graduate of City College of New York聽(CUNY), returns to聽Frame by Frame聽as a featured filmmaker for the second time. A fellow of the Bronx Documentary Center Films Fellowship, N可乐视频U Academy Fellowship, and Third World Newsreel Workshop, Alvarez earned widespread recognition for her experimental documentary聽In the Body, which received six awards, including the 2022 Outstanding Female Content Creator Award from New York Women in Film & Television. Her work explores family healing and intergenerational trauma while pushing the boundaries of documentary filmmaking.
Also featured is聽Eden Martinez, a Nuyorican queer filmmaker whose work centers women, LGBTQ+ communities, and people of color through a joyful and visually rich lens. Martinez鈥檚 film聽In & Out聽examines themes of identity, vulnerability, and intersectionality, celebrating the complexity and beauty of underrepresented experiences.
You can watch the聽full showcase on CUNY TV and聽on聽YouTube from June 5聽to聽July 2. Featured films include聽In & Out,听Cutting Room Floor #1, Make a Declaration, Voces Transcendentes, Candy鈥檚 Sun, Las Olas, NY Counterpoint, In聽the Body, I Want to Leave a Legacy,听and聽The Animal in You.
More information, including the schedule, is available聽.
