Three very different shorts manage to adeptly portray realities of black queer women, with central themes that remain relevant after almost a century.

Tracks

In Tracks, based on true events, a shy and lonely runaway falls for a flirtatious high school basketball player with an overbearing, church-loving grandmother. Kindred spirits who are going through similar difficulties at home, their friendship tenderly progresses into young love.

Jay Dreams

Jay Dreams combines a series of vignettes, improv, and spoken word/haiku interludes to tackle issues of identity, polyamory, desire, family, power, and relationships. Shot with a diverse cast of dom and femme characters, this short effortlessly blends humor and insight with the tempo of a freestyle poetry session.

*T’Aint Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s

T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness exposes the triply oppressed (black, female, queer) pioneers of blues through interviews with cultural historians, vintage photos, footage, and recordings, all narrated by Jewelle Gomez. With lavish costumes and sexually suggestive lyrics, bisexual and lesbian singers such as Ma Rainey (got arrested for indecency at an all-girl party—while married to a man) and Gladys Bentley (a “bulldagger” in full tuxedo) were regularly shunned by the church and society for their rough and tumble ways.

— ANGELIQUE SMITH