If you’re looking to add depth to your streaming habits, add joining a virtual LGBTQ+ movie club to your list of quarantine activities. Regardless of your orientation and identity, now is the time to get deliberate about the kinds of media you’re streaming. It’s tempting to comfort-rewatch Community or start Ozark to deal with the lack of control we all have in our own lives right now. But there is a thoughtful and challenging cinema created outside the Hollywood machine that you may ordinarily overlook. Enter Peccadillo Sofa Club, a worldwide movie club captained by Peccadillo Pictures on YouTube.
Photo Credit: Peccadillo Pictures Facebook
Based in the UK, the film distribution company Peccadillo Pictures operates with a mission statement to highlight feature and short length films celebrating differences and telling universal stories. Those differences may be race, gender, ethnicity, but the Peccadillo Sofa Club focuses on LGBTQ+ issues. They recognize that Hollywood overlooks these areas in mainstream film, and they’re dedicated to highlighting important stories that would otherwise go untold.
The movies that Hollywood presents don’t reflect who we are as movie-goers. In 2017 only 12-percent of mainstream studio releases (14 films out of 109) showed characters who LGBT or Q. In those 14 films, 64-percent of the LGBTQ characters were gay men, and there were zero transgender-inclusive characters.
While we’re all waiting on major studios to include diversity on both sides of the camera, it just takes a little effort to see great independent films produced with and highlighting diversity. The Peccadillo Sofa Club makes it easy to find and stream those movies. Head to YouTube and subscribe to Peccadillo Pictures and check out their Sofa Club playlist. You’ll find information about what film to watch for the week, and what time the Sofa Club will meet (YouTube lets you set a reminder to tune in for the live video).
During Sofa Club, Peccadillo goes live with the directors of the films and you can log on to ask them questions during the chat. It’s a rare opportunity for greater insight into great films, and to hear more about the directors behind the works.
Launched in the quarantine’s midst, Peccadillo Sofa Club uses creative means to get their films out to viewers in a time when going to the theater is impossible. For small independent distributors, a worldwide shutdown can devastate the sustainability of their business. Simple acts, like logging onto YouTube and sitting through a few ads, support a small business providing important and under-represented content.
Add the Peccadillo Sofa Club to your weekly routine and log in each week for the live stream to meet the directors and other film fans. Even if you don’t have questions, just letting them know what their work meant to you is a way of spreading kindness, and that precious YouTube ad revenue.
