#the buster keaton story

[busterkeatonsociety]

This Day in Buster…May 7, 1957 

Biopic “The Buster Keaton Story”, starring Donald O'Connor and Ann Blyth, premieres in Perry, Oklahoma. They claimed that this was Buster’s place of birth - like most of the plot, this was wrong too.  Buster Keaton was in attendance with wife, Eleanor.  She later recalled they both wanted to crawl out partway through…

[justbusterkeaton]

Donald O’Connor talks about recreating the stunt from Sherlock Jr. For the 1957 Biopic “The Buster Keaton Story”

From the documentary “Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow

[friendlessghoul]

Buster Keaton and Harold Goodwin The Buster Keaton Show - The Gymnasium Story (1950)

[sonny-whorezik]

its nice to finally be understood

[millionmovieproject]

Are you a Buster Keaton fan? Have you seen my documentary Oh Buster, Where Art Thou? Good news, you can watch it for FREE on YouTube!! Check it out while you wait for my follow-up book, Another New World, dropping November 25th!!

[moviesiveseenandwanttoremember]

Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman’s “The General” February 5, 1927.

[agallimaufryofoddments]

It’s midnight and I just spent a fair bit of time / energy on writing a maximum length Reddit comment vouching for Donald O’Connor portraying Buster Keaton in the egregiously inaccurate 1957 film “The Buster Keaton Story,” because he was the only relevant person actually heeding (and soliciting) Keaton’s input—

—and listen, listen, he was the absolute right person to portray Keaton (if one has to portray him), it’s just that Keaton was written by the wrong hands. I pulled out a 1960 WaPo article and linked to that bit in the 1987 Keaton documentary where O’Connor is interviewed None of the writers paid Keaton’s opinions any mind, and Keaton never held the movie against O’Connor, whose efforts he praised, I believe—

—damn good effort, thank you. Listen, O’Connor had the athletic and personable sensibilities to do Keaton justice, and he was undergoing the same personal troubles that Keaton had: didn’t get child custody post-fraught divorce, was imbibing alcohol a fair bit… (they both were born into Vaudeville, by the way), he was just so talented and he remains one of my absolute favorite performers of that crowd.

They had one of the few people who really honestly could have done Keaton justice…and they did an injustice to Buster, Donald, and frankly Buster’s wife Eleanor with that film.

Well, at least it paid for the Keatons’ ‘ranch’ (final home).

[cosmik-homo]

I’m sorry... your boyfriend fell in the film reels and. Yeah. and we wiped his footage

[busterkeatonsociety]

This Day in Buster…April 20, 1957 

"The Buster Keaton Story,” a biopic with a passing resemblance to Buster Keaton’s life, is released.  The cheque Buster took home for the rights to his story & as advisor on set, paid for a ranch in Woodland Hills, where he lived out the rest of his days with wife, Eleanor.

[rhinexstone]

I know there’s already been some hcs about Bruce Wayne going on a DC universe version of SNL but I just need to play it out for y’all

The whole bit is that this is the first time Brucie has ever taken anything so serious in his life, like the promo clip where he’s awkwardly standing with the music guest and a cast mate is basically like “I went to this thing called a meeting yesterday, have you guys ever heard of those before?? Wild!!” And Alfred makes a cameo in his opening monologue where he hands him his script on a silver platter.

But the thing that drives his family crazy is that he actually does a skit where he IS Batman. And they’re all freaking out because like holy shit Bruce there’s walking the line and using it as a jump rope. And he won’t elaborate on any of the specifics just that he actually pitched the idea himself.

The skit is basically just “what if Bruce Wayne was Batman” and it’s him trying to stop a mugging, but he immediately takes a tumble (his Instagram story hinted at stunt training and everyone had their theories, but it all being so that he could do a Buster Keaton-esque stunt is so much better). He freaks out at the sound of some warning fire and immediately surrenders despite the mugger really being equally afraid of him, and then a Villain of the Week captures him with ease, and he flirts the entire time he’s being dragged away.

He fucking kills it for someone without an acting background (to most people’s knowledge) and from that point on it’s a running joke/meme for gothamites to post or talk about what Bruce Wayne Batman would do in place of regular Batman

[nowisthewinter]

And to think the animated movie version of Nimona was almost this close to being shelved if Netflix had not picked it up.

Yes, it’s good. It’s very good. I’ll let other people talk about the plot points, the characters and the pretty nifty soundtrack. (Santogold? Yes, please.) 

I am here to talk about the animation.

Watching this movie made me realize what I don’t like about Pixar movies lately. Yes, Pixar’s the king of realism. And, yes, Nimona is way more design simple compared to Pixar. But the one thing Nimona has over Pixar is how the characters move. 

Pixar characters don’t really move. Yes, they walk. Yes, they gesture. Yes, they will do things.

But they don’t “act.”

For example, there are many parts of Nimona where you could turn off the sound and still follow the story like it was a silent movie of old. The characters’ body language and facial language tell a story on their own. They fill up a whole screen with their mannerisms. This is Buster Keaton. This is Charlie Chaplin. This is Harold Llyod. 

You don’t really get that with Pixar. And while that was fine years ago because everyone was striving for realism and Pixar was showing everyone how to animate hair, now, it’s.....boring. 

Realism isn’t the end goal anymore. It’s a one trick pony that really should be out to pasture. Now people want to see what else you can do with animation. Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse showed that there are a wide range of styles you can pull from. Even taking ideas from Impressionism, Modern pop art (Check out Jean-Michel Bisquiat) and commercial art (See Bollywood film posters for example). Nimona is now showing how much acting range you can get from their animation. I’ve already watched it twice. Once for the story. The other just to watch the characters “act.” I’ll probably watch it a few more times because that animation, THAT ANIMATION!

I want more of that. Take notes, Pixar. 

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Harry Belafonte (Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun)—one of my favorite things in the world when I'm sad is kicking back and listening to him and Danny Kaye singing "Hava Nagila" together. Or who can forget this man singing the Banana Boat song with the Muppets?? immensely talented, a powerful fighter for civil rights and humanitarian causes his whole life, if you have any remaining doubts PLEASE look at the following pics [clips and pics attached below]

Buster Keaton (The General, The Navigator, Sherlock Jr.)—For me Buster’s hotness comes not just from his physical beauty but in the constant surprise and contradictions of the man, he’s simultaneously delicate/rough, feminine/masculine, confident/vulnerable, 5foot5 pretty face with an unexpectedly deep voice, at first glance you think oh he’s a cute little thing and then he takes his top off and it’s Superman abs underneath. He was intensely shy in social situations but had no hesitation in jumping off the top of a building. He famously never smiled on screen* but he exudes warmth and joy and laughter. He created some of the most beautiful, intelligent movies ever made but refused to acknowledge his own genius and talent as an artist, instead maintaining that all he wanted to do was make people laugh. If he was here in reality competing in this poll he would give it 100% but he would not be at all bothered if he didn’t win. And that’s why he’s the hottest vintage man. A vote for Buster is a vote for all that is good and decent in the world 💕 (*he did smile on camera occasionally despite his own assertions to the contrary 😄)

This is round 4 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Buster Keaton propaganda:

"Just look at his freaking face...."

This entire Tumblr page was submitted

This post

This video

"And for those who have never heard it, here’s his lovely voice in action: link"

Submitted: Link to Buster Keaton car stunts

Submitted: BK fancam

Submitted: quotes about BK video compilation

"Ripped body, gorgeous unique face, beautiful personality too"

Harry Belafonte propaganda:

"Now let me say this about the songs of the Caribbean - almost all black music is deeply rooted in metaphor. The only way that we could speak to the pain and anguish of our experiences was often through how we codified our stories in the songs that we sang. And when I sing the 'Banana Boat Song,' the song is a work song. It's about men who sweat all day long, and they are underpaid, and they're begging the tallyman to come and give them an honest count - counting the bananas that I've picked, so I can be paid. And sometimes, when they couldn't get money, they'll give them a drink of rum. There's a lyric in the song that says, 'Work all night on a drink of rum.' People sing and delight and dance and love it, but they don't really understand unless they study the song that they're singing a work song, a song of rebellion." -Harry Belafonte

[brokehorrorfan]

6 Things I Learned from the Lisa Frankenstein Commentary

We don’t get movies like Lisa Franeknstein often, which is a shame because it’s endlessly charming yet delightfully twisted. While it disappointed at the box office, it has "cult classic" written all over it.

The coming-of-age horror-comedy is out today on Blu-ray and DVD. Among the special features is an audio commentary by Zelda Williams. Here are 6 things I learned…

1. Catch Me If You Can inspired the opening credit sequence.

The opening credit sequence, which briefly depicts the Creature's love story from his previous life in the style of Victorian shadow box art, was inspired by Catch Me If You Can.

"We wanted to do something interesting with the credits in this bit. I was really inspired by Catch Me If You Can, which I thought the opening credits were particularly interesting and helped establish the story before we ever got to it. And because Creature doesn't speak this whole movie, I wanted an opportunity to show what his life would have been like."

2. The film was originally intended to be rated R.

Although Lisa Frankenstein pushes the PG-13 rating as far as it can go, it was originally intended to be a hard R. Williams cites the party scene, in which Lisa originally smoked a laced joint rather than drinking a PCP cocktail, as a difficult revision.

"This is where stuff got a little complicated when we were going from R-rated to PG-13. Originally there was a coated joint they were passing around. This is one of the only scenes that I'm not sure I'm as fond of in comparison to the joint stuff. Most of the rest of the changes were fine, but this one I find very strange. It's just a very different reaction and interaction than what used to be there. However, these are the things that happen when making a movie."

3. Creature is an homage to Day of the Dead's Bub.

Not only Lisa is seen watching George A. Romero's Day of the Dead in the film, but the Creature is an homage to its iconic zombie, Bub.

"Creature for me is definitely an homage to Buster Keaton, but he's also an homage to the zombie you just saw on screen, Bub, who was in Day of the Dead, a Romero movie that I'm very fond of. It was an incredibly emotive and a very intelligent zombie and ended up getting revenge against the asshole in the movie. It was one of my favorite monsters ever made, so when I could put that on screen during the movie, it made me very happy."

4. Zelda hid a tribute to her father, Robin Williams.

Williams is the daughter of Robin Williams, and she included his 1983 comedy album, Throbbing Python of Love, among the records scattered on the floor in Lisa's living room.

"Oh, there's Dad! We used one of Dad's vinyl albums because we had to scatter some across the floor." She refers to it as "a little, mini Easter Egg for me."

5. The police officers are named after John Waters.

The police officers in the film are Officer John (played by Walker Babington) and Officer Waters (Sylvia Grace Crim) — named on a whim in honor of cult filmmaker, John Waters.

"They asked me to name the cops, because obviously they needed to have name tags, so I named them Officer John and Officer Waters." She thought no one would notice since they're so small, but a viewer pointed it out at a test screening.

6. The film is sprinkled with movie references.

Williams wore her influences on her sleeve with her directorial debut, and she pointed out several references on the commentary:

A Trip to the Moon (clip featured in Lisa's surreal dream sequence)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (stylistic inspiration on the dream sequence)

Weird Science (the party scene)

Suspiria (red lighting during drug sequence)

My Boyfriend's Back (camera shot from inside a grave looking up at characters)

Kill Bill (weapon point-of-view shot)

E.T. (a boy on a bike — played by Diablo Cody's son — at the end)

Notting Hill (reading together on a bench at the end)

Lisa Frankenstein is available now on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital via Universal.

[friendlessghoul]

Dead-pan Keaton laughs at last

-MGM Shorts Story, 1938

[good-realtor-bad-realtor-dynamic]

New Sunny podcast is out and, as teased, it's about the guys' upcoming films, Fool's Paradise and Blackberry, out on 12 May!

Meg showed up at 9:00 which some people might say is late.

Shopify ad is full of Succession references, "Glendall Roy!!!!" and Logan Roy-isms: "FUCK OFF!"

There are a few new clips for the creeps.

Fool's Paradise

Hollywood satire with a focus on persona, ego and stage names, hence why the main character is accidentally named "Latte Pronto" and a passive observer reflecting the surrounding characters' projections.

Explores different sides of the industry with the big cast and spirals into chaos by the end as the ppl behind the stars are revealed

Charlie started on the script during Sunny S10 (~2014) bc he felt certain '70s and '30s style comedies weren't being made anymore.

Felt he'd never be cast in them even if they were

Directed because he didn't want to give up control of his script especially if he was going to play the passive lead without a voice

Influences: Being There (1979) starring Peter Sellers and directed by Hal Ashby; also films by Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, Robert Altman, Coen Brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin

Charlie plays the MC but Ken Jeong's character is the protagonist

Movie follows their journey together looking for real relationships in Hollywood.

Reshoots focused on making Ken the heart of the movie

Charlie worried that he was pushing Ken too much, but Ken was willing to do many takes to get to a non-sarcastic heartfelt place

Jon Brion's score is very classic old-fashioned Hollywood and used a lot of old recording techniques to add to the timeless fairytale feel of the movie

Glenn loved Charlie's script from the first draft and every revision

Charlie and Rob, the Original Glenn Girlies, found Glenn and his glacting choice to do a "vaguely European" accent (like Jan?) for his Business Manager character to be the funniest part of the film

Film contains Sunny easter eggs and actors like Peter McKenzie

Blackberry

Glenn was nervous about playing a character based on a real person, especially since he only had 3.5 weeks to prepare and couldn't do as much research as he would have liked.

IRL Jim met Glenn at the Toronto premiere and seemed to approve his onscreen portrayal.

Glenn felt like he lacked film experience where characters have arcs, so it was a challenge to keep track of Jim's anxiety levels through the story while shooting out of order.

Read the script many times and talked to director Matt Johnson about every scene because he didn't have the benefit of being a writer here like he does on Sunny

Worried about being too unlikeable but committed fully to the character because of his experience with Dennis

Glenn played Jim very earnest and sincere, and not at all for laughs — that's where the comedy comes from

Rob and Charlie found Jim to be nothing like Dennis or Glenn because even though they both experience rage, Jim is competent and has a cold killer look in his eyes -> DENNIS IS NOT A COLD CALCULATING KILLER.

Matt Johnson shot with long lenses on gimbals so that the cameras were far away enough for the actors not to know if they were being filmed and what was on screen — this adds to the handheld thriller but kinda comedic aesthetic of the whole film

Charlie was excited that a director finally let Glenn go full Glenn all over this movie and wished he was in every frame

Also wished he was the one directing the movie showing off Glenn

Rob, Charlie and Meg are annoyed that people are so surprised how good Glenn is in this role (we know and agree!) and predict that he will get more roles off this performance

Glenn has a theory on why he thinks things are shifting for the Sunny cast BUT HE DOESN'T GET INTO IT BECAUSE THERE'S NO TIME LEFT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The girlies were all too happy and nice-looking today for me not to screenshot away.

I'm so excited to watch these movies... can't find any showings for Fool's Paradise yet, but Blackberry is playing at my local cinema later this week, and I will be there!

[homomenhommes]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … May 14

1853 –  Thomas Henry Hall Caine, British journalist, theatre crtic, author, poet, and playwright is born. As a novelist, Hall Caine was immensely popular in his own time but almost completely forgotten today.

Diminutive and slight as a man in his time, he is rather impossible to read today, his language so stilted, plots so melodramatic as to be rendered unintentionally hilarious.

Caine’s novel The Deemster (1887) resets the biblical David and Jonathan story in contemporary England. The chapter called “Passing the Love of Women” is of particular interest, not only for its significant title, but for its Victorian heavy breathing thought to stimulate men in love. Its pages fairly flicker like a silent movie melodrama.

His friendship with and his time spent as roommate with Dante Gabriel Rosetti may have been an inspiration for the novel.

He wrote more than 20 novels and a similar number of plays. Many of his novels were turned into silent black and white films.

1883 – On this date America's foremost female impersonator was born as Julian Eltinge in Newtonville, Massachusetts (d.1941). Eltinge was a stage and silent film star with few realizing he was actually a man.

After appearing in the Boston Cadets Revue at the age of ten in feminine garb, Eltinge made his first appearance on Broadway in 1904 in the musical comedy "Mr. Wix of Wickham" which opened in 1904 at the Bijou Theatre in New York City. The show included music by Jerome Kern among others.

Eltinge did not present a caricature of women but presented the illusion of actually being a woman. He toured simply as "Eltinge" which left his sex unknown and his act included singing and dancing in a variety of female roles. At the conclusion of his performances, he would remove his wig, revealing his true nature to the surprise of the often unknowing audience.

As Eltinge's star began to rise, he toured Europe and the United States even giving a command performance before King Edward VII.

Eltinge appeared in a series of musical comedies written specifically for his talents starting in 1910 with "The Fascinating Widow," and returned to vaudeville in 1918. Eltinge's name became known worldwide, and women were so enthralled by his performances that he established the Eltinge Magazine which advised women on beauty, fashion, and home tips.

In 1917 he appeared in his first feature film, "The Countess Charming." This would lead to other films including 1918's "The Isle of Love" with Rudolph Valentino. He was considered one of the highest paid actors on the American stage but with the arrival of the Great Depression and the death of vaudeville, Eltinge's star began to fade. He continued his show in nightclubs but found little success, he died in 1941 following a show at a New York nightclub.

The EltingeTheatre named for him is still standing on 42nd Street, or at least the facade is. If you go into the Multiplex on the south side of the building, there is a fresco on the ceiling, which is just about all that remains of his theatre.

In Buster Keaton's comedy, Seven Chances, Keaton's character is expected to find a bride by the end of the day or lose his inheritance. At one point, he goes into the stage door of the Eltinge Theatre and comes out having had his face slapped. Few modern audiences realize that Keaton has just proposed to a drag queen. Audiences of the day, however, probably got the joke.

1897 – The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee, WhK) was founded in Berlin on the 14th or 15th of May, 1897, to campaign for social recognition of homosexual and transgender men and women, and against their legal persecution. It was the first such organization in history. It produced the Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen (Yearbook for Intermediate Sexual Types). This, as well as reporting the committee's activities, carried articles of scientific, polemical and literary natures. It was publish regularly from 1899 to 1923 (sometimes even quarterly) and more sporadically until 1933.

The initial focus of the WhK was Paragraph 175 of the Imperial Penal Code, which criminalized "coitus-like" acts between males — the WhK assisted defendants in criminal trials, conducted public lectures, and gathered signatures on a petition for the repeal of the law. Signatories included Albert Einstein, Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Leo Tolstoy. Petitions were submitted to parliament, in 1898, 1922 and 1925, but failed to gain the support of the parliament, and the law continued to criminalize all male-male sexual acts until 1969 and wasn't entirely removed until 1994.

Original members of the WhK included physician Magnus Hirschfeld, publisher Max Spohr, lawyer Eduard Oberg and writer Max von Bülow. Adolf Brand, Benedict Friedländer, and Kurt Hiller also joined the organization. In 1929, Hiller took over as chairman of the group from Hirschfeld. At its peak, the WhK had about 500 members and branches in approximately 25 cities in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The committee was dissolved in 1933 when the Nazis destroyed the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin where the WhK was based.

1929 – "Terry Andrews" is the pseudonym under which was published one of the most remarkable queer books of the twentieth century. At once disturbing and exhilarating, emotionally wrenching and hilariously funny, scathingly iconoclastic and genuinely moving, The Story of Harold (1974) has become a cult classic even as it has mostly languished out of print, its author's identity until recently a mystery.

Set in New York and narrated in the first-person by a children's book author named Terry, the novel recounts six months in the life of a death-obsessed bisexual involved with a respectable girlfriend, Anne, whom he introduces to the pleasures of cunnilingus; a handsome, masochistic, married doctor, Jim Whitaker, whom Terry loves desperately but who pointedly disavows any romantic feelings for him; a "fire freak," Dan O'Reilly, who wants to be burnt alive; and a deeply alienated little boy, Bernard, who responds only to Harold, the hero of Terry's children's books.

Whether describing the intricacies of fisting or rhapsodizing about the glories of Richard Strauss, Terry speaks wittily, honestly, and sometimes heartbreakingly. The Story of Harold appeared in the same year as Patricia Nell Warren's The Front Runner. But whereas Warren's wholesome and uplifting novel managed to become an international best-seller by articulating the aspirations and ideals of the burgeoning gay liberation movement, the more sophisticated but much darker Story of Harold created only a mild stir, then dropped out of print. Its sex scenes too graphic and extreme, its narrator a sexual anarchist rather than a poster boy for gay liberation, The Story of Harold failed to capture the attention of the mass of gay men and lesbians in search of positive representations of themselves and their lives.

Key to the novel is Harold, the beguiling hero of Terry's children's stories and poems, a leprechaun-like figure who possesses magic powers and a host of curious friends and acquaintances (often modeled on Terry's sexual partners). In enlisting the stories of Harold to teach Bernard some crucial life lessons, Terry eventually comes to an epiphany of his own.

The Story of Harold not only captures the rhythm of life in New York City in the 1970s for many educated, affluent, gay and bisexual men, but it also conveys, without ever being moralistic or didactic, the emptiness and despair that the era's sexual revolution sometimes masked. For all his prowess as a sexual athlete, Terry finds his existence meaningless until he is faced with the challenge of teaching a sad little boy the incalculable value and possibilities of a positive engagement with life.

Upon its publication and subsequent reprint, Terry Andrews was identified only as "the pseudonym of a well-known author of children's books who lives in New York City." The elusive author of The Story of Harold, it has recently been revealed, is George Selden Thompson, who under the pseudonym George Selden was indeed a very successful author of children's books, winning a Newbery Honor Award for his most celebrated story, The Cricket in Times Square (1961). Selden's cricket, which was also featured in several sequels, bears obvious resemblances to Andrews' Harold.

Thompson was born in Hartford, Connecticut on May 14, 1929 and educated at Loomis School and Yale University, where he studied English and classical literature. Although he travelled to Europe periodically, he spent most of his life in New York. He died on December 5, 1989. Thompson once observed that "It is difficult to write about one's self. I would much rather write about small animals—good and bad—small children—good and bad—than about a middle-aging author." But what teases one out of thought is the idea that in The Story of Harold Thompson made the life of "a middle-aging author" a lasting contribution to glbtq literature.

Andrews aka Selden aka Thompson died in 1989.

1974 – Peter Macdissi, born in Beirut, Lebanon, is a Lebanese actor and executive producer.

His filmography consists mostly of television work, most notably playing recurring character Olivier Castro-Staal on Alan Ball's HBO series Six Feet Under. In 2007, he appeared in Towelhead, a feature film written and directed by Alan Ball, who is also his partner.

1991 – Ryan Adams, known professionally as Ryland Adams, is an American YouTuber. In 2014, he became an on-air host and producer for Clevver, an online pop culture media company. Adams later left Clevver in 2017, citing questionable business practices.

Adams entered into a relationship with fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson in 2016, with whom he frequently collaborates; Adams is primarily known for his YouTube vlogs about his life. In October 2020, Adams announced and released the first episode of his podcast The Sip, alongside his co-host, Lizze Gordon. As of February 2019, his videos have received an average of 3.8 million views.

In 2019, Adams received the Shorty Award for Vlogger of the Year.

Ryland Adams has been dating YouTuber Shane Dawson since 2016. In March 2019, they became engaged after Dawson proposed to Adams. Ryland and Dawson share a home in Parker, Colorado.

1991 – Lukas Dhont, born on this date, is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. He was featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2019.

He made his feature-length debut in 2018 with Girl, a drama film inspired by the story of Nora Monsecour which focuses on a trans girl pursuing a career as a ballerina. Girl premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Caméra d'Or award for best first feature film, as well as the Queer Palm. It received the André Cavens Award for Best Film given by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC) and was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. It received nine nominations at the 9th Magritte Awards and won four, including Best Flemish Film and Best Screenplay for Dhont.

Dhont's second feature, Close, starring Emilie Dequenne and Léa Drucker, premiered in competition at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where he shared the Grand Prix with Claire Denis' Stars At Noon. It also won the Sydney Film Prize in June 2022. The film is based on his own experiences at school, and tells the story of the intense friendship between two thirteen-year old boys. As of July 2021 Dhont is developing an untitled film with screenwriter Laurent Lunetta.

1996 – Blake Brockington (d.2015) was an American trans man whose suicide attracted international attention. He had previously received attention as the first openly transgender high school homecoming king in North Carolina, and had since been advocating for LGBT youth, the transgender community, and against police brutality.

Brockington was assigned female at birth and identified as such until he came out publicly as transgender while attending East Mecklenburg High School as a tenth grade student. His family was not supportive of his decision to transition, wondering why a black youth would want to draw more attention to himself. Because of this, Brockington chose to live with a foster family during his transition.

Brockington was enrolled at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, majoring in music education. At the time of his death, he was on medical leave and not attending classes. He stated that his plans were to become a band director and composer.

Brockington died on March 23, 2015 after being struck by several vehicles on the outer loop of Interstate 485 near Pavilion Boulevard in Charlotte. The incident was considered a suicide and was similar in nature to the suicides of Ash Haffner (d.2015) and Leelah Alcorn (d.2014).Many have noted that what happened to Brockington fits a dangerous pattern of harmful behavior by transgender youth – who often face disproportionate amounts of bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence. Josh Burford, assistant director for sexual and gender diversity at UNC Charlotte, who had worked with Brockington on the exhibit at the Levine Museum, told the press "What happened to Blake is part of a systemic problem, especially for trans students of color. He didn't quit. He didn't give up. … He's a victim of what happens every single day to these kids."

2013 – Brazil: The National Council of Justice rules 4-1 to allow same-sex marriage nationally.