ALL MAN: The International Male Story

Director: BRYAN DARLING, JESSE FINLEY REED

2022, USA, 83min., NR

Screenwriter: PETER JONES

 

It’s September, it’s nominally cooler, and it’s the perfect time to get you in the mood for getting buff– or at least, looking at men who are. This month’s Queer Thursday selection is a breezy and affectionate look back at the iconic men’s clothing catalogue that 1) gave gay men permission to ogle hot models 2) buy outrageous 70s and 80s clothes from shirts with clashing patterns to leopard skin thongs 3) inspired women to get their partners to up their fashion game. Gene Burkard launched International Male in 1976, with a slogan declaring “freedom for the male,” struggled to go on during the AIDS/HIV epidemic, but found the inspiration to keep publishing until 2007. All Man sings with interviews with Burkard’s colleagues, models, social commentators, and men who found in its pages a promise of a more accepting world.

“A highly pleasurable ride that’ll delight those who cherished their time with International Male as much as those discovering it for the first time.” – James Kleinmann, The Queer Review.