Derek Le Beau has been researching and writing about queer film history since his introduction to Vito Russo’s pioneering 1981 work, “The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies,” while working toward his BFA in 2011. Since then he has been revisiting films of the past for signs of LGBTQ representation – particularly queer-coding in classic Hollywood movies – and looking for other areas in which queer history intersects with film history.

Film has documented many aspects of our past since its inception. From the early experimental silent shorts to present day, we’ve always been here. Queer people exist on the silver screen, and also behind it, this is why in 2020 Derek created Queer Cinema Archive as a means of sharing footage, and stories, from our queer past.

Derek and Queer Cinema Archive have been featured in W Magazine, LGBTQ Nation and on OutLook TV.