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I came out in the early 2000s and, like a lot of queer teens, went on the hunt for any Lgbtqia+ media I could find. During my search, I discovered two spaces where I felt comfortable about my identity — the fanfiction community and the anime/manga community. Coincidentally, I met the girl I’d end up marrying through fanfiction , and she went on to introduce me to series like Gravitation while, at the same time, stores like Waldenbooks slowly began to carry Bl (boys' love). Moments like this helped me see that all kinds of queer content existed in media, especially when it came to manga. That’s only increased over the years, much to my wallet’s dismay, but it’s been nice to see the growth of Lgbtqia+ content in the medium and the wide variety of options we have now. Related: New Manga to Read for Pride Month 2024 More importantly,...

Transgender characters have a complex history in media, which is why it's so surprising that some of the best trans characters ever come from anime and manga. It's no secret that the media's representation of transgender characters has not been the greatest. While there have been some great strides in recent years to represent people from all walks of life, anime and manga are still often behind the curve.

Despite this though, queer representation has a proud history in both mediums. Manga's first trans character debuted decades before Marvel or DC's, and that representation has only grown outside of mainstream sources most fans would associate with the medium. Even outside of indie spaces though, trans and queer representation can be found in all sort of places fans might not expect. The best trans anime and manga characters are proof of how much potential both mediums have for inclusivity and thoughtful storytelling.

French sellers will market premiere a number of Cannes 2020 label titles.

MK2 Films is launching Carine Tardieu’s romantic drama The Young Lovers, starring Fanny Ardant opposite Melvil Poupaud as a 70-year-old woman who embarks on an affair with a married doctor 25 years her junior, and Ratatouille screenwriter Jim Capobianco’s stop-motion animation feature The Inventor about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, featuring Stephen Fry and Daisy Ridley in the voice cast. It will also market premiere Cannes 2020 titles The Big Hit by Emmanuel Courcol and Israeli filmmaker Nir Bergman’s father-and-son tale Here We Are.

Charades is running...

With the upcoming Šarūnas Bartas movie in the Official Selection and 9 more films getting market screenings, the Baltic country is bringing its biggest line-up ever to the Marché du Film Online. The Lithuanian Film Centre (Lfc) is putting the finishing touches to its virtual stand, as the country is about to attend the Cannes Marché du Film for the tenth consecutive year. The Baltic nation will welcome accredited professionals during the Marché du Film Online, which will be held from 22-26 June, promoting a record-breaking selection of ten films (the biggest-ever Lithuanian line-up at the event) that are featured in various sections, a specialised panel on the short-film industry, and some more positive news on the tax incentive scheme. The most prominent of the selected films is, without a doubt, In the Dusk by acclaimed Lithuanian helmer Šarūnas Bartas, which has received the Cannes Official Selection label. This is...

The line-up features two works awarded Cannes 2020’s Official Selection Label - Suzanne Lindon’s first feature film and Sharunas Bartas’ In The Dusk - as well as Joachim Lafosse's upcoming film. With just a few days to go until the Cannes Film Festival’s first ever Online Marché du Film (unspooling 22-26 June), French international sales agency Luxbox, led by Fiorella Moretti and Hédi Zardi, is preparing to negotiate on behalf of the eight titles in its eye-catching line-up, which includes two feature films earmarked for the Cannes 73 Official Selection: Spring Blossom by young French filmmaker Suzanne Lindon and In The Dusk by the well-known Lithuanian Sharunas Bartas. Spring Blossom is the first feature film to come courtesy of Suzanne Lindon (the daughter of Vincent Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain), who wrote the screenplay and also stars in the cast, which further comprises Arnaud Valois (nominated Best New Hope at the.

Leila Bekhti and Damien Bonnard to star in drama exploring impact of bipolar disorder.

Paris-based sales company Luxbox will kick-off sales on Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse’s upcoming drama The Restless at the upcoming Marché du Film Online.

Leiïa Bekhti and Damien Bonnard are set to star as a couple, who share a child together, whose life together is impacted by bipolarism.

Bonnard, whose recent credits include Les Misérables and The French Dispatch, plays a man called Damien who is battling the high and lows of bipolar disorder.

Bekhti co-stars as his partner (Leila) who valiantly weathers the emotional rollercoaster of his changing moods,...

Adding more value to their June 3rd unveiling, what went into this selection process and to be frank, some of these short descriptions will clue us in on the DNA of what we can expect to see from specific titles (including Maïwenn’s own DNA) that for the most part would have been included in the Un Certain Regard section. Here are some value added descriptions which will help figure out what the fall film festival might look like for Telluride, Tiff, Nyff.

The Faithful (or at least selected once before)

The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson (USA) – 1h43

ÉTÉ 85 by François Ozon (France) – 1h40

Asa Ga Kuru (True Mothers) by Naomi Kawase (Japan) – 2h20

Lovers Rock by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 1h08

Mangrove by Steve McQueen (United Kingdom) – 2h04

Druk (Another Round) by Thomas Vinterberg – (Denmark) – 1h55

Adn (DNA) by Maïwenn (France / Algeria) – 1h30

Last Words by Jonathan Nossiter...