1. The Mask You Live In
Compared to girls, research shows that boys in the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with a behaviour disorder, prescribed stimulant medications, fail out of school, binge drink, commit a violent crime, and/or take their own lives. The Mask You Live In asks: as a society, how are we failing our boys?
It has an average vote of 7.708 on TMDB.
2. The Codes of Gender
Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.
It has an average vote of 6.5 on TMDB.
3. I Am a Man: Black Masculinity in America
Award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt explores what it means to be a Black man in America. Traveling to more than fifteen cities and towns across the country, Hurt gathers reflections on Black masculinity from men and women of a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and a host of leading scholars and cultural critics. What results is an engaging and honest dialogue about race, gender, and identity in America. Features bell hooks, Michael Eric Dyson, John Henrick Clarke, Kevin Powell, Andrew Young, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, MC Hammer, Jackson Katz, and many others.
4. China Dolls
Aussie boys of Asian descent candidly discuss their status as a "minority within a minority".
It has an average vote of 3.5 on TMDB.
5. La fuga (La fuga)
The internal journey of eight men, who, through a theater workshop, go through the different prisons they inhabit. Practicing the art of seeing themselves, in Boal's words, this group of men reflects on their masculinity as a representation to hide their true strength: their vulnerability.
6. Harry Styles: The Finishing Touch (Harry Styles: The Finishing Touch)
Hit after hit, pop-icon Harry Styles, once the centerpiece of the world's biggest boy bands has grown into someone who isn't afraid of self-expression, continuing to reject the traditional confines of masculinity.
7. Precious Stones
Artist Daniel Crook unpacks masculinity one painting at a time.
It has an average vote of 2 on TMDB.
8. A Wild Stream (Una corriente salvaje)
Chilo and Omar seem to be the only two men on earth. They live on a solitary beach and their constant activity is fishing to survive. Their friendship, surrounded by sensuality, becomes a kind of a love story. Through their conversations and their relationship, the film explores and portraits human condition.
9. The Butch Factor
What does mean to be gay and be a man? There's no straight answer for sure. From the Castro culture of the 1970s to today’s Bears and gym rats, this fascinating investigation of gay men and sexuality blows the lid off old stereotypes and showcases a battalion of interviewees including muscle men, rodeo riders, rugby players and cops. The men speak candidly on topics from homophobia to metrosexuality to embracing effeminacy as they reveal what it means to be a gay man in America today.
It has an average vote of 4.6 on TMDB.
10. No me dejaron llorar (No me dejaron llorar)
The collective of antipatriarchal men is a political organization that, since 2010, organizes spaces of group self-reflection to problematize the role of masculinity for those who identify as and/or are read as men. This documentary was filmed around one of their yearly regional forums.
11. The Lost Boys: Searching for Manhood
A documentary in which 5 men describe their experiences with gender dysphoria as they wrestled with feelings of inadequacy as men, and their ultimate pursuit to find peace in their natural bodies.
12. Adonis (Adonis)
A hard-hitting documentary that tackles head-on a controversial but increasingly alarming subject: young men's obsession with the perfect body, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs to achieve it. Once the preserve of top-level athletes, the use of anabolic steroids has become endemic among teenagers and young men with a passion for bodybuilding. Daring to tackle head-on the taboo of male beauty standards, Adonis offers a field investigation into the heart of this muscle-building machine, questioning the reasons behind and the physical, psychological and social risks of this race to the perfect body. As he stages his own vulnerability, the filmmaker lifts the veil on the scale of the public health crisis that is looming.
13. Blessed Blessed Oblivion (مُبارك مُبارك النسيان)
BLESSED BLESSED OBLIVION weaves together a portrait of masculine performativity in East Jerusalem, as manifested in gyms, body shops and hair dressing parlors.
14. Do I Sound Gay?
What makes a voice “gay”? A breakup with his boyfriend sets journalist David Thorpe on a quest to unravel a linguistic mystery.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
15. The Great American Lie
Examines how a US value system built on the extreme masculine ideals of money, power and control has glorified individualism, institutionalized inequality, and undermined the ability of most Americans to achieve the American Dream.
It has an average vote of 5 on TMDB.
16. Men's Madness - The Myth of Male Reason
Provocative, feminist critique of man’s technological progress.
17. I'm a Porn Star: Gay 4 Pay
Welcome to the curious, surprising and always outspoken world of straight men who go Gay4Pay. Curiously, there is a disproportionate percentage of men working in gay porn who identify as straight. Why would a straight man do gay porn? What motivates him to try this or make a career of it? Why is there such keen interest and debate into the sexuality and personal lives of these men? And what does it say about us, the viewer that so much of gay porn is dominated by images of straight men?
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
18. Man Made (Man Made)
In Man Made, Sunny tries to find out what society's ideas regarding masculinity entails. Does testosteron define your masculinity? Can men be victims? And do men suffer under these ideas? In the twentieth century, feminists have fought for the freedom of women and subsequently their emancipation. Is now the time for the emancipation of men, are they next to be set free?
It has an average vote of 3 on TMDB.
19. Man for a Day
Gender activist Diane Torr’s worldwide appearances and workshops are now legendary. For the past thirty years, the main focus of this performance artist’s work has been an exploration of the theoretical, artistic as well as the practical aspects of gender identity. Katarina Peters’ documentary observes a Diane Torr workshop in Berlin in which a group of open-minded women come together to discover the secrets of masculinity. What makes a man a man and a woman a woman? Precisely when and where is gender identity formatted? How much is nature and how much nurture? Each of Torr’s workshops represents an open-ended laboratory experiment in social behaviour in which the question is posed: is it possible to deliberately play out different roles and create a space in which to transgress both masculine and feminine characteristics?
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
20. Parole de King! (Parole de King!)
Drag Queens and their cabaret shows are well-known in France, but Drag Kings still remain very much on the sidelines. Chriss Lag traveled all over France and met 22 Kings to bring them front and center.
It has an average vote of 5.5 on TMDB.
