Welcome to Screen Gems, our weekend dive into queer and queer-adjacent titles of the past that deserve a watch or a re-watch.Director Zal Batmanglij doesn’t get enough credit.
The co-creator of the cult series The OA, and director of sleeper hits including Sound of My Voice and The East is one of the most ambitious and interesting filmmakers working today.
Maybe because he’s an openly gay man, his films always also include queer characters and performers, even if in just incidental roles.To see Batmanglij at his best, look no further than his 2013 indie thriller The East.
The film stars his frequent collaborator Brit Marling (with whom he co-wrote the script) as Jane, a private security investigator assigned to research a fringe.