Reel advice: Docs for pride

For her documentarian directorial debut, actress/comedian/activist Whoopi Goldberg chose the late comedy legend Moms Mabley. Goldberg's doc, Moms Mabley: The Original Queen of Comedy (HBO Home Entertainment) begins with the premise that Mabley, who died in 1975 at 81, had a profound impact on Goldberg, and then proceeds to give examples of comedians and others on whom her effect was equally great.

Goldberg herself interviewed a wide cross-section of comedians and performers, including Kathy Griffin, Eddie Murphy, Quincy Jones, Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Joan Rivers, Arsenio Hall, Robert Klein, Dick Cavett, Kaye Ballard, Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Debbie Allen, as well as directors Ellen Sebastian Cheng and George Schlatter, and Apollo Theater historian Billy Mitchell. Goldberg also speaks at length about Mabley, explaining how she "did Moms" in a show of her own because of how much she loved the material. Along with Mabley, Goldberg cited other comedic storytellers who influenced her including Richard Pryor, Lord Buckley, and the comedy duo Mike Nichols and Elaine May.

However, it's the vintage Mabley performance footage that does the best job of fleshing out the portrait. From her humble beginnings on the "chitlin' circuit" to her success at the Apollo theater and later on television and in film, Mabley's popularity lasted for more than 40, with her greatest successes occurring near the end of her life. A smart, risqué wordsmith, who hid how bright she was under the floppy hat and mismatched clothing costume she donned in character, which in essence gave her license to speak her mind.

The versatile Mabley got away with much in her routine, making the kinds of jokes about men that men often made about women, speaking her mind about civil rights and politics, and finding humor in pain. But perhaps the greatest revelation about Mabley occurs when retired dancer Norma Miller not only mentions Mabley's penchant for dressing in men's clothing off-stage, but also about her girlfriend and the other young women she surrounded herself with in her private life. Alternately funny and serious and extremely informative, Moms Mabley makes for good Pride month entertainment.

Awakened by a "glittering stranger" at three years old, Broughton met his "angel" who offered him the gifts of intuition, articulation and merriment, culminating in a kind of big joy, hence the title of Eric Slade, Stephen Silha and Dawn Logsdon's doc Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton (Kino Lorber). A West Coast bohemian, Broughton's films were a way for him to see what his dreams looked like, "to make them real." Poet Neeli Cherkovski calls Broughton "an outsider's outsider, under the underground."

Broughton, who lived "the pleasures of the flesh" and said things such as "when in doubt, twirl," survived a difficult California childhood with an abusive mother. But he came into his own during the 1947 San Francisco Renaissance, the artistic revolution, the soil from which the Beats grew, led by Jack Spicer, Robert Duncan, Madeline Gleason, Kenneth Rexroth and Broughton.

Unable to live his dream to be a dancer (Broughton admitted to not being graceful enough in a 1998 interview), he turned his attention first to writing, co-creating the Festival of Modern Poetry in 1947. Around this time, the bisexual Broughton began a relationship with Pauline Kael (of film criticism fame) and discovered a new life as filmmaker. Beginning with his short film Mother's Day, Broughton became a leading experimental filmmaker. He went on to receive the Poetic Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival, presented to him by his hero Jean Cocteau.

Big Joy is a joyful portrait of an artist, a writer, a teacher, a filmmaker, a father, a lover, a Radical Faerie, and a man whose far-reaching impact is still felt today. Following Broughton's journey through his personal and professional relationships, his creative and artistic endeavors, this doc will surely inspire viewers to learn more about his work and his life.

Did you ever read a book and think, "Gee, this sounds like someone's master's thesis"? Writer/director Cindy L. Abel's brief doc Breaking Through: Out of the Closet, Into the Halls of Power (Breaking Glass) has that similar feel to it. Featuring interviews with high profile queer politicians including former Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin and Houston Mayor Annise Parker, the doc gives voice to its subjects' early years and family life, coming out process, the adversity they faced, running for office and finally, time spent in office.

Abel's doc shines a light on ongoing issues of importance such as bullying and raises important questions, such as what attention does coming out bring to a person with political aspirations? But by the end, with its closing sequence focusing on same-sex marriage, it feels rushed and suddenly unfocused, more like a promo video than a doc short. DVD special features include both the theatrical and extended versions, an exclusive music video and more.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams' award-winning doc God Loves Uganda (First Run Features) reveals a plague more insidious than HIV/AIDS currently ravaging Africa for which there are no pharmaceuticals; American evangelicals preaching their gospel of lies and hate. According to one source, "something frightening" is happening in Uganda with the "potential to destroy" it. "Coming from the outside," it's important to send it back, but the "fire has already been set."

The Kansas City, Missouri-based International House of Prayer, started in 1999 and led missionary force and relentless yeller Lou Engle, sends young and impressionable Christian soldiers (such a peaceful image, no?) to do his dirty work in Uganda. The relationship between American conservatives and Africa is powerful in Uganda where religion is used to demonize and kill. Post-Amin Uganda was ripe for the picking and American evangelicals seized the opportunity to replace one kind of fanaticism with another. Now there are Ugandan street preachers on corners and wading through the traffic-jammed streets, shouting competitively to be heard.

Of course, there are good people in the struggle too. Boston-based Zambian citizen Rev. Kapya Kaoma is doing his part to expose the hypocrisy. Bishop Christopher Senyojo puts his life at risk daily in support of LGBT rights in Uganda. The late gay activist David Kato, who was murdered as the pressure mounted for passage of anti-gay laws, lost his life in the struggle.

Sadly, as God Loves Uganda , illustrates they are outnumbered and outspent by the evangelicals who will not be deterred from their mission of madness. Interviews with American missionaries, including the extremely butch "ex-lesbian" Joanna Watson, paint a frightening picture of the future of Uganda. Difficult to watch, but well-worth seeing God Loves Uganda includes bonus shorts and deleted scenes among its DVD special features.