Graham Kolbeins is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, and fashion designer.
Background
Kolbeins' documentary films have focused on themes of LGBTQ art and activism, including the web series Rad Queers[1][2][3] and the documentary short film The House of Gay Art.[4][5] As co-founder and creative director of the brand
Massive Goods[6][7] Kolbeins and collaborator
Anne Ishii worked with Japanese artists including gay manga artist
Gengoroh Tagame and feminist artist
Rokudenashiko to produce English translations of their work as well as fashion collections for brands including
Opening Ceremony[8] and
Mishka.[9]
Works
Films
The
Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission named Kolbeins a recipient of their Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship in 2016,[10] and he subsequently spent five months filming a feature documentary about sexuality and gender identity in Japan titled Queer Japan.[11][12] Currently in post-production, the film features a variety of artists, activists, dancers, drag queens, and everyday persons.[13] The cast includes
Gengoroh Tagame, drag queen and artist Vivienne Sato, transgender politician
Aya Kamikawa, and photographer
Leslie Kee.[13]
Kolbeins' short-form work includes Rad Queers, a series of documentary profiles on artists and activists; as well as collaborations with artist
Rafa Esparza,[14] musician
Dorian Wood,[15] writer Beau Rice,[16] and the magazine New American Paintings. He also created a found footage experimental short Food Horror which explored stigma towards eating embedded with the teen television drama Pretty Little Liars.[17][18]