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June’s Pride Month is in full swing with various pride events, parades, and protests happening everywhere. Most streaming platforms and TV channels will participate in the LGBTQIA+ celebrations with a selection of queer films and TV series.

When Johnny Depp walked the red carpet in Cannes three weeks ago on opening night – he plays Louis XV in Jeanne du Barry – it was the first time in years that he had made headlines in connection with his profession instead of his personal life. At 60, the Golden Globe-winner is ready for more film projects and a comeback of sorts.

Cate Blanchett might be the biggest star of the Aussie drama, The New Boy, but the film’s opening night premiere for the 70th annual Sydney Film Festival (June 7-18) prompted the biggest response for its smallest stars. Blanchett, who is also a co-producer, was absent as Indigenous writer/director Warwick Thornton took to the stage at the State Theatre and gave a special nod to the eight young boys in their first film – including the young lead, Aswan Reid.

Propelled by three Hollywood juggernauts, the new live adaptation of The Little Mermaid, Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse and Fast X, which dominated in theaters last weekend, the month of May closed with very good results for the Italian box-office. Over €40 million in grosses overall, about €15 million more than the same month in 2022, still less than the three years period before the pandemic, but nevertheless rising in a steady trajectory.

In the new film documentary Americonned, filmmaker Sean Claffey explores the tragic, destabilizing effects of income inequality on every level of society as his cameras follow five subjects over four years, recording their struggle to find the American dream. But the film also offers hope, talking to experts who look back through history at similar critical moments of instability, remembering significant labor movements that were born in such times.

The Netflix film A Beautiful Life has a simple premise: Elliott is a fisherman who lives a quiet life in a small town in Denmark. His friend Oliver dreams of becoming a rock star, but when the widow of a legendary star named Suzanne hears Elliott and Oliver perform, it is Elliott that she wants to lead on a journey to pop stardom.

Celebrating its 12th year, (fondly referred to by organizers as the 12th season) of their beloved TV camp, the annual ATX TV Festival took place in Austin over the first weekend of June and brought eager fans and various industry figures together, all in the cause of mutual love for the small screen. The festival included engaging panels, networking events and opportunities to watch stand out shows.

It was only on September 6, 2018, that homosexuality was finally decriminalized in India with the Supreme Court overturning the British Colonial-era Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and calling the law “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary” in its ruling. (The law still exists in some British colonies, but Singapore is another country that has overturned it.

At the EqualVoice Summit in Zürich, Switzerland on June 6, Golden Globes President Helen Hoehne made a special appearance to talk about equality in movies. An initiative of international media company Ringier AG, the second annual gathering of media, business and political executives aims to advocate for gender equality across various industries.

Just in time to kick off Pride Month, this year’s ATX TV Festival in its 12th year featured one of the most thought-provoking discussions over the weekend-long events, tackling queer representation on the small screen and the dire need to expand it beyond the commonly repeated narratives. Titled “Queer Stories We Want to See,” the panel welcomed four actors who shared their own experiences and ideas of what Hollywood has to do to better serve and showcase LGBTQIA+ characters and stories, emphasizing that while some work has been done, a lot more still has to change and evolve.