Portrait by Paul Mpagi Sepuya
Graham Kolbeins (they/them) is a Canadian/American queer filmmaker, writer, and designer living on Vancouver Island. They are the director of the feature documentary Queer Japan, a kaleidoscopic portrait of sexuality and gender identity in contemporary Japan. Their short films include The House of Gay Art and Minister Chucky, co-directed with Kolbeins’ husband, filmmaker Jonathan Andre Culliton. Kolbeins’ documentary web series, Rad Queers, profiled subjects including visual artist Edie Fake and Latinx leather organization Payasos L.A. In 2016, The Japan-U.S. Friendship Council named Kolbeins a recipient of their Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship. Their latest film project is Outage, a queer sci-fi comedy set in the high desert, starring Emmett Preciado.
Along with Chip Kidd and Anne Ishii, Kolbeins is the co-editor of three books on Japanese gay art: The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame (Vol. 1 and 2) and Fantagraphics’ Eisner-nominated anthology, Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It. The team also collaborated on Koyama Press’ English-language edition of What Is Obscenity?, a graphic memoir by Rokudenashiko chronicling her arrest on obscenity charges for making 3D printed art using a digital scan of her own vulva.
As a videographer, Kolbeins has collaborated with a number of acclaimed performance and multimedia artists including Ron Athey, Cassils, Fanaa, and Rafa Esparza; musicians San Cha, Alice Bag, and Dorian Wood; and playwright Virginia Grise. They have also worked as a freelance editor and videographer creating digital content for World of Wonder, the producers of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Kolbeins is the co-founder of 29 Queer Film Festival.