Brontez Purnell

Drama Series - 2021, 16 episodes • as Self

Six renowned LGBTQ+ directors explore heroic and heartbreaking stories that define America as a nation. The limited series spans the FBI surveillance of homosexuals during the 1950s Lavender Scare to the “Culture Wars” of the 1990s and beyond, exploring the queer legacy of the Civil Rights movement and the battle over marriage equality.

Movie - 2015, 2h 15m • as DeShawn

Dancer, musician, artist, and publisher of the cult queer zine Fag School, Brontez Purnell makes his directorial debut with this semi-autobiographical "video mix tape" by produced Jack Shamama and NakedSword Film Works. Relying on his punk rock aesthetic to give the world a peek into his singularly unique perspective, 100 Boyfriends Mixtape takes the viewer on an unforgettable ride that's as audacious as it is experimental.

Movie - 2004, 2h 15m • as Junx

Get to know Chunx, Funx, Hunx & Junx up close and personal on stage and behind the scenes in the first-ever authorized bootleg of the world's raunchiest bubblegum dance troupe ever...

Movie - 2018, 2h 15m • as Self

An investigation of the life of experimental, gay, black SF based choreographer Ed Mock - and his death of AIDS in 1986.

Movie - 2012, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role

Meet Gary, a disillusioned queen obsessed with status and “Quality of Life,” who’s living close to the edge, all the while pining for a garden cottage in Noe Valley. Vulgar people, sadistic people, ripped-off people—wherever and whenever people are falling apart, you'll find them: the Together People.

Movie - 2023, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role

100 Boyfriends Mixtape 3: Fuck Boy Anthem/How I Spent My Summer Vacation is a choreofilm/video zine mixtape that was made in intervals in the summer of 2020; it’s one of three mixtapes in a series Purnell conceptualized as video zine versions of his 20-year running print zine Fag School. The videos also give his recently published book of short stories, flash fiction, and stories told-in-verse, 100 Boyfriends, its name and inspiration.

Movie - 2020, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role

A pandemic-era reunion special of Patrik-Ian Polk’s groundbreaking ’Noah’s Arc’ series.

Movie - 2016, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role

Set in an urban fairytale, DeShawn (an unlikely anti-hero) is smack-dabbing in the middle of a peculiar crossroads. He is haunted by the ghosts of one hundred men: ex-“boyfriends,” in addition to the ghosts of everyone they dated. His days are filled with spiraling epiphanies and lucid, reckless bohemianism fueled by systemic poverty and HIV ennui. In this particular sketch he is relating his philosophy of the world to an unknown caller on his landline telephone while magically shrink-fitting a new pair of jeans that he recently shoplifted from Levi’s. Commissioned by Visual AIDS in 2017 as part of ALTERNATE ENDINGS, RADICAL BEGINNINGS, a program of seven videos prioritizing Black narratives within the ongoing AIDS epidemic curated by Erin Christovale and Vivian Crockett.

Movie - 2025, 2h 15m • as Self

Pat, the evasive, androgynous character made famous on Saturday Night Live by Julia Sweeney, was an inescapable figure in 1990s pop culture. As a child, filmmaker Ro Haber became obsessed with Pat—a character whose popularity stemmed from making others uncomfortable by defying gender norms. Decades later, and now an out trans filmmaker, Haber still grapples with Pat’s legacy. Thirty-five years after It’s Pat first aired, Haber assembles a group of queer and trans comedians, writers, and even Sweeney herself to revisit the character. Through conversation and critique, they aim not to erase Pat but to reframe them, transforming a symbol of ridicule into one of reflection and empowerment.

Movie - 2022, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role

Human past and future intersect in a non-linear, natural history meta-documentary about ourselves: Homo sapiens.

Movie - 2012, 2h 15m • as Brontez

After a decade of living in San Francisco, Jesse is forced to move back to his Midwestern roots because he can no longer afford the city. On his final night in the city, friends and ex-lovers gather for a going away party that promises to heighten Jesse's already bittersweet feelings about leaving.