Directing
Jenni Olson
Born October 6, 1962 · Falcon Heights, Minnesota, USA (age 64)
Jenni Olson (born October 6, 1962) is an American film curator, filmmaker, author, and LGBT film historian. She was born and raised in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. She co-founded the pioneering LGBT website PlanetOut, and campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides. Olson was educated at the University of Minnesota. In 1986, while still a student, Olson co-fou…
Known For
By Hook or by Crook · 2001By Hook or by Crook
★ 5.12001
MovieCrimeDrama
Shy is a transgender man who leaves his small town after the death of his father, and heads to the big city to live a life of crime. Along the way, he encounters Valentine, a quirky adoptee, in search of his birth mother. An immediate kinship is sparked between these men and they become partners in crime.
Barbara Forever · 2026Barbara Forever
2026
MovieDocumentary
An archive-driven exploration of the life, work, and legacy of iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer.
Trailer Camp · 1995Trailer Camp
★ 3.71995
MovieDocumentary
Film archivist and former director of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Jenni Olson created this fast-paced and often funny, campy 75-minute film comprised entirely of spliced together movie trailers. Some of the segments have themes such as a breezy look back at John Travolta's career that includes trailers from such films as Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive, Grease, Perfect, and Moment by Moment. Other trailers include Mae West in Sextette, the disco camper Thank God It's Friday, Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber, Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew and the rarely seen Chastity, the serious acting debut of Cher.
30/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing · 201930/30 Vision: Three Decades of Strand Releasing
★ 5.32019
MovieComedyScience Fiction
Over 30 filmmakers and friends of Strand Releasing have come together to honor the company’s indelible contribution to independent cinema over the past thirty years. The participating filmmakers have each created a short film for the project, all shot on iPhones.
Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later · 2023Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later
2023
MovieDocumentary
Follows the lives of four queer masculine-presenting BIPOC – all assigned female at birth – as they challenge conceptions of gender identity while navigating life’s hardships and triumphs.
AWOL · 2017AWOL
★ 5.52017
MovieDrama
A young woman in the Army must make tough decisions when her love for an older woman causes her to question just where she is going. Adapted from Deb Shoval's 2011 short film of the same name.
Afro Promo · 1997Afro Promo
★ 8.01997
MovieDocumentary
Co-curated by Jenni Olson and the late Black gay activist Karl Knapper, this entertaining showcase of vintage movie trailers traces the evolution of African American cinema through its most crucial period, 1952-1976. Filled with insights on race and social dynamics, this fascinating compendium of coming attractions explores an extensive range of stylistic approaches—Blaxploitation, Comedy, Music Bio, Plantation Drama and more—offering an outrageous joyride through motion picture history. Beyond mere camp, these marvelously condensed gems crystallize a range of African American identities and personalities, tracking the meteoric careers of Sidney Poitier, James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Pam Grier and others through their bold performances in movies both hugely popular and practically forgotten. Afro Promo provides a compact glimpse at the representation of African Americans through twenty-five dynamic years of American cinema history.
In Nomine Patris · 2019In Nomine Patris
★ 2.02019
MovieDocumentary
A brief reflection on faith, self-loathing and Studs Lonigan.
Filmography
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