Ryan A. White
Directing
Biography
Born in Big Sur, California, Ryan White is a documentary filmmaker whose award-winning films have screened around the world. He spent four years in Hanoi, Vietnam working as Film Advisor for the World Wildlife Fund’s Greater Mekong Program, then relocated to Bangkok, Thailand, where he produced and directed two documentary features, Camp Unity (2010) and Mondo Banana (2013). His short film Cruising Elsewhere (2016) was awarded Best Short Film at the Tampa Bay Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and Best Documentary Short at CineKink NYC. Other documentary credits include co-directing Dirt McComber: Last of the Mohicans (2018), producing The Organic Life (2013) and associate producing Pray Away (2020) and Out Run (2016). Ryan also lectures in the Department of Communication at California State University, East Bay and the Cinematic Arts & Technology Department at California State University, Monterey Bay.
Known For
In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the "homosexual lifestyle." They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay" movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.
Pray Away
Cult filmmaker Tom DeSimone (Reform School Girls; Erotikus: A History of the Gay Movie) revisits the production of a lost gay film and resurrects youthful adventures on the California coast. From the creators of Raw! Uncut! Video!.
Big Sur Gay Porn
The rise and fall of homegrown gay porn studio Palm Drive Video. An exploration of how a devoted couple helped battle a devastating health crisis by promoting kinky sex.
Raw! Uncut! Video!
Sweat, sun, rain, tears, and green thumbs are all part of the challenge for a young couple attempting to become full-time organic farmers in this illuminating doc.
The Organic Life
A pretentious underground filmmaker struggles with his masterpiece while a scuzzy punkoid chick tries to keep her band from fading into obscurity.
Scumrock
A portrait of 80s gay porn icon Mickey Squires and the man who performed him, Richard Bernstein, which turns from a fringe-film historical documentary into an essay on the mysteries and unpredictabilities of acting as a key activity in all our lives.
Mickey & Richard
Whatever happened to Wohler Beach? Oral histories and spectral pornography resurrect memories of a once legendary gay beach.
Cruising Elsewhere
Deep in the forests of Sumatra, a Finnish sea captain seeks an elusive banana. In a Kolkata kitchen, Bengali chefs prepare scrumptious banana stalk curries. As the sun blazes in Kuala Lumpur, a Chinese exorcist calls forth an evil banana spirit… Embarking on an international journey through the vibrant world of human-banana relationships, MONDO BANANA explores the personal, cultural, and environmental importance of one of the world’s favorite fruits. A delicious blend of video art and ethnographic film, MONDO BANANA turns educational filmmaking upside down with a wild medley of shadow puppetry, culinary demonstrations, exorcisms, scientific research, performance art, anthropology, underground film, and dragon-dancing that peels away the secrets of human-banana relations and celebrates the age-old connection between people and plants.