Rock Out 2025

Unburying the queer roots of rock, punk & metal.

Directed by Dustin Lance Black

In electric, personal, and historical ways, this riveting documentary explores whether there is, or ever was, a home for Queer in the hyper-masculine, black painted worlds of heavy metal, punk and rock & roll. Excavating the often-veiled queer lives of some of the greatest culture-defining disruptors and masterminds of music in the 1960s and 70s, Rock Out demands to know what unique value ‘gay’ brought to creating and revolutionising rock, punk, and metal – from the perspective of managers, producers, artists and fans – and why those contributions have been left buried for so long.