Monty Wolfe
Monty Wolfe (mɒnti wʊlf; born March 5, 1974) is an American filmmaker and screenwriter.[1] His films exclusively explore LGBTQ themes and teeter from decadent to wholesome, grounded to surreal.[2] Forever with Pride E-Magazine describes his films as "hopeful and optimistic, no doubt a reaction to the trauma of coming of age during the height of the AIDS epidemic, when the prospects of a happily ever after seemed hopelessly impossible.”[2] Critics often describe his films as "sweet" and "subtle."[3][4] His films have screened around the world and won numerous awards.[5][2][6]
Early life and education
Wolfe was born in Center, Texas and grew up in rural Louisiana.[7][1] As a child, he was interested in puppetry after attending a production of Sesame Street Live!.[1] He worked for nearly a decade in television news before moving to Portland, Oregon and receiving a BA in film at Portland State University.[8]
Career
First short films
During film school, Wolfe created his first award-winning short film, In Pieces (2017), a “gay spin on the self-aware teen comedies of the 1990s."[8] After the film won Best LGBTQ short at the 2018 Oregon Independent Film Festival,[9] Wolfe was encouraged to continue and followed it up with Treasure (2019), “a gay love story set in a post-apocalyptic forest” and Look Up! (2020), “a comedy inspired by European art films of the 1970s."[8] As of 2025, In Pieces, Treasure, and Look Up! are licensed for streaming by Together Magic Gay Movies (GaybingeTV) as an anthology film under the title Fragments of Us.[10]
First feature
Inspired by his loneliness during the Covid 19 lockdown, Wolfe wrote The Exploding Boy, a queer teen romantic comedy about the need for community.[1] The film screened in multiple countries and won several awards including Best Dramatic Film at the Oregon Independent Film Festival.[2] Critical and audience reception to the film has been mixed. Some praise the film for its earnestness and unorthodox story while others lambast it for its low-quality production values. Bobby LePire with Film Threat calls the film "subtle and sweet."[3] Pramila Tripathi with High on Films praises the actors and describes Wolfe's contribution as "decent," but also refers to the story as "incoherent."[4] Zachary Wild of The Rectangular View compared it to early John Waters films.[11]
As of 2025, the film is distributed by Mattioli Productions & Distributions[12] and Gonella Productions[13] and is available on several major streaming services.[1][2][6]
The Future
Wolfe was nominated for Best Screenplay at the 2025 Austin Under the Stars film festival for his feature screenplay A Folly of Fools[14] and is currently working on a “queer noir” screenplay, a comedic film that satirizes the film noir genre “through a queer lens.”[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "A Queer Teen Wants to Be the Next Jim Henson in Monty Wolfe and Ian Southworth's Portland-Shot Film "The Exploding Boy"". Willamette Week. 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Forever with Pride issue 38 1st Jan 2025". Marq. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 LePire, Bobby (April 20, 2024). "Film Threat". filmthreat.com. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tripathi, Pramila (2024-04-24). "The Exploding Boy (2023) Movie Review: A Sweet Coming of Age Story with Some Rage and Lots of Love". High On Films. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ "Filmmaker taps into teen angst with 'The Exploding Boy'". KTALnews.com. 2023-10-19. Archived from the original on 2023-12-27. Retrieved 2025-09-27. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Locally Produced "The Exploding Boy" Now Available on Streaming Platforms". The Confluence. 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2025-10-02.[unreliable source?]
- ↑ Borrego, Priscilla (2023-10-19). "'The Exploding Boy' film premiere set for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Bear's". https://www.ksla.com. Retrieved 2025-09-28. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Monty Wolfe on Loving Cinema". Revry. Retrieved 2025-09-27.
- ↑ "2018 Oregon Independent Film Festival". www.oregonindependentfilmfest.com. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ↑ Fragments Of Us - Gay Film Online. Retrieved 2025-09-28 – via www.gaybingetv.com.
- ↑ Wild, Zachary (2025-04-12). "Movie Review: The Exploding Boy". The Rectangular View. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ "Watch Films". Mattioli Productions. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ↑ Productions, Gonella. "THE EXPLODING BOY". Gonella Productions (in français). Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ↑ "AUTS 2025 - OFFICIAL SELECTIONS (List)". AustinUnderTheStars. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
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