UNCLE ROY

Chicago

A moving and deeply personal documentary, UNCLE ROY follows the extraordinary life of Roy Blakey—world-traveling ice skater, renowned photographer, collector, and pioneer of gay male photography—as seen through the eyes of his niece, filmmaker Keri Pickett. As Roy faces the challenges of dementia in his nineties, Pickett embarks on a race against time to preserve both his remarkable archives and the legacy of a man whose life intersected with queer history, art, and performance.

From touring the world with Holiday on Ice to creating groundbreaking male nude photography and documenting generations of performers, Roy’s story is one of creativity, resilience, and self-discovery. The film is both an intimate family portrait and a celebration of a queer artist whose work helped shape LGBTQ+ visual culture.

Built from nine decades of photographs, films, letters, and memorabilia, UNCLE ROY is a heartfelt exploration of memory, legacy, chosen family, and the importance of preserving queer history before it disappears.

“A powerful look at one man’s work capturing the gay liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s.”