Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives
More than two dozen men and women of various backgrounds, ages, and races talk to the camera about being gay or lesbian. Their stories are arranged in loose chronology: early years, fitting in (which for some meant marriage), coming out, establishing adult identities, and reflecting on how things have changed and how things should be.
Rob Epstein
Lucy Massie Phenix
Peter Adair
Veronica Selver
Nancy Adair
Andrew Brown
Also Directed by Rob Epstein
Accomplished documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeff Friedman take a trip across the American South and Southwest, asking people about their hopes and fears.
Filmed and edited in intimate vérité style, this movie follows visionary medical practitioners who are working on the cutting edge of life and death and are dedicated to changing our thinking about both.
Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.
When AIDS struck in the early 1980s, a scientist and a movie star did not have to respond - but they did. Dr. Mathilde Krim and Elizabeth Taylor joined forces to create amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research. The fight against HIV has never been the same. The Perfect Host reveals how two powerful and very different women came together, and what their combined efforts achieved. With passion and wit, Taylor wielded celebrity as a weapon against government indifference while Krim's commitment to science ensured support for the most promising research areas. Today, the only man cured of AIDS can thank research championed by Mathilde Krim. Visually dazzling and emotionally compelling, this story offers a surprising perspective on the still ongoing fight against AIDS.
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
A collection of shorts made by various directors in response to 9/11.
A recording of a play about the intangible impacts AIDS has on a community. This is a moving, beautifully photographed combination of theater and documentary that captures the incredible excitement of live theater and intensifies the power of the play's message.
This documentary highlights the historical contexts that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have occupied in cinema history, and shows the evolution of the entertainment industry's role in shaping perceptions of LGBT figures. The issues addressed include secrecy – which initially defined homosexuality – as well as the demonization of the homosexual community with the advent of AIDS, and finally the shift toward acceptance and positivity in the modern era.
It's San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece is put on trial. Howl, the film, recounts this dark moment using three interwoven threads: the tumultuous life events that led a young Allen Ginsberg to find his true voice as an artist, society's reaction (the obscenity trial), and mind-expanding animation that echoes the startling originality of the poem itself. All three coalesce in a genre-bending hybrid that brilliantly captures a pivotal moment-the birth of a counterculture.
With one of the most memorably stunning voices that has ever hit the airwaves, Linda Ronstadt burst onto the 1960s folk rock music scene in her early twenties.
Also Directed by Lucy Massie Phenix
A documentary that follows people from communities in the Southern United States in their various processes of becoming involved in social change.
Created from the 16mm archive of the groundbreaking "You Got to Move" (a 1985 film about educating activists in the civil rights and labor movements at the legendary Highlander Center), "They Say I'm Your Teacher" focuses on another agent of change, Bernice Robinson. This hairdresser from South Carolina sought to extend voter registration by teaching at Citizenship Education Schools.
A lesbian couple’s eight-year relationship is put under strain when Barbara is diagnosed with breast cancer. Barbara is told she has three years to live, and so she and Sandy document their lives with courageand frankness. The two women talk about their identity as Jewish women and lesbians and speak openly about the difficult issues each is facing.
Also Directed by Peter Adair
A study on a small Pentecostal congregation in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia. Explores the individual experiences of Pentecostal Christians at the Scrabble Creek Holiness Church, in Scrabble Creek, West Virginia. The documentary includes faith healing, snake handling, speaking in tongues, preaching, gospels and singing. Pentecostal Christians may also be described as "Charismatic." Pentecostals include Protestant Christians who believe that the "manifestations of the Holy Spirit" are alive, available, and experienced by modern day Christians.
A recording of a play about the intangible impacts AIDS has on a community. This is a moving, beautifully photographed combination of theater and documentary that captures the incredible excitement of live theater and intensifies the power of the play's message.
Also Directed by Veronica Selver
A documentary that follows people from communities in the Southern United States in their various processes of becoming involved in social change.
The story of Irmi Selver, who lost her family while fleeing Germany in 1939 and overcame tragedy and upheavals to establish a new life in New York.
On October 18, 1978, the San Francisco Examiner announced the birth of an innovative company, the Seven Sisters Construction Company, a group of women carpenters inspired to break down the barriers in a trade which has traditionally discriminated against them.