Ellen stands up for documentary Bully (2012)
[Gay Star News, March 7, 2012]

Ellen DeGeneres is speaking out against the R rating the documentary Bully has been slapped with by the Motion Picture Assn. of America - a rating that prevents anyone under the age of 17 from seeing the movie without an adult.

The film is about the epidemic of bullying in schools and got the R rating because of profanities some of the kids use in the movie.

'Having an R rating makes it difficult for anyone under the age of 17 to see it,' DeGeneres said on her syndicated talk show this week. 'Also, you can't show R-rated movies in schools and that's exactly where it needs to be shown.' ...

The Weinstein Company, which sought a PG-13 rating, appealed the rating and lost. A PG-13 rating cautions parents that some material in a film may not be suitable for children under the age of 13.

DeGeneres said the language in the film, directed by Lee Hirsch and scheduled to open in theaters on March 30, is 'not gratuitous.'

'It's in the movie because it's part of the story and it's real language that bullies are using,' she said. 'After seeing it, I can tell you that the lessons the kids learn from this movie are more important than any words they might hear - and they're words that they already know anyway.'

[Continued here]

• Emily Bazelon: The Problem With Bully [Slate, March 29, 2012]
• Ian Buckwalter: 'Bully' and the Plight of the Well-Intentioned Documentary [The Atlantic, March 30, 2012]
• Carrie Jacobs, Ph.D.: 'Bully' Is A Wake-Up Call... For Adults [HuffPo, April 25, 2012]

The emotional impact of Bully will likely be keenly felt by the bullied, somewhat understood by the non-bullied, and all but lost on the bully. I certainly don't agree with censoring the movie, but as an adult, I need to be aware that it may be traumatizing to a young person who has been bullied, or even to youths who have suffered great loss in their lives. A young man in Philadelphia I have worked with was so severely bullied in his high school for being gay that he left to be home-schooled. After he saw the film, he was so traumatized he sought psychiatric hospitalization the next day. ...

The movie illustrates a kind of malignant indifference that school administration and staff adopt toward bullying. Not only are the students unsupported by school personnel, but, additionally, concerned parents are unable to get real or reasonable responses to their inquiries about their child's situation. The responses given are focused on either denial that a problem exists, acceptance of harassment or violence as "normal," or banal statements used to sidestep the issue or to express that there is nothing they can do. These "powerful" adults come across as completely powerless. Overall, it appears that school personnel simply have no clue what to do or how to handle the situation. ...

It seems to me that the public view that Bully is a movie for youth is a reflection of adults' lack of understanding of young people. This movie needs to seen by every adult working in every school and every child welfare agency in the country. This is a call to action for adults to begin a dialogue with each other about their own failure to stand up against bullying and their charge to protect youth.

Word is Out: New monograph released on Queer Film (1977)
[XTRA, April 13, 2012]

The 1977 film Word is Out was one of the first, groundbreaking documentaries to focus on the lives of gay and lesbian people. Directed by a collective known as the Mariposa Film Group (Peter Adair, Nancy Adair, Andrew Brown, Rob Epstein, Lucy Massive Phenix and Veronica Selver), the film profiled 26 lesbians and gay men of various ages, races and backgrounds. Broadcast nationally on US television in the midst of the rampant homophobia of Anita Bryant's Save the Children campaign, the film is a pioneering example of gay and lesbian people fighting back by getting their own stories out there.

[Continued here]

• Word Is Out (1977) [IMDb]
• 'Word Is Out': A Love That Dared Speak After All [NPR, March 5, 2010]

The '70s: Between the Stonewall riots and the emergence of AIDS, it was one of the last moments in mainstream American society when homosexuality was still "the love that dare not speak its name." Yet one pioneering movie managed not just to investigate the lives of more than two dozen "out" gay men and lesbians, but to allow them to tell their own stories in their own ways.

(This documentary is a work in progress)



Kidnapped for Christ

Kidnapped for Christ is a feature-length documentary film, which follows the stories of several American teenagers who were sent to an Evangelical Christian reform school located in The Dominican Republic called "Escuela Caribe." The school is run by Americans and is advertised as a "therapeutic Christian boarding school" whose mission is to "help struggling youth transform into healthy Christian adults." While many have praised the school for saving the lives of hundreds of troubled teens, in the past several years many former students have begun to speak out against the school, claiming that they suffered both psychological and physical abuse during their time there. The film's director, Kate Logan, set out to document the experiences of the students at this remote boarding school and was given unprecedented access to film for seven weeks on campus in the summer of 2006. Through candid interviews with distressed students, footage of staff imposing extreme discipline and punishments, and finally the attempted rescue of a student being held at the school illegally past the age of 18, she was able to reveal the shocking truth of what was actually going on at Escuela Caribe. The film centers on the story of David, a straight-A student from Colorado who was sent to Escuela Caribe in May of 2006 after coming out to his parents as gay. Like many others, David was taken in the night without warning by a "transport service" and was never told where he was going or when he would be brought back home. While at Escuela Caribe, David had no way of communicating with any of his friends or family back home until the filmmakers arrived and he decided to ask them if they would smuggle out a letter that he had secretly written to his best friend. Once word got back to David's community about what had happened to him, many people sprung to action and formed a plan to get him released. Getting David out of this school, however, turned out to be a much more difficult task than anyone had thought, and the trials they went through to get David released revealed just how far Escuela Caribe would go to prevent a student from leaving. ... The growth of the troubled teen industry, especially therapeutic boarding schools located in the United States and abroad, has given rise to many other allegations of the inhumane treatment of youth and the exploitation of families who are desperately seeking help for their teenagers.

[Continued here]

[Note: I have reason to suspect that at least one such 'school' exists here in southern Ontario down in the Niagara region. A few years ago two young males were killed by a locomotive while attempting to escape from a private christianist 'school'.]

[East Bloc Love] comes to Sydney (2011)
[Sydney Star Observer, February 13, 2012]

Local filmmaker Logan Mucha's acclaimed documentary East Bloc Love will have its Australian premiere at this month's Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival before going on to screen at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.

The film follows the story of 20-year-­old gay activist Sergey Yenin, whose boyfriend was shot on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. After expulsion from Minsk University by the KGB for his political views and his sexuality, Yenin joined the banned LGBT group GayBelarus and helped them plan a defiant march in Minsk despite a ban.

Logan said he was pleased to see East Bloc Love make its Australian premiere at one of the biggest LGBT festivals in the world after a successful run at international film festivals.

"East Bloc Love has been screened from the UK to Brazil, so it's great to see the film brought home for Australian audiences to see," he said.

[Continued here]

New Documentary [Love Free or Die] Chronicles Life of Gay Bishop
[Edge Boston, February 15, 2012]

It was a sultry late June afternoon in 2009 when New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson walked along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and handed cups of water to those who were marching in New York City's annual Pride parade. He stressed the Biblical importance of giving water to the poor during a sermon he delivered at the First Presbyterian Church of New York's annual Pride service a couple of hours earlier. While the congregation traditionally hands out water to Pride marchers each year, Robinson's participation in this annual tradition that coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots made this simple act even more symbolic.

"This is the oppressor offering a cup of water to those we have oppressed," said Robinson, referring to religious-based homophobia. "There's power in that and there is repentance in that so I was trying to get the congregation to understand what an important symbol it was and how important it was that they do it."

This scene is one of several contained within "Love Free or Die" that chronicles three years of Robinson's life as the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop. Directed by Mackey Alston and produced by Sandra Itkoff, the documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month where it won a Special Jury Prize.

[Continued here]

• At Sundance, "Love Free Or Die," Documentary About Bishop Gene Robinson Takes Center Stage [Huffington Post, January 25, 2012]

It's been years since the incident, but Bishop Gene Robinson's heart still races when he sees it on film.

Robinson, the Episcopal Church's first openly bishop, was preaching in London when a man in the audience stood and began yelling at him. The heckler waved a motorcycle helmet in his hand as he ranted. Robinson silently wondered if he was hiding a gun or a bomb beneath it.

Ultimately, the man was escorted from the church, but the moment reminded everyone, including Robinson, of the risks of taking a stand.

It's one of many moments -- some suspenseful, some inspiring, some heartbreaking -- captured in "Love Free or Die," a documentary about Robinson that's premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

"As far as we've come in terms of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, we still have a long way to go, particularly in the central part of the country," Robinson said in an interview.

Pride Of The Holy Land: Jerusalem Is Proud To Present (2008)
[paulandrew-interviews, February 4, 2011]

Documentary filmmakers enjoy sinking their teeth into difficult questions -- love, identity, resistance, and the search for belonging. Jerusalem is Proud To Present is a feast of difficult questions. Director Nitzan Galady's award winning documentary chronicles the people, the events, the oppositional forces leading up to and during the 2006 World Pride March. And for this Director the most difficult question of all -- "How do you organise a sparkling gay pride march in a holy city?"

[Continued here]

• Jerusalem Is Proud To Present (2008) [IMDb]

YSL Documentary: The Beautifully Sad Love Story, L'Amour Fou (2010)
[Style Caster, April 26, 2011]

Filming for the documentary L'Amour Fou (Crazy Love) commenced just six months after the death of Yves Saint Laurent and its central voice is that of his longtime partner in life and business, Pierre Bergé. Though the grief is still evident on Berge's well-lined face as he relays a lifetime to documentarian Pierre Thoretton, what the viewer is left with is not just a portrait of grief, but the realities of a love story, a candid illustration of a genius and many close ups of an extensive collection of very expensive, very rare, very beautiful art, sculpture and antiques. Thoretton has subverted the way that fashion documentaries are made - away from the glimmering parties in Beijing and witty sound bites of a master couturier - and goes straight to the artistry, the pressures, the relationships and the life of Yves Saint Laurent.

[Continued here]

• Yves Saint Laurent [Wikipedia]
• Saint Laurent's Other Half [New York Times, May 11, 2011]

'This Is What Love In Action Looks Like' Takes Top Honors at Indie
Memphis Film Festival (2011) [Truth Wins Out]

Filmmaker Morgan Jon Fox has been touring the nation this fall, premiering his six-years-in-the-making documentary This Is What Love In Action Looks Like. The film was inspired by the protests that began when a sixteen year-old named Zach posted a plea for help, after learning that his parents were forcing him into a now defunct "ex-gay" program called Refuge, run by Love in Action in Memphis, Tennessee. The sold-out hometown premiere in Memphis was Friday night, as part of the Indie Memphis film festival, and let's just say the film did well:

        Memphis' Morgan Jon Fox, who debuted the final version of his years-in-the-making documentary This is What Love in Action Looks Like at Playhouse on the Square Friday, was the big winner at the closing night awards ceremony of the 14th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival.

        Fox's film, which documents the plight of a Memphis teen forced into a church-based "gay de-programming" institution and the surprising evolution of the institution's director, picked up two awards from two different juries: It picked up a Special Documentary Jury Award and Best Hometowner Feature, the latter coming with a $1000 cash prize presented by the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission.

        "I've shown several films here and the feeling I get having a premiere here is different than anywhere," Fox said after picking up the special jury award. He went on to express his appreciation for having a home "so loving and supportive."

[Continued here]

'Zenne Dancer' might alter the course of Turkish gay cinema (2012)
[Hürriyet Daily News, January 16, 2012]

This week's award-winning, much-anticipated "Zenne Dancer," with its gay characters and tackling of themes relevant to the LGBT communities in Turkey, brings to discussion once again the existence, or lack thereof, of gay Turkish cinema.

Based on the true story of Ahmet Yildiz, a gay man murdered by his father in 2008 after coming out to his family, the film openly deals with cultural and legal issues through three characters, an out-and-about flamboyant dancer, a gay man coming from conservative eastern Turkey and a German photojournalist whose point of view serves as the questioning eye on many guises of patriarchy that haunt gay men.

"'Zenne' is a very special film for us," said Umut Güner, spokesperson for Kaos GL, an LGBT organization, and writer for Kaos GL magazine. "It brings to the screen some of the important issues for the LGBT cause such as hate crimes, the complications for gay men to forego the mandatory military service and coming out." ...

With merely a dozen examples in the history of Turkish cinema, we can hardly talk about the existence of gay cinema, let alone an accurate and honest portrayal of gay characters and LGBT communities in general. Güner's words ring true for a cinema that could hopefully change with the mainstream popularity of "Zenne Dancer": "Turkish cinema doesn't acknowledge the existence of LGBT communities, and neither does it look at their problems."

[Continued here]

• Gay-themed 'Zenne Dancer' Wins Awards at Antalya Film Fest [Hollywood Reporter, October 18, 2011]

The 48th edition of the International Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival ended this weekend with a surprising four awards for M.Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay's Zenne Dancer, a first-time feature that deals with homosexuals in and outside the Turkish military. While the film was almost universally dismissed by international critics and festival guests, its hot-button topic led to a 10-minute standing ovation at its premiere screening and an all-female jury honoring it as Best First Film, along with awards for Best Cinematography (Norayr Casper), Best Supporting Actor (Erkan Avci) and Best Supporting Actress (Tilbe Saran).

Trudy Ring: [The] Lavender Scare: Film Documents Antigay "Witch Hunt" (2012)
[The Advocate, May 3, 2012]

Former 60 Minutes producer and now independent filmmaker Josh Howard is preparing a documentary, The Lavender Scare, about the mass firing of gay federal employees, designated as national security risks, in the 1950s and '60s.

ABC News has a profile of Howard and the subjects of his film, such as Joan Cassidy, now 84, who left her post as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer after President Eisenhower issued an executive order in 1953 ordering the dismissal of all gays and lesbians employed by the U.S. government. The excuse was that gay people would be targets for blackmail and therefore likely to expose state secrets. "We were supposed to be in touch with the Russians," Cassidy told ABC News.

[Continued here]

• The Lavender Scare (2012) [thelavenderscare.com]

The Lavender Scare is the first feature-length documentary film to tell the story of the U.S. government's ruthless campaign in the 1950s and '60s to hunt down and fire every Federal employee it suspected was gay.

While the McCarthy Era is remembered as the time of the Red Scare, the headline-grabbing hunt for Communists in the United States, it was the Lavender Scare, a vicious and vehement purge of homosexuals, which lasted longer and ruined many more lives.

Before it was over, thousands and thousands of Federal employees lost their jobs. Based on the award-winning book by historian David K. Johnson, The Lavender Scare shines a light on a chapter of American history that has never received the attention it deserves.

It examines the tactics used by the government to identify homosexuals, and takes audiences inside interrogation rooms where gay men and women were subjected to grueling questioning. These stories are told through the first-hand accounts of the people who experienced them.

The Lavender Scare shows how the government's actions ignited an anti-gay frenzy that spread throughout the country, in an era in which The New York Times used the words "homosexual" and "pervert" interchangeably, and public service films warned that homosexuality was a dangerous, contagious disease.

While the story is at times infuriating and heartbreaking, its underlying message is uplifting and inspiring. Instead of destroying American homosexuals, the actions of the government had the opposite effect: they stirred a sense of outrage and activism that helped ignite the gay rights movement.