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OLDER ADULTS: LGBTQ FILMS

DESERT MIGRATION

Directed by: Daniel F. Cardone.
Produced by: Marc Smolowitz.

"By sharing their stories, Desert Migration reflects on subjects that relate to all of us; HIV positive or negative, young or old. How do we approach our own aging, and the notion of mortality?
What gives us will to create, to achieve, and even to live at all, as our bodies and minds deteriorate?"
source: desertmigrationmovie.com

Find out more about the documentary Desert Migration

LARRY KRAMER IN LOVE & ANGER

Directed by: Jean Carlomusto.
Produced by: Sheila Nevins. HBO.

"Featuring interviews with the founders of Gay Men's Health Crisis and footage from the award-winning theatrical and HBO Films productions of 'The Normal Heart,' the documentary tells the story of the real-life circle of friends who found themselves at the center of the epidemic in its early days. One of the most outspoken and controversial figures in contemporary gay America, this complicated man is known simultaneously as egotistic and selfless, angry and inspiring, rude and caring. To his admirers, Kramer is a prophet whose early warnings to the gay community about promiscuity and AIDS now read as eerily prescient."
source:hbo.com

Find out more about the documentary Larry Kramer in Love & Anger

STONEWALL UPRISING

Directed by: Kate Davis, David Heilbroner.
Produced by: First Run Features.
Narrated by Melissa Etheridge.

"On June 28, 1969, the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a mafia-run gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay pride movement had begun. These two seminal documentaries tell the remarkable tale of how homosexuals, a heretofore hidden and despised group, became a vibrant and integral part of America's family, and, indeed, the world community. Before Stonewall: Experience the fascinating and unforgettable history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and interviews with those who lived through it. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film re-lives events from the 1920s up until the fevered 1969 riots. Narrated by Rita Mae Brown. After Stonewall: After Stonewall chronicles lesbian and gay life from the 1969 Stonewall riots to the new century, capturing the hard work, tragic defeats and exciting victories experienced. It also explores the impact that AIDS had on the movement, and the new direction it took as a result. Featuring Dorothy Allison, Michael Bronski, Rita Mae Brown, Barney Frank, Barbara Gittings, Arnie Kantrowitz, Larry Kramer, Craig Lucas, Armistead Maupin, Leslea Newman, Barbara Smith, and many more!"
source: First Run Features

Find out more about the documentary Stonewall Uprising

SILENT PIONEERS: GAY AND LESBIAN ELDERS

Produced and Directed by: Pat Snyder, Lucy Winer, Harvey Marks and Paula deKoenigsberg, SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment.)

" 'Silent Pioneers' is a ground-breaking film about elderly lesbians and gay men who lived through an era when being gay was not tolerated, and who battled for self-esteem and survival in a 'straight world.' Among those profiled are: a male couple still in love after 55 years of partnership; a former monk turned rancher in Arizona in his 80's; a leader of the peace movement living with her partner and community in the Florida Keys; and a black great-grandmother who came out to her children and grandchildren."
source: rembrandtfilms.com

Find out more about the documentary Silent Pioneers: Gay and Lesbian Elders

GEN SILENT

Produced and Directed by: Stu Maddux.

"'Gen Silent' is the critically-acclaimed documentary from filmmaker Stu Maddux that asks six LGBT seniors if they will hide their friends, their spouses- their entire lives in order to survive in the care system. Their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their day-to-day lives over the course of a year. It puts a face on what experts in the film call an epidemic:gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender older people so afraid of discrimination by caregivers or bullying by other seniors that many simply go back into the closet. Unlike any film before, 'Gen Silent' startlingly discovers how oppression in the years before Stonewall now affects older lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with fear and isolation. Many who won the first civil rights victories for generations to come are now dying prematurely because they are reluctant to ask for help and have too few friends or family to care for them. 'Gen Silent,' shows the disparity in the quality of paid caregiving from mainstream care facilities committed making their LGBT residents safe and happy, to places where LGBT elders face discrimination by staff and bullying by other seniors. As we watch the challenges that these men and women face, we are offered new hope as each person crosses paths with impassioned people trying to change LGBT aging for the better." source:stumaddux.com

Find out more about the documentary Gen Silent

LIBERTY: 3 STORIES ABOUT LIFE & DEATH

Produced by: New Day Films.
Directed by: Pam Walton.

"This extraordiary work explores the deep connections in a circle of lesbian friends as they face death and celebrate life and love. Viewers say Liberty has documented the meaning of community with rare grace and wit. It is not a wimpy, weepy tale by a mile, but a keen celebration of family values. Liberty demystifies death, dispels misinformation about age and sexual orientation, and reminds us how rich life is, even in the shadow of death."
source: newday.com

Find out more about the documentary Liberty: 3 Stories about Life & Death

88 YEARS IN THE CLOSET

Produced and Directed by: Peter Shafron.

"Loraine Barr was born in 1918 and kept her sexuality secret for 88 years. When she revealed the truth in Newsweek magazine in 2007 she set the blogs ablaze and challenged us to ask: Is she really brave, courageous and bold as admirers have told her in countless letters since the story appeared? Or is she a coward - as others have written - only coming out of the closet when nothing was truly at risk? This short film tells the story of Loraine Barr, following her as she prepares to join 1800 other women on an 'Olivia' lesbian-only cruise out of San Diego."
source:imdb.com

Find out more about the documentary 88 Years in the Closet

IT'S ABOUT TIME

Produced and Directed by: IN THE LIFE- Documentary Stories From The Gay Experience.


IN THE LIFE TV's production 'Its About Time,' explores what it means to grow old as a gay person in America - how a generation once at the frontlines of establishing the modern LGBT movement finds, in what should be their golden years, new challenges living life openly gay highlights the leaders spearheading a national effort to protect the rights of LGBT senior citizens and care for our elders.

In The Life Media was founded in 1992 on the premise that visibility in media is vital to achieving equality and social justice for LGBT people. IN THE LIFE produced by In The Life Media, was the first (and for more than a decade) the only national television program to feature the faces, voices and stories behind the issues shaping the gay experience.
source:inthelifetv.org

Find out more about the documentary It's About Time

EDIE & THEA: A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT

Produced and Directed by: Susan Muska, Greta Olafsdottir.

"After 42 years, feisty and delightful lesbian couple Edie and Thea are finally getting married. From the early '60s to the present day, the tireless community activists persevere through many battles, both personal and political. As Edie says, We just went on with this talent we have for wrestling joy from the shit. Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir (THE BRANDON TEENA STORY) return with a love story of two remarkable women whose commitment to each other is an inspiration to us all."
source: imdb.com

Find out more about the documentary Edie & Thea: A VeryLong Engagement

TEN MORE GOOD YEARS

Directed By: Michael Jacoby Produced by: Lookout Films

The film follows four LGBT elders and explores the reasons why so many in this community age alone, without financial stability and often return to the closet. We meet men and women who work in the field of aging that help to explain why it is that so many of our Heros have been left behind. Yet there is hope; one thing the AIDS crisis taught the world is that LGBT people take care of their own. While the government continues to ignore the unique challenges and concerns these elders are facing, the gay community is finding ways to care for themselves. Ten More Good Years sheds light on the injustices LGBT elders are facing and offers hope for the future.
source: imbd.com

Find out more about the documentary Ten More Good Years

A PLACE TO LIVE

Directed by: Carolyn Coal. Produced by: Cynthia Childs

"A Place to Live" explores what its like to be a gay senior citizen on limited resources and the unique challenges they face such as discrimination, being forced back into the closet in retirement homes, or separated from significant others in assisted living facilities. The construction of the country's first affordable housing facility for LGBT seniors, Triangle Square Hollywood is chronicled. The documentary won Audience Award at Outfest 2008 at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Find out more about the documentary A Place to Live

WORD IS OUT

Produced and Directed by: Peter Adair.

“Thirty years ago, in 1978, 'Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives' startled audiences across the country when it appeared in movie theaters and on television. The first feature-length documentary about lesbian and gay identity made by gay filmmakers, the film had a huge impact when it was released and became an icon of the emerging gay rights movement of the 1970s. The 30th anniversary DVD …includes exclusive updates on the cast and the filmmakers…”
source: wordisoutmovie.com

Find out more about the documentary Word is Out

BEAUTY BEFORE AGE

Produced by: New Day Films. Directed by: Johnny Symons.

"This groundbreaking film explores the power of youth and beauty in the gay community. A diverse group of gay men, ages 19 to 77, negotiate their fears of becoming old, undesirable and alone. The film critically examines the pressure to look young and attractive, lack of positive older role models and ways in which AIDS intensifies the fear and process of aging. 'Beauty Before Age,' offers a male perspective on a historically female issue and illuminates the larger societal obsession with physical appearance."
source: newday.com

Find out more about the documentary Beauty Before Age

LIVING WITH PRIDE: RUTH ELLIS

Directed by: Yvonne Welbon

In this charming documentary, Ruth Ellis, a 100-year-old African American lesbian, recounts her life. As a lesbian academic interviewed in the documentary puts it, "Ruth is a gift to us" as she is able to tell what it was like to suffer "triple oppression, being a woman, being black, and being a lesbian." Ellis tells about discovering her sexuality some 80 years ago, and when discussing her romantic involvements (which included one relationship lasting 35 years), she is utterly honest. At one point she is even asked about the last time she had sex, and she replies it was when she was 95, adding with a laugh, "that was a one-night stand."
A businesswoman, Ellis lived openly as a lesbian and often played host for an active social circle of gays and lesbians in Detroit at a time when mainstream America scarcely acknowledged the existence of the community. The film is illustrated with vintage photographs of Ellis, her family, lovers, and friends, and footage shot in the present day shows her at dance class, having fun at her favorite bowling alley, and shooting pool with friends. This is an engaging look at a special character, a woman who was always true to herself. -Robert J. McNamara.
source:amazon.com.