Bafta Nominated American filmmaker Stephen Kijak has carved out quite a niche making some critically acclaimed documentaries about musicians such as Scott Walker, The Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Backstreet Boys, and more recently The Smiths. For his latest film, however, he has captured the narrative of the life of one of Hollywood’s golden matinee idols ROCK HUDSON. The star of such great movies as Giant, Hudson enjoyed a career that lasted more than three decades.
Although discreet regarding his sexual orientation, it was known among Hudson’s colleagues in the film industry that he was gay. This didn’t become public knowledge until 1984 when Hudson was diagnosed with AIDS. The following year, he became one of the first celebrities to disclose his AIDS diagnosis. Hudson was the first major celebrity to die from an AIDS-related illness, on October 2, 1985, at age 59
Hijak’s film is a wonderful celebration of a great actor who even in the closet enjoyed a rather fabulous life, and how his death unwittingly propelled the AIDS Pandemic finally into public conversations that were so long overdue.
This affectionate profile of a real star will be unmissable to those of us who remember him BUT it should also be compulsory viewing for young gay men who haven’t, so they can appreciate such an important era in our community’s history
One of the sheer pleasures we have at QUEERGURU is both following and supporting some of the queer passion projects that show our community at its very best. No better example of this is the Provincetown edition of Art Gaysel.
It’s the creation of queer Miami hotelier, art lover, and philanthropist Alex Guerra who with his husband Stephen Ginez decided to support queer artists and their work by mounting a satellite show in their Miami Hotel when the major (and very straight) ART BASEL arrived every December.
ART Gaysel didn’t just provide a space for these artists to promote and sell their art, but also a much-needed platform for queer artists to communicate, and even collaborate, with each other.
Then when Guerra and GInez fell in love with Provincetown a couple of years ago and ended up buying a house here, they wanted to start a Provincetown edition of Art Gaysel. There has always been a wonderful art colony in PTown but there is still a significant shortage of edgy queer art ….. the genre that Guerra is such a passionate specialist in.
Now in its second year, Art Gaysel PTown filled the entire Crews Quarters with a wonderfully diverse collection of artists, and as usual, Queerguru was there with our Camera crew. The moment we entered the Show we were sept away with both the sheer electricity of the passion and the camaraderie that feels the hallways making our visit such a sheer joy.
Actor and award-winning playwright TOM RATCLIFFE is the current GUEST ARTISTIC DIRECTOR at London’s Kings Head Theatre for QUEER INTERROGATION his part of their TAKEOVER SEASON. It focuses on telling LGBTQI+ stories whilst also highlighting and celebrating the importance of new writing – from work-in-progress one-nighters to 3 weeks of fully-fledged runs. and then ends with a Writing Course in conjunction with Rikki Beadle-Blair. QUEERGURU caught up with him on the eve of the opening night to learn about this very exciting queer theatre project
Writer/director/co-producer ANDREW DURHAM talked with Queerguru about his excellent debut feature FAIRYLAND. Based on Alysia Abbott’s “Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father.,, which is the story of her growing up in San Francisco with her gay single father in the 1980s/90s. Their unique relationship is based on both of them evolving into establishing their own truths/paths which are thrown askew when the AIDS pandemic starts to decimate the city. In the end, their roles reverse as Alysa must take over the parenting role.
With an outstanding cast and Sofia Coppola as co-producer, Fairyland is the most authentic voice of seismic change in both SF and the entire queer community. This quiet film with such a powerful story really deserves to reach the widest possible audience.
On the eve of the US Premiere of BIG BOYS at Wicked Queer, Boston’s LGBTQ Film Festival, we catch up with the film’s writer/director Corey Sherman. This feature film debut of his is a heart-string-pulling coming-of-age about unrequited love with a difference. Jamie, the protagonist ( a breakthrough performance from 14-year-old Isaac Krasner) is not the conventional well-turned-out teen which not only gives the story a real edge but makes it undeniably compelling and a sheer joy to watch
Author queerguruPosted on Categories queerguru.tv
Bafta Nominated American filmmaker Stephen Kijak has carved out quite a niche making some critically acclaimed documentaries about musicians such as Scott Walker, The Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Backstreet Boys, and more recently The Smiths. For his latest film, however, he has captured the narrative of the life of one of Hollywood’s golden matinee idols ROCK HUDSON. The star of such great movies as Giant, Hudson enjoyed a career that lasted more than three decades. 
Writer/director/co-producer 
