I thought I had reached this (advanced?) age of my life with very few regrets, but now I realize I have to add a very important one. Taylor Mac’s 24 Decades History of Popular Music literally performed as a 24 Hour Marathon on Oct 8 – 9 2015 (noon to noon) at St Ann’s … Continue reading
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
The upcoming Tribeca Film Festival is a great launch pad for a diverse program of short films that mounts their world premieres. One such film is Daddy Issues a hilarious short film starring Matt Campanella and David Kelsey. Co-directed by Campanella and Stephanie Hepner, Campanella plays a young dominatrix who needs to demonstrate his … Continue reading
If you need just one excuse to go to this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, then this is it. It’s filmmaker Stephen Kijak highly anticipated (and long overdue) new documentary ROCK HUDSON: ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWED. It promises to be a timely exploration of Hollywood and LGBTQ+ identity and examines the life of legendary actor … Continue reading
Academy Award Nominee Julie Cohen (RBG and My Name is Pauli Murray) latest movie will premiere at Tribeca this June. Every Body tackles a subject that is so often totally misunderstood and I think has never made the silver screen yet. Cohen’s documentary is a revelatory investigation of the lives of intersex people. The film … Continue reading