Mexican activist/filmmaker  Leo Herrera is known for his queer viral films that tackle issues of queer politics, sex, HIV stigma, and history.  His latest work which is the centerpiece of Fathers Project is a short film that he directed & wrote with the collaboration of queer artists, musicians, and performers as well as the GLBT Historical Museum.

It poses the very simple question that so many of us have thought about all the friends and lovers we lost to AIDS.  “What if our queer heroes had lived? Who would we be?”

Part sci-fi, part documentary, it has been described as “Cruising meets Black Mirror meets Beyonce’s Lemonade.” Herrera’s inspiring and thought-provoking upcoming film honors the more than 18,500 ‘Fathers’ in San Francisco whose lives were claimed by the AIDS epidemic in the ’80s and ’90s. 

Herrera was funding the project through an IndieGoGo campaign that was shut down because “The visual content is outside the comfort level and corporate image FrontStream would like to maintain”. They were able to raise $21,000 from generous 350 backers and are continuing our campaign through this page. As they strive toward their ultimate goal of $60K you can still make a tax-deductible donation via PayPal, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the GLBT Historical Society.

Take a look at this behind the scenes video made by  KQED Arts Shorts and you’ll quickly see why we all need to help this imaginative view on our queer community get on screens everywhere.