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(out of 5)

Great documentary from Academy Award-winning directors Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein (Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt) about the history of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema. Featuring interviews with Susan Sarandon (talking about The Hunger), Tom Hanks (talking about Philadelphia) and Shirley MacLaine (The Children’s Hour), plus writers and film historians Jan Oxenberg, Richard Dyer and Quentin Crisp, this beautifully scored and marvelously written film is one of the most entertaining movies about movies ever made. Armistead Maupin is responsible for the narration read by Lily Tomlin and based mostly on the late Vito Russo’s book of the same name, but there’s also a great selection of film clips ranging from Ben-Hur to The Colour Purple that are at times hilariously funny and at others extremely moving. Writer Susie Bright talking about the effect that Rebecca‘s underwear-drawer scene had on her is a standout.

Arte, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, Channel Four Films, Home Box Office, Sony Pictures Classics, Telling Pictures, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen

France/United Kingdom/Germany/USA, 1995

Directed by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

Story by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Sharon Wood, narration by Armistead Maupin, based on the book by Vito Russo

Cinematography by Nancy Schreiber

Produced by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Caroline Spry

Music by Carter Burwell

Production Design by Scott Chambliss

Film Editing by Jeffrey Friedman, Arnold Glassman

Toronto International Film Festival 1995