It’s been a while since Roland Emmerich shot Stonewall, his upcoming movie about the riots in New York which helped kick off the modern gay rights movement. Now the film is in the can and the first image has been released, which shows Jeremy Irvine caught up in the chaos.
Alongside the pic comes the news that Roadside Attractions has picked up the rights to the movie in the US, and will release the movie later this year.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Less than 50 years ago, in 1969, being gay was considered a mental illness. Gay people could not be employed by the government. It was illegal for gay people to congregate, and police brutality against gays went unchecked.
‘STONEWALL is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.’
It’s certainly a change of pace for Emmerich who’s best known for disaster epics such as Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, however the gay director was inspired to make the movie after working with homeless gay and lesbian youths.
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