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Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

Why Are There So Few Documentaries About The AIDS Crisis In Britain?

September 21, 2012 By Lewis Shepherd Leave a Comment

The HIV/AIDS crisis is something that everyone from all different walks of life has heard of. From television, book and films to magazine articles, everyone has a pretty good understanding of what happened during the 1980s.

For gay people especially, the crisis itself is now deeply rooted into our consciousness, whether we were there during the 80s or not. We’ve heard about the people who died, those who fought for funding to try and find a cure and/or proper treatment, and everyone else in between who struggled long and hard to help people who have been diagnosed with the virus, as well as the families of the people who lost their lives due to it.

It’s even deeply rooted into our minds when it comes to sex, as we all now know the importance of safe sex and what it could mean if that one time we weren’t safe, we became unlucky.

But for us Brits a lot of the information we get is from our American counterparts and about what happened over there during the 1980s. For example, in 2011 the documentary We Were Here looked at the AIDS crisis in San Francisco and interviewed a number of people who were there and experienced what happened.

By doing so it became the first documentary to take a deep look at what happened and the impact it had on the people living in San Francisco and how they responded to it. Today How To Survive A Plague opens in select US theatres, which looks at the crisis and the early days of the activist groups ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) and TAG (Treatment Action Group). Those two looks at AIDS in America join the likes of the Oscar winning Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt.

However there has never been a decent-scale, feature documentary (that I know of, at least) that has taken a deep look at the crisis when it hit the UK. After all, HIV/AIDS has significantly impacted on a number of people over here and it has continued to do so since the 1980s.

We’ve all seen and heard about the safe sex advertising campaigns complete with icebergs, headstones and a deeply eerie narration from John Hurt, so we know it was just as bad over here. But do we know anything further than this campaign?

AIDS is still a problem now, with HIV infection rates remaining quite high and rising over recent years. It is definitely still an issue and we need to see and hear more about what actually happened to people living in the UK who were affected by HIV/AIDS during the early days of the disease, whether it was their friends, family or themselves that were affected by it, and whether it was slightly different or worse here than what people felt in other areas of the world. It is slightly ridiculous that for many British people, their knowledge of the AIDS crisis in the US is far greater than on what happened in the UK. Documentaries like these aren’t just about remembering our history, but also potent reminders of a disease that may not be the absolute killer it once was, but which we still need to be vigilant about.

Considering the success of the film We Were Here and the positive reaction it received, it would be interesting and helpful to see the effect a UK version had, told from a viewpoint that’s different from what we’ve already heard from over the pond.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
FILMS: We Were Here, How To Survive A Plague, Common Threads: Tales From The Quilt  

LGBT Characters Get A Few Nods In 2012 Oscar Nominations

January 24, 2012 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Today Jennifer Lawrence and AMPAS President Tom Sherak got up extra early to announce the Oscar nominations (it was 5.30am LA time) so that we can pore over them for weeks in the run up to the ceremony on February 26th.

Early reaction has been largely favourable, with the sense that the Academy has done a pretty good job, barring some grumbling over the lack of Drive in any of the categories barring Sound Editing and Michael Fassbender missing out on a Best Actor nom for Shame.

Surprising many, it’s Hugo that has the most nominations with 11, followed by the expected leader, The Artist, with 10.

On the LGBT front, Christopher Plummer has, as expected, picked up a Best Supporting Actor nomination for playing an aging gay man in Beginners. After his Golden Globe win he’s now the favourite in that category.

What was less certain was whether Glenn Close would get a nom for Albert Nobbs, in which she plays a woman living as a man. Thankfully she got a Best Actress nomination, while Janet McTeer got a Best Supporting Actress nod for the same movie. Rooney Mara also got a Best Actress nod for playing bisexual Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Although the AIDS documentary We Were Here made the longlist for the Best Documentary Oscar, it sadly wasn’t included among the final nominees. Other movies with LGBT themes that were shut out include J. Edgar and Weekend (although no one had expected the latter to be nominated, no matter how much critics love it).

Gay director Tate Taylor missed out on a Best Director nomination, but his film, The Help, picked up a Best Picture nomination, along with three nods for for its female stars in the acting categories. Likewise lesbian Iron Lady helmer Phylidda Lloyd didn’t get a nomination herself, but Meryl Streep is the frontrunner for Best Actress for her performance in the movie.

So you can decide for yourself whether the Academy got it right, here’s the full list of nominees in all categories. Let the bitching about Olivia Colman not being nominated for Tyrannosaur but Jonah Hill getting one for Moneyball commence:

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2” Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction
“The Artist”
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo”
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris”
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina”
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated”
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad”
James Spione
“Saving Face”
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady”
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo”
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball”
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse”
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo”
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel”
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Christopher Plummer, Glenn Close, Janet McTeer, Rooney Mara  FILMS: Beginners, Albert Nobbs, The Artist, Hugo, We Were Here  

Weekend Picks Up Best Film At Gay and Lesbian Critics Awards

January 16, 2012 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

GALECA, the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, has announced the winners of its Dorian Awards, giving Best Film Of The Year to the more than deserving Weekend. As everyone loves the movies but it’s getting shut out by bigger movies at other award ceremonies (it’s still shocking it didn’t make it onto the BAFTA longlist in any category), it’s great GALECA has recognised it.

Other winners include Meryl Streep for Film Performance of the Year for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (perhaps if the critics knew more about Maggie’s record on gay rights they wouldn’t have been as kind), as well as Michael Fassbender, who picked up the ‘We’re Wilde About You Rising Star of the Year’ award.

The excellent We Were Here, about the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, won both Best Documentary and Best LGBT-Themed Documentary Of The Year. Another great choice was 50/50, which was given Unsung Film of the year.

On the TV side, the LGBT friendly American Horror Story and Modern Family won in the Best TV drama and comedy categories, while Modern Family picked up LGBT-themed TV show of the year as well. GALECA also gave out gongs for Campy (Intentional Or Not) Film and TV show of the year, with The Muppets and Revenge getting the awards.

The may like quirky categories, but GALECA seems to make a lot more sensible choices than most awards bodies! For more info about GALECA, head to their website.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Meryl Streep, Michael Fassbender  FILMS: Weekend, The Iron Lady, Shame, Modern Family, We Were Here  

We Were Here (DVD)

December 5, 2011 By Tim Isaac 1 Comment

Starring: Bobbi Campbell, Cleve Jones
Director: David Weissman
Running Time: 105 mins
Certificate: E
Release Date: December 5th, 2011

Although it’s a bit of a shame We Were Here didn’t hit DVD  last week, just in time for AIDS Awareness Day on December 1st, the powerful documentary about the impact of HIV and AIDS in San Francisco in the 1980s has now been released. It’s already received plenty of plaudits, including being shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar.

We Were Here consists of interviews with San Franciscans who lived through the early years of the emergence of AIDS, giving testimony about its effect on them and those around them. For a younger generation for whom HIV has largely seemed like a manageable condition (whether that’s the truth or not), it’s sobering stuff. [Read more…]

AIDS Documentary We Were Here Shortlisted For Oscar

November 29, 2011 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

We Were Here, the moving look back at the terrifying early years of the emergence of HIV and AIDS, has been shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar and will now be considered for an Academy Award nomination.

The film, which hits DVD in the UK on December 5th courtesy of Peccadillo Pictures, focusses on the residents of San Francisco and how the advent of AIDS had a cataclysmic effect on many people’s lives. Especially at a time when new HIV diagnoses have reached a record high (as we reported earlier today, 3,000 gay and bi men in the UK were diagnosed for the first time in 2010), it’s a timely reminder for a younger generation who probably have little firsthand experience of AIDS, of the terrible effects the disease had on a generation of gay men in the the 1980s.

Now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentaries Screening Committee has chosen We Were Here as one of the 15 movies on the shortlist for the Best Documentary Oscar. We’ll find out if it gets nominated on January 24th.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
ACTORS: Ed Wolf, Paul Boneberg, Daniel Goldstein  DIRECTORS: David Weissman, Bill Weber  FILMS: We Were Here  

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