Tag: Documentary

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Michael Lost and Found (2017)

2024 Entry #53 07-09-24 “Michael Lost and Found” is a 19 minute 2017 short documentary focusing on Mike Glatze, his wife Rebekah Glatze & Mike’s former lover, Benjie Nycum. The story of these 3 played out in the news and later in a 2015 film “I Am Michael”, which I’ve avoided because I thought I knew the whole story. Mike and Benjie were two of the main creative forces behind “XY Magazine”, which was aimed at gay youth in the 90’s, when I’d never seen anything like that before. I was just out of the target audience, being in my early 20s, but I collected the magazine because it made me feel like positive change was possible in what felt like a deeply conservative and anti-LGBTQ time in my country. However, Michael Glatze later announced he was no longer gay and that he was part of an anti-gay religion, which felt like a huge betrayal to many who found his work inspiring.

Having said all that, I saw that this documentary was available in my collection and gave it a shot and I found the piece quite healing. The conversations that are had are open, seemingly honest, and reveal the rest of Michael’s journey and Benjie’s honest connection with him. I will likely see the film adaptation of this story at some point. I very nearly watched it the next day, but so far it hasn’t happened.

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Chris & Don: A Love Story (2007)

2024 Entry #47 06-07-24 “Chris & Don: A Love Story” is a 2007 documentary film that chronicles the lifelong relationship between author Christopher Isherwood (“A Single Man”, “Christopher and His Kind”, “Cabaret”) and his much younger lover, artist Don Bachardy. Chris & Don combines present-day interviews, archival footage shot by the couple from the 1950s, excerpts from Isherwood’s diaries, and playful animations to recount their romance. It was directed by Guido Santi and Tina Mascara, and was the centerpiece film at NewFest, the New York LGBTQ Film Festival, in 2008.

Watching this documentary, which focuses on one of the first openly gay couples in Hollywood, I was at first shocked at the 20 year age difference between the two men and worried that it might have been predatory, but the more I saw and then read, it felt much more like there were so few options for love between men at that time, that the age difference didn’t matter. Indeed, Isherwood’s experiences and how they brought him to Bachardy were quite compelling. Both participants were aware and accepting of the other, with much of the story being told by Don Bachardy, the surviving half of the couple as he clearly continues to mourn the loss of his partner. The shades of love that are expressed in the stories he chooses to share are often surprising, sexy, graphic and innocent. With other contributors including the likes of Liza Minelli and John Boorman. Sweet.

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The Abominable Crime (2013)

2022 Entry #021 02-01-22 “The Abominable Crime” is a 2013 documentary which was directed by award winning producer Micah Fink. The film explores the impacts of homophobia through the eyes of two Jamaicans who are forced to choose between their homeland and their lives. Simone, a young lesbian mother, survives being shot outside of her home by anti-gay gunmen; her gay brother escaped. She must choose between living in hiding with her daughter in Jamaica or traveling alone to seek safety and asylum abroad. Maurice, Jamaica’s leading gay-rights activist, is outed shortly after filing a lawsuit to overturn Jamaica’s anti-sodomy law.

This was really well done; very impressive work. The film covers several years in the lives of these brave souls who not only make incredibly powerful and brave choices in their lives but also have the courage to allow their story to be told. The piece opens with a stylized prologue telling of the shooting that haunts Simone and drives her to action. We see her and her young daughter Khalya. We meet her brother Albert “Carl” Edwards and hear how their stories interconnect. And it’s all so heartbreaking and eventually inspiring. It wasn’t always easy to watch – I was very concerned about what would happen – and in the end I was happy to have watched this.

Maurice’s story is just another piece of this broken story. Having been outed after fighting for LGBT equality in Jamaica, Maruice and his husband are forced to flee to Canada. And yet Maurice continues to fight for his country and those he left behind by returning and seeking change.

I really liked this and I recommend watching it.

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Gay Sex in the 70s (2005)

2022 Entry #015 01-30-22 “Gay Sex in the 70s” is a 2005 American documentary film about gay sexual culture in New York City in the 1970s; which specifically focuses on the years between Stonewall and AIDS (roughly 1969 – 1981). The film was directed by Joseph Lovett, who produced the documentaries “In a New Light: A Call to Action in the War Against AIDS” & “Rock Bottom: Gay Men & Meth”. The film uses archival footage and interviews to illuminate the world of gay anonymous and casual sex in various settings, such as dance clubs, bathhouses, bars, Fire Island, etc. Interviewees include Larry Kramer, Tom Bianchi, Barton Lidice Beneš, Rodger McFarlane, and many others.

I purchased this when it was a new DVD release and though I only watched it once back then, I remembered that I enjoyed it. I specifically remembered that the documentary did a good job with framing this time of sexual liberation and explaining why such personal freedom was revelatory and only made sense. Watching it again now, like other films in this project, I have a greater insight into much of the New York setting. I’ve lived in New York for almost 10 years. I’ve been to Fire Island multiple times. I’ve seen what’s left of the piers depicted in the film and I’ve marched in the Pride Parade 4 times.

This is a very good documentary.

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How to Survive a Plague (2012)

2022 Entry #004 01-07-22 “How to Survive a Plague” is a 2012 American documentary film about the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and the efforts of activist groups ACT UP and TAG. It was directed by David France (“The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson”, “Welcome to Chechnya”), a journalist who covered AIDS from its beginnings. The film is dedicated to the director’s partner Doug Gould, who died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1992.

A breathtakingly powerful documentary which covers familiar ground I’ve seen in other documentaries and narrative films, yet this managed to provide me with valuable information that I had somehow been deprived of until my viewing experience. Several similar works have been made over the years but they usually rely mostly on present day interviews to paint their stories, while this piece was produced using more than 700 hours of archived footage which included news coverage, interviews as well as film of demonstrations, meetings and conferences taken by ACT UP members themselves! Effectively and responsibly edited, this work is a treasure trove / time capsule that would be impossible to replicate without these valuable resources. Director David France has stated that they knew what they were doing was historic, and that many of them would die. And though the subject may seem treacherous, the story, as revealed here, is actually inspiring & hopeful, rather than bleak and depressing – with many untold or rarely shared stories of perseverance, success & triumph.

Highly recommended.

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