Click here to listen to the interview. Peter McDowell decided that after 38 years of silence on the subject by his family, the death of his older brother, Jimmy, should finally be discussed by them. The result in his haunting documentary, JIMMY IN SAIGON, which looks at the emotional impact of Jimmy’s death as a… Read More »
MAYOR PETE — Jesse Moss Interview
Jesse Moss was in the process of editing his startling and illuminating documentary, BOYS STATE, when he was offered the chance to follow a longshot candidate in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries. He wasn’t that interested, then he watched that candidate, Pete Buttigieg, in a primary town hall and changed his mind. As the… Read More »
JOE BELL
A key moment in the fact-based JOE BELL comes early one as the titular character (Mark Wahlberg), a working-class man from a small town in Oregon, is told by his adolescent son, Jadin (Reid Miller) that he is being bullied at school for being gay. It’s two revelations, and Joe doesn’t miss a beat telling… Read More »
FRANCESCO
Click here to listen to the flashback interview with Evgeny Afineevsky for CRIES FROM SYRIA. FRANCESCO can be classified as a hagiography of Pope Frances. Certainly, what Evgeny Afineevsky shows us of His Holiness is a man of great faith and great, notably ecumenical, compassion. Even when Frances makes a blunder about the sexual abuse… Read More »
ALMOST LOVE — Mike Doyle and Scott Evans Interview
Click here to listen to the interview. feature film directorial debut. We got to that later in our interview on June 26, 2019, along with his take on being directed by Clint Eastwood in JERSEY BOYS. Before then, he and co-star Scott Evans, who plays one half of a long-term couple at a crossroads, graciously humored me with… Read More »
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Rami Malek, star of television’s Mr. Robot and the (mostly) overlooked Indie gem, BUSTER’S MAL HEART, may just have found the vehicle to assure him of the A-list stardom he so richly deserves in BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. Like the character Malek essays, Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, the film is flawed but Malek, through the sheer… Read More »
Frameline 41: The Pop Quiz
FRAMELINE 41 initiated a pair of press days for those of us covering the festival, and it offered me a rare opportunity to talk to many of the participating filmmakers while they were all gathered together in one place. The result was my inspiration to do a pop quiz with them, and the question I… Read More »
Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical — John Fisher Interview
John Fisher is a busy man. Actor, playwright, and Executive Director of Theatre Rhinoceros, the longest running queer theater in the world. Simultaneously. Such a workload prompted me to ask him when he found time to sleep when we spoke on May 12, 2017. The larger subject was Theatre Rhinoceros’ production of Priscilla, Queen of… Read More »
AS YOU ARE — Miles Joris-Peyrafitte Interview
Mile Joris-Peyrafitte was only 23 when he made AS YOU ARE, and that was the first thing I brought up when we spoke by phone on February 22, 2017. This deeply affecting story, about three high school friends, two young men and a young woman, confronting volatile and confusing situations has a visual assurance and… Read More »
Eddie Rosenstein Celebrates the FREEDOM TO MARRY
When I spoke to Eddie Rosenstein by phone on June 22, 2016, the first thing I wanted him to discuss was how important it was to remember the decades-long struggle for marriage equality. We went on to talk about his personal connection to one his subjects, Evan Wolfson, of the Freedom to Marry Coalition, and… Read More »