Larry Kramer – MRQE

Sex Positive

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Sex Positive explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M hustler turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Mr. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic demanding a solution to the problem before the outside world would take heed. Now destitute and alone, Mr. Berkowitz tells his story to a world who never wanted to listen.

Vito

Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He went on to write “The Celluloid Closet”, the first book to critique Hollywood’s portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.

How to Survive a Plague

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A story of two coalitions ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) whose activism and innovation turned AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Despite having no scientific training, these self-made activists infiltrated the pharmaceutical industry and helped identify promising new drugs, moving them from experimental trials to patients in record time.

Joe Papp in Five Acts

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Joe Papp, the founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival and, subsequently, The Public Theaterarguably the most important theatre in North Americais profiled in this documentary that neither sanctifies nor vilifies him. He brought us free Shakespeare in the Park, Hair and A Chorus Line, and nurtured many of Americas greatest playwrights, directors and actors. His complex personality and mercurial behavior are much in evidence and spoken of with frankness through interviews with some of Americas most celebrated artists, including Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Kevin Kline, and James Earl Jones.

Making the Boys

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

Before Prop 8, Milk or Will & Grace, before the AIDS epidemic, gay pride parades or the Stonewall uprising, “The Boys in the Band” changed everything. “Making the Boys” explores the drama, struggle and enduring legacy of the first-ever gay play and subsequent Hollywood movie to successfully reach a mainstream audience. Featuring anecdotes from the surviving cast and filmmakers, as well as perspectives by legendary figures from stage and screen, it traces the behind-the-scenes drama and lasting legacy of this cultural milestone.

Gay Sex in the 70s

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

A chronicle of gay culture in New York during the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDs era. Thirteen men and one woman look back at gay life and sex in Manhattan and Fire Island – from Stonewall (June, 1969) to the first reporting on AIDS (June, 1981). They describe the rapid move from repression to celebration, from the removal of shame to joy, the on-going search for “someone,” the freedom before AIDS, the friendships, and brotherhood.

After Stonewall

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This sequel to “Before Stonewall” documents the history of gay and lesbian life from the riots at Stonewall in 1969 to the present. Narrated by Melissa Etheridge, the film explains the work, struggles, victories, and defeats the gay community has weathered to become a vibrant and integral part of North American society.

Voices from the Front

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

In New York City, a distraught activist confronts the mayor with a story of a friend who languished on a cot in an emergency room hallway for nine days, only to die 48 hours after leaving the hospital. In 1988, thousands of activists hold the Food and Drug Administration under siege, demanding speedier drug approval. In 1990 AIDS activists converge on the National Institute of Health, calling for a more equitable clinical trial system and expanded research into new drugs and treatment. Voices From the Front, the first feature-length documentary on AIDS activism in America, makes clear the emotional and political effects of community activism using the voices of those directly engaged. It is a powerful distillation of pictures and words from events organized to change public consciousness, expose the failure of the health care systems, and challenge government inaction and neglect concerning AIDS.

Die Aids-Trilogie: Positiv – Die Antwort schwuler Männer in New York auf AIDS

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 04:00:00 +0000

This film powerfully documents New York City’s gay community’s response to the AIDS crisis as they are forced to organize themselves after the government’s failure to stem the epidemic. Activists who are interviewed include playwrite Larry Kramer, People With AIDS Coalition co-founder Michael Callen (who died of AIDS in 1994), New York filmmaker and journalist Phil Zwickler, as well as representatives from ACT-UP, Queer Nation and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis.