Petrelis Files

ACT UP Doc 'United in Anger'
Preview at LA Hammer Museum on 7-12

Writer and activist of many worthy causes, Sarah Schulman, who is also friend, told me last week that an excerpt from the documentary about the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power and the people who were part of it is playing on July 12 at 7:00 PM at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

Sarah and Jim Hubbard are co-directors of the ACT UP Oral History Project, and together they've been collaborating with surviving members of the activist group to create a feature lengthy documentary called "United in Anger". I'm proud to say I was part of the ACT UP movement, and that I was asked to share some of my history to this collective effort.

"United in Anger" has been submitted to several of the big mainstream film festivals, and let's keep our fingers crossed that the world premiere of the documentary is accepted at one or two festivals.

Maybe three-years ago, Jim showed a rough cut of a few of the interviews at the Frameline gay film festival here in San Francisco at the Roxie theater and I caught of most it. If the finished movie is half as excellent as what we saw at Frameline, the major festivals will be fighting over who gets to screen it first.

If you're down in LA tomorrow night, do yourself a favor and attend the screening and discussion with Sarah at the Hammer Museum. The event is free.

Note to Sarah: Please send me a pic or two and a report from the event.

(Image: ACT UP's evening rush hour protest at New York's Grand Central Station. Ah, remember the days when queer grassroots activists wanted to cut the Pentagon budget and stop wars, and weren't solely focused on getting gay soldiers into the military? Courtesy photo.)