WE WERE HERE

David Weissman’s award winning and 2013 Emmy nominated film We Were Here (2011) is regarded by many as the first documentary to usher in the current wave of films about the early days of the AIDS epidemic in America. Deeply touching, concentrating on the lives changed forever as witnesses to the beginning of the ongoing AIDS crisis, We Were Here is an experience of community, healing, and conversation.

Join the Leslie-Lohman Museum and Visual AIDS for the screening and talk back with David Weissman.

We Were Here, 2011, 90mins
The film documents the coming of what was called the “Gay Plague” in the early 1980s. It illuminates the profound personal and community issues raised by the AIDS epidemic as well as the broad political and social upheavals it unleashed. It offers a cathartic validation for the generation that suffered through, and responded to, the onset of AIDS. It opens a window of understanding to those who have only the vaguest notions of what transpired in those years. It provides insight into what society could, and should, offer its citizens in the way of medical care, social services, and community support.

This screening is the first in 3-part series "Chronicling the Queer: The films of David Weissman", presented by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, the Queer New York International Arts Festival and Visual AIDS. All the information about the series is available here.

From his earliest short films to his ground-breaking documentaries The Cockettes, and We Were Here, filmmaker David Weissman has been chronicling queer experiences for over thirty years. Over three nights in October New York audiences will have an opportunity to see and engage in the films of David Weissman, with the filmmaker present and available for questions and conversation about his work.

This event is cosponsored by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies. RSVP: rsvp@clags.org

All events are free and open to the general public.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER:
Best known for the documentaries WE WERE HERE and THE COCKETTES (made with Bill Weber), David Weissman began making oddball short films in the early 1980s. His short films range in style from the ridiculous to the sublime; from rampaging drag queens and singing complainers to cutting-edge HIV prevention ads, and a remarkable final song and dance by San Francisco performer, Rodney Price, of the legendary Angels of Light. www.davidweissmanfilms.com

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies provides a platform for intellectual leadership in addressing issues that affect Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender individuals and other sexual and gender minorities.

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art is the first dedicated LGBTQ art museum in the world with a mission to exhibit and preserve LGBTQ art, and foster the artists who create it.

Queer New York International Arts Festival (QNYI) is a new festival of contemporary performance and visual art that explores and broadens the concept of “queer (in) art.”

Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over.