Featured image: Still frame from the film \u2018Buddies\u2019<\/p>\n
The LGBTQ+ Film Series returns Sun., Dec. 5 with a free screening of \u2018Buddies\u2019 followed by a pre-recorded interview with The Bressan Project creator Roe Bressan<\/strong><\/p>\n BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 ArtsQuest\u2019s\u00a0Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas<\/a>\u00a0(FBAC) will feature this year\u2019s third instalment of its LGBTQ+ Film Series at 6 p.m. on Sun., Dec 5. with the 1985 film \u201cBuddies.\u201d A pre-recorded Q&A with writer\/director Arthur Bressan Jr.\u2019s sister and creator of The Bressan Project, Roe Bressan, will follow the screening. Tickets are free and can be reserved at\u00a0steelstacks.org\/film<\/a>\u00a0or by calling the ArtsQuest Box Office at 610.332.3378.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember seeing \u2018Buddies\u2019 when it was released in 1985,\u201d said series co-curator Catherine Ford. \u201cBuddies truly captures the essence of HIV and AIDS experience both from an emotional and historical perspective with moving performances.\u201d Ford, who serves as a Cinema Committee member and ArtsQuest Ambassador, called the film groundbreaking. \u201cWe are so fortunate to include \u2018Buddies\u2019 in our LGBTQ+ Film Series.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBuddies,\u201d written and directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr., was the first feature-length drama about AIDS. Staring Geoff Edholm and David Schachter, the film begins with 25-year-old David (Schachter) volunteering to be a \u201cbuddy\u201d to an AIDS patient Robert (Edholm), a 32-year-old gay activist from California who has been abandoned by his friends and lovers and unfolds entirely within Robert\u2019s Manhattan hospital room. In the simplicity of the story and the elegance of its telling, Bressan and \u2018Buddies\u2019 achieve a rare perfection. It\u2019s a timeless portrayal of an entire era in gay history.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not a Hollywood blockbuster, but in its day, \u2018Buddies\u2019 was an urgent call to action,\u201d said Roe Bressan.<\/p>\n \u201cBuddies\u201d had its world premiere in September 1985 at San Francisco\u2019s Castro Theater, five days later President Reagan finally mentioned the word \u201cAIDS\u201d publicly for the first time. While the film took less than a month to create, it has had a lasting impact long after Bressan\u2019s passing in the summer of 1987 when he was only 44-years old.<\/p>\n \u201cArtie didn\u2019t know he had AIDS when he made \u2018Buddies\u2019 but after watching so many of his friends suffer and die from AIDS, he felt something had to be said-something had to be done. There was little information, no clinics, no support groups and the GMHC was just a fledging organization,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I will ask this audience to look kindly on this film passed it blemishes to see the fury and the anguish and the desperation and the love that fueled it.\u201d<\/p>\n The LGBTQ+Film Series, curated by Catherine Ford, Alessandra Fanelli and Adrianna Gober, aims to explore and uplift a wide and diverse scope of LGBTQ+ issues and stories by highlighting selections from the rich, enduring history of queer cinema. The series will showcase comedies, dramas, documentaries, mainstream and independent as well as international films both new and old, spotlighting queer filmmakers, screenwriters, actors and themes. This year\u2019s LGBTQ+ Film Series has previously featured \u201cSwan Song\u201d and \u201cBut I\u2019m a Cheerleader.\u201d<\/p>\n Tickets are free and can be reserved at\u00a0steelstacks.org\/film<\/a>\u00a0or by calling the ArtsQuest Box Office at 610.332.3378. The next film in the series will be shown in January, title and full details will be announced soon. ArtsQuest will continue to follow the latest CDC, state and local health and safety guidelines. Visit\u00a0artsquest.org\/safety<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Featured image: Still frame from the film \u2018Buddies\u2019 The LGBTQ+ Film Series returns Sun., Dec. 5 with a free screening of \u2018Buddies\u2019 followed by a pre-recorded interview with The Bressan … Continue reading ARTSQUEST\u2019S LGBTQ+ FILM SERIES RETURNS WITH 1985 FILM \u2018BUDDIES\u2019<\/span>
\nNicole Harrell
\nArtsQuest Director of Communications
\nhttp:\/\/www.artsquest.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n
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