Footsteps on the Ceiling

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government negligence.

This Kiss-In took place the evening of April 29, 1988. It was cold and pouring rain, but the demonstrators soldiered on. The Kiss-In was a favorite tactic of ACT UP because it defied the homophobia of the larger society, demonstrated a lack of fear and stigma around AIDS and fostered camaraderie among the demonstrators and within the group as a whole. It was also a whole lot of fun, which is evident from the footage.

Hand-processed 16mm. Exploring the AIDS crisis from both a personal and a political perspective, the film intertwines two main motifs: memories of Roger Jacoby, a filmmaker who died of AIDS, and the development of a mass response to AIDS. The collective response begins with mourning at a candlelight vigil and the deep sadness of the AIDS Quilt and then progresses toward a much more determined reaction by ACT-UP: first, in the Gay Pride March in New York City, then in separate demonstrations that build in militancy -- with a corresponding increasingly heavy-handed response by the police -- culminating in a demonstration during a baseball game and the thumbs-up sign of a teenager sporting a Silence = Death button.

Scenes shot at two national gay marches on Washington, DC are juxtaposed to reveal some of the devastating changes in the gay movement from 1979 to 1987, as hope is replaced by frustration and mourning. In Hubbard's roving footage we follow the shifts in spirit, age and racial composition of the demonstrators and witness the growing organization of the protest spectacle, as ragtag bunches of rebellious marchers give way to marching bands and the unfurling of the Names Project AIDS Quilt.

A short film documenting street protests against the filming of William Friedkin's Cruising (1980)

An intimate portrait of songwriters, performance artists, and lovers Dan Martin and Michael Biello, “The Dance” explores the interconnectedness of their domestic life, artwork, and selfless devotion to a community of artists they have helped to create and support. The film uses hand-processed footage to convey the emotional intensity of their lives. The handmade quality of the film imparts a sense of poignancy and brotherly loving in the era of AIDS. Based on "The Dance," a song about living on in the face of loss, with music by Dan Martin and lyrics by Michael Biello.

A long overdue love letter. A relationship is as hard to build as a cathedral -- it takes more than one lifetime. A film in which virtually every shot is intended as a metaphor. Tender, loving and unsentimental.