Two Films by Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.
2 Episodes
Director of both the first American feature-length documentary by and about LGBTQ+ people (GAY USA) and the first feature-length drama about AIDS (BUDDIES), intrepid filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr. brought images of queer struggle, joy, pain, love, and liberation to the screen with a humanity and urgency that still resonates. These by turns angry, defiant, and uplifting films are vital and vibrant records of queer people asserting their right to exist amid the intense homophobia of America in the 1970s and ’80s.
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Gay USA
Episode 1
Directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr. • 1977 • United States
In June of 1977, director Arthur J. Bressan Jr. mobilized camera crews across the country to document the national Gay Freedom Day marches in six different cities. The result was the first American feature-length documentary by and about L...
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Buddies
Episode 2
Directed by Arthur J. Bressan Jr. • 1985 • United States
Starring Geoff Edholm, David Schachter, Billy LuxThe first feature-length drama about AIDS remains an urgent and timeless record of an entire era in gay history. When twenty-five-year-old gay yuppie David (David Schachter) volunteers to b...
