Film Screening and Discussion with Paul C. Bellman MD, Sean Strub, and Gene Fedorko.

Eugene N. Fedorko (left), filmmaker David Weissman (right). Photo: Jackie Rudin

Howl! Arts is pleased to present an encore screening of a 2017 segment of Conversations with Gay Elders about the life of Gene Fedorko. In Conversations with Gay Elders, filmmaker David Weissman (The Cockettes, We Were Here) fostered a cross-generational collaboration. He worked with gay men in their 20s and 30s to profile gay men in their 70s and 80s whose journeys of self-discovery precede the era of Stonewall and gay liberation. Conversations with Gay Elders explores how these men navigated being “different” long before there was any social or political context for a positive LGBT self-image.

Review by Sur Rodney Sur, 2019:
“Yesterday, I attended a screening of a filmed interview with Eugene N. Fedorko wherein he talked about growing up in the 40s and 50s and his discovering his homosexual proclivities and how it affected his life. It was certainly one of the most spectacular interviews I’ve been witness to. I met Gene years ago as he was part of a mutual circle of acquaintances and always respected as one of the most gracious and generous members of our gay community. The interview was one of a series of four elders interviewed by filmmaker David Weissman detailing their lives exposing all the horrors and joys of life pre- and post-Stonewall. The film was made to educate about what life was like for so many of our elders, back then and today.”

Introduction video clip from director David Weissman. Following the screening will be a discussion with prominent HIV/AIDS physician Paul C. Bellman M.D., and Sean Strub (longtime ACT UP activist and publisher of POZ).