DarylWein Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"Let me get this gay stuff out of my system." Richard Berkowitz (pictured above in both images) did not set to be an AIDS activist, or even to live openly as a gay man. He fully intended to meet and marry a woman, settle down, and raise a family, which would have pleased his liberal New Jersey Jewish Democratic family. Enrolling at Rutgers University in the early 1970s, however, changed his life.

Berkowitz's journey from college student to S&M hustler to safe sex advocate to gay community outcast is carefully chronicled in Sex Positive, a documentary by Daryl Wein that opens today in New York after a successful series of festival screenings. (Regent Releasing will open it in Los Angeles and Denver next week and in San Francisco on July 3.) Berkowitz is nearly forgotten today, despite co-writing two key texts that introduced the concept of "safe sex" and generated considerable controversy upon their publication.

Wein's film succeeds in reasserting credit to Berkowitz, virologist Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, and the late musician / activist Michael Callen for vigorously proclaiming that a promiscuous lifestyle increased the likelihood that gay men would contract AIDS. That message, initially delivered in 1982 and 1983 when the gay community was devastated by scores of deaths and little or nothing was being done by the government to research and try to cure or at least slow the spread of the "gay disease," got them branded as "anti-sex." Yet the three men asserted that a "sex positive" lifestyle could be enjoyed as long as certain safeguards were employed.

The feature film lineup for next month's South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival in Austin, Texas has been announced and trailers have started to come out of the woodwork. This will be just my second fest but, based on last year, I can't wait. The first two are world premieres playing in the Emerging Visions showcase

Sorry, Thanks (pictured). "Good luck leading with your heart, when your heart is an utter emotional idiot." Dia Sokol's feature debut follows the travails of a woman "reeling from a brutal breakup" who has a one-night stand with a "charming, disheveled wreck" who -- oops! -- has a long-term girlfriend. Andrew Bujalski also stars. Check out the trailer at the official site, which is a bit goofy and a bit wistful, two qualities that are essential for any relationship / "where is my life heading?" movie. Plus, it has the uber-cool and understated Wiley Wiggins as the "disheveled wreck," which has to be a good sign. [Official site, via Wiley's blog It's Not for Everyone.]

St. Nick. Written and directed by David Lowery, the festival describes the film as "a stark, haunting portrait of childhood following the adventures of a runaway brother and sister as they try to survive, all on their own, out on the wintry plains of the great southwest." The beautiful, evocative trailer promises a quiet, moody trip. [Drifting: A Director's Log; via Filmmaker Magazine.]

After the jump: the trailer (with one f-bomb) for Breaking Upwards.