New documentary to examine 1980s and ’90s LGBT legacy
A documentary in the making looks at the rise of the LGBT movement during the 1980s – 1990s and the huge changes that followed.
Using both archival and contemporary footage, From Where We Stood: AIDS and the Culture Wars reflects the LGBT+ history of the 1980s and ’90s in the US.
The documentary gives a state-of-the-movement perspective at both the local and national level during that era.
According to the filmmaker, particular focus is given to the Midwest, including Cleveland, Kansas, Texas and New Orleans; the nation’s climate of homophobia; the lack of civil rights protections; the lack of AIDS funding and support, and the constant physical and media attacks, orchestrated by the radical right.
The Culture War Era ultimately changed the lives of the generation who lived through it and survived it, as well as for the generations that followed.
The LGBT Legacy Project has received over $34,000 in grants and donations to date. Production has already begun in both Cleveland and New Orleans.
Donate here.
About the Filmmaker
Valda Lewis is a filmmaker, videographer, and web designer. Founder of the LGBT Legacy Project, she originated and now manages the massive Valda Lewis Collection of videos documenting the Gay Rights movement in the United States. A native of England, she has lived in the United States since 1983. She has a B.A. in Media Studies and a BA in Women’s Studies from Wichita State University. She earned a MA in Communication, with an emphasis on new media and the internet, from The New School for Social Research. She has sojourned in several American cities and now lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where she continues to make films and work social justice.
