State of Pride - Misplaced Pages

2019 American documentary film

State of Pride
Film poster
Directed by	Rob Epstein Jeffrey Friedman
Produced by	Rob Epstein Jeffrey Friedman Mari Rivera
Starring	Troye Sivan Raymond Braun Heklina
Cinematography	Lincoln Else Zachary Fink
Edited by	Michael Palmieri
Music by	Allyson Newman Matt Novack
Production company	Portal A Interactive
Distributed by	YouTube
Release date	March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08) (SXSW)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

State of Pride is a 2019 American YouTube original documentary film directed by Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein. YouTuber and LGBTQ activist Raymond Braun explores the LGBT rights movement by traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah, San Francisco, California, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to meet with young LGBT people who share their opinions about what Pride Month means to them. The film stars Troye Sivan, Raymond Braun and Heklina. It was the first in a series of three documentaries hosted on the YouTube site for Pride 2019. It had its world premiere on March 8, 2019 at the South by Southwest Film Festival, and later released on YouTube on May 29, 2019.

Synopsis

LGBT activist Raymond Braun examines the LGBT rights movement by touring the country with stops in Utah, California, Alabama and Washington D.C., where he meets with young LGBT people who share their experiences and opinions about what Pride Month means to them. Notable highlights include interviews with trans women of color in Alabama, a young trans woman attending her first Pride event in San Francisco, where he also interviews American actor and drag queen, Heklina. In Utah, he talks with a young gay disabled man who shares his experiences about his Mormon family accepting his sexual orientation, and also talks about how people in the LGBT community with disabilities are often de-sexualized. And in D.C. Braun talks with Australian singer and activist Troye Sivan.

People have been doing this a long time. We owe it to our elders that we get to be here today.
— Troye Sivan

Cast

Production notes

Braun said that it was in 2017 when the project first began to develop after meeting with executives from Portal A Interactive. After being asked what a dream project would look like to him, Braun pitched the idea of touring the country to meet with young LGBT people who would share their experiences and opinions about what Pride Month meant to them. As soon as the project was greenlit, he brought on Rob Epstein and Jeff Friedman, two experienced filmmakers who had a successful history of making LGBT films. Braun also said that producer Mari Rivera hired an all-female crew who in turn made sure to hire a team that represented the diversity of the LGBT community.

Critical reception

Christopher Cappiello wrote in the Los Angeles Blade that Epsteins and Friedmans directing was impressive, and the film is "illuminating even as it entertains". Cappiello also noted that the film gives due consideration to the history of the LGBT movement, "and the importance of recognizing how far we’ve come since Stonewall fifty years ago". Richard Schneider wrote that for old-timers who have attended these Pride parades and events for years and years, these "declarations of 'Pride' can seem a little hokey", but we shouldn't dispute their sincerity and honesty. He also said the film "reminds us that the adoption of this word is the opposite of shame and homophobia".

References

SXSW (2019) State of Pride South by Southwest Film Festival
Galuppo, Mia (September 13, 2018). "Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman to Direct 'State of Pride' for YouTube". The Hollywood Reporter.
Wong, Curtis M. (May 14, 2019). "YouTube's 'State Of Pride' To Kick Off Month Of LGBTQ Inclusive Programming". HuffPost.
^ Cappiello, Christopher (June 12, 2019). "The 'State of Pride' is strong". Los Angeles Blade.
Anderson, Tre'vell (May 29, 2019). "What Raymond Braun Learned About The 'State of Pride'". Out.
Schneider, Richard (July 18, 2019). "State of Pride". The Gay & Lesbian Review.

External links

State of Pride on YouTube
State of Pride at IMDb
State of Pride at Rotten Tomatoes
Interview with Raymond Braun at Teen Vogue
Critique of the film in QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking

v t e GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1990) Paris is Burning (1992) Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives (1994) Coming Out Under Fire (1995) Ballot Measure 9 (1996) It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School (1997) Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End (1998) Out of the Past (1999) Out at Work (2000) Living with Pride: Ruth C. Ellis (2001) Scout's Honor (2002) Trembling Before G-d (2003) Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2004) "I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married" (2005) TransGeneration (2006) All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise (2007) For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) A Jihad for Love (2009) Ask Not (2010) 8: The Mormon Proposition (2011) Becoming Chaz (2012) How to Survive a Plague (2013) Bridegroom / Call Me Kuchu (2014) L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin (2015) Kumu Hina (2016) Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (2017) Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric (2018) Believer (2019) State of Pride (2020) Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2021) Changing the Game (2022) Framing Agnes (2023) Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later / Kokomo City / The Stroll (2024)

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1990)
Paris is Burning (1992)
Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives (1994)
Coming Out Under Fire (1995)
Ballot Measure 9 (1996)
It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School (1997)
Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer's End (1998)
Out of the Past (1999)
Out at Work (2000)
Living with Pride: Ruth C. Ellis (2001)
Scout's Honor (2002)
Trembling Before G-d (2003)
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (2004)
"I'm Gay and I'm Getting Married" (2005)
TransGeneration (2006)
All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise (2007)
For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)
A Jihad for Love (2009)
Ask Not (2010)
8: The Mormon Proposition (2011)
Becoming Chaz (2012)
How to Survive a Plague (2013)
Bridegroom / Call Me Kuchu (2014)
L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin (2015)
Kumu Hina (2016)
Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four (2017)
Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric (2018)
Believer (2019)
State of Pride (2020)
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2021)
Changing the Game (2022)
Framing Agnes (2023)
Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later / Kokomo City / The Stroll (2024)

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