In recognition of Gay Pride Month, the Figge Art Museum will present a series of four award-winning, independent films, one each Sunday this June.
The movies will be 4-6 p.m. June 5, 12, 19 and 26 in the John Deere Auditorium at the Figge, 225 W. 2nd St., Davenport. Admission is free.
Sunday, June 5: “How to Survive a Plague.” (2013)
The riveting, powerful story about the AIDS activists, most of them HIV-positive, who played a pivotal role in developing the drugs and treatment protocols that turned AIDS from a mostly fatal disease to a manageable condition. Five years into the AIDS crisis, the film follows this scrappy group of ACT UP members in the ten years leading up to the advent of protease inhibitor therapy in 1996.
Initially ignored by public officials, religious leaders and the nation at large, and confronted with shame and hatred, and surrounded by a community in crisis, these full-time activists educated themselves about the science of viruses, medicine, and clinical trials, and were ultimately embraced as full partners by the medical research community in the race to develop effective treatments for HIV and its complications. Two of those who lived to benefit from their efforts went on to win MacArthur Genius Grants for their groundbreaking work.
2013 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature. English with English Subtitles
Watch the trailer here.
Sunday, June 12: “Rafiki.” (2018)
Two women try to hide their affection for each other from the locals in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal. Banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board, the director Wanuri Kahiu sued the Kenyan government to get the film released so that it could be submitted as the country’s entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. When the ban was lifted for seven days, Rafiki became the highest-grossing Kenyan film of all time.
Rafiki was the first Kenyan film to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018.
English and Swahili with English subtitles.
Watch the trailer here:
Sunday, June 19: “Four Moons/Cuatro Lunas.” (2014)
Four interwoven stories about four interwoven stories of love and acceptance. An 11-year-old boy wrestles with his secret; two former childhood friends reunite and discover that their feelings are complicated; a long-term relationship is in jeopardy when a third man comes along; and an elderly gentleman struggles as he keeps his closeted life separate from his loving family.
Mexico’s nominee for 2014 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film.
In Spanish with English subtitles
Watch the trailer here.
Sunday, June 26: “God’s Own Country.” (2017)
Young Yorkshire farmer Johnny Saxby’s life of isolation and binge drinking is upended with the arrival of Gheorghe, a Romanian migrant worker.
Josh O’Connor, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of Prince Charles in The Crown, received the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the lead role of Johnny Saxby. “God’s Own Country” was Great Britain’s highest grossing independent film of 2017.
Other awards include:
· British Academy Award for Outstanding British Film and Rising Star Award (Josh O’Connor).
· London Film Critics’ Circle Film of the Year.
· Four British Independent Film Awards including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
· Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and World Cinema Directing Award.
· Edinburgh International Film Festival Best Feature Film.
Yorkshire English with English subtitles.
Watch the trailer here.