Out of the Past (1998)

In 1995, Kelli Peterson started a gay and straight club at her Salt Lake City high school. The story of her ensuing battle with school authorities in interspersed with looks back at the ... See full summary »

Director:

Jeff Dupre

Writer:

Michelle Ferrari

Stars:

Stephen Spinella, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cherry Jones

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Stephen Spinella	...	Michael Wigglesworth (voice)
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Sarah Orne Jewett (voice)
Cherry Jones	...	Annie Adams Fields (voice)
Edward Norton	...	Henry Gerber (voice)
Leland Gantt	...	Bayard Rustin (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Annie Fields	...	Herself
Barbara Gittings	...	Herself
Peter J. Gomes	...	Himself (as Rev. Peter J. Gomes)
Linda Hunt	...	Narrator
Sarah Orne Jewett	...	Herself
Kelli Peterson	...	Herself
Bayard Rustin	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

In 1995, Kelli Peterson started a gay and straight club at her Salt Lake City high school. The story of her ensuing battle with school authorities in interspersed with looks back at the diary of Michael Wigglesworth, a 17th-century Puritan cleric, at the 30-year love affair of Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields, at Henry Gerber's attempt after World War I to establish a gay-rights organization, at Bayard Rustin's role in the civil rights movement, and at Barbara Gittings' taking on of the American Psychiatric Association's position that homosexuality is illness. One person comments, "To create a place for ourselves in the present, we have to find ourselves in the past."

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Plot Keywords:

gay | civil rights | gay rights | diary | puritan | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 1998 (USA)

Box Office

Gross:

$8,688 (USA) (11 September 1998)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Features MTV News (1981)

User Reviews

Gwyneth Paltrow's best film

A top-notch documentary which beautifully weaves the story of Kelli Peterson, who tried to start a gay-straight alliance at a Salt Lake City high school, with tales of real gay heroes of the past.

The wonderful Barbara Giddings is featured in a tremendously moving moment in which Kelli and Barbara meet, and it is clear that if only Kelli - and other students like her - had simply been told the facts about gay people in school she would never have wanted to commit suicide. This film is an excellent testament and memorial to those who died having lived miserable lives totally in the closet.