Vito (2011)

The story of Vito Russo, founding father of the gay liberation movement, author of "The Celluloid Closet," and vociferous AIDS activist in the 1980s.

Director:

Jeffrey Schwarz

Stars:

Phyllis Antonellis, George Bancroft, Richard Barrios

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Phyllis Antonellis	...	Herself - Cousin
George Bancroft	...	Bill Bailey
Richard Barrios	...	Himself
Edmund Bergler	...	Himself - Psychoanalyst, Writer (archive footage) (as Edmund Bergler M.D.)
Richard Berkowitz	...	Himself - Author
Lenny Bloom	...	Himself - Friend & Lawyer (as Leonard Bloom)
Jay Blotcher	...	Himself
Malcolm Boyd	...	Himself (as Reverend Malcolm Boyd)
Stephen Boyd	...	Messala
Joseph Brewer	...	Himself
Lee Brewster	...	Himself - Queens Liberation Front (archive footage)
Tom Brokaw	...	Himself (archive footage)
Billie Burke	...	Glinda
Marcus A. Conant	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jane Darwell	...	Mrs. Winchell - Jack's Mother

Storyline

In the aftermath of Stonewall, a newly politicized Vito Russo found his voice as a gay activist and critic of LGBT representation in the media. He went on to write "The Celluloid Closet," the first book to critique Hollywood's portrayals of gays on screen. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Vito became a passionate advocate for justice via the newly formed ACT UP, before his death in 1990.

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Plot Keywords:

gay | 1980s | aids | celluloid closet | act up | 

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Taglines:

Jede Revolution Braucht Eine Stimme! (German)

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official distributor's page for the film. [Germany] (German) Official distributor's page for the film. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Na gej heroj - Vito

Filming Locations:

Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Automat Pictures,Making it Big

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color Black and White (film excerpts)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Arnie Kantrowitz is listed two different ways on screen, first as "Friend," and second as "Vice President, Gay Activists Alliance."

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Connections

Features Mädchen in Uniform (1931)

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Soundtracks

Friends
Written by Buzzy Linhart and Mark Klingman
Performed by Bette Midler

User Reviews

Marvelous movie about a marvelous man

Although I am a gay man, from the same generation and roughly the same age as Vito Russo, I'm reviewing this movie as a movie, rather than as a documentary about the gay rights movement.

There are lots of documentaries about that movement, but none of them are great movies. This one is. It is fascinating from beginning to end.

There's not one bit of martyr worship in this movie, as there always is in movies about Harvey Milk, for example. Vito, the movie, is just as smart and funny and honest and gentle and riveting and uncompromising as Russo was himself.

He was such a marvelous man that there's no need to paint him as a hero or a martyr or as anything else but just himself. I never felt like I was being preached to or manipulated in any way at all while watching this movie. I was just being allowed to visit with a really fantastic human being.

What a treat this movie is! I feel now like Vito is an old and very dear and very delightful personal friend. I look forward to meeting him for real when I get to where he is now.