FROM CRIMINALITY TO EQUALITY: STAND TOGETHER/THE QUEER NINETIES/POLITICS OF THE HEART/THE END OF SECOND CLASS (Vtape) D: Nancy Nicol. Rating: NNNNN DVD package: NN Rating: NNNNN
Individually, these films by Nancy Nicol are brilliant social documentaries, dramatically structured, thoroughly researched and rich in detailed interviews and footage of key players and events. Together, they make up a first-rate history of the 40-year fight for gay rights in Canada and, not incidentally, provide many useful lessons in social organizing.
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Stand Together (2002) focuses on decriminalization of gay activities in Ontario and covers the period from the illegal gay life of the 1950s to the provincial decriminalization bill of 1986. It features striking footage of the mammoth demonstration that followed the 1981 gay bathhouse raid.
The national scope of The Queer Nineties (2009) includes the Charter Of Rights, court cases and parenting issues. The latter come to the fore in Politics Of The Heart (2005), which focuses on the battle for parental and marriage rights in Quebec. The End Of Second Class caps it all with the struggle for gay marriage rights.
The extras are poor. The half-hour interview with Nicol largely repeats info we’ve already seen. The study guide is good but tedious to use. It’s organized by DVD chapters, but only Stand Together has them.
EXTRAS Director interview, study guide. Widescreen.
