The Stonewall Uprising

Based on David Carter's book Stonewall, this documentary by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner—originally broadcast on PBS' American Experience series—offers an extraordinary in-depth history of the events that contributed to the Stonewall riots of June 28, 1969, which marked the beginning of the gay rights movement. The Stonewall Inn, a dingy, Mafia-run, unlicensed bar in Greenwich Village, provided one of the very few safe havens for New York's homosexual community in an era when gay men and lesbians were routinely arrested and incarcerated for any public display of their sexual orientation (for the record, the mobster owners routinely overcharged their customers and served watered-down drinks; let's not pretend La Cosa Nostra was ahead of the curve in the cause of gay rights). Although the Stonewall Inn had been the subject of previous raids, the intrusion on that fateful evening caught everyone off-guard. The police were quickly overpowered by the hostile patrons, and the surrounding neighborhood became the scene of unprecedented rioting that lasted nearly a week. The film mixes rare news footage and photography of the riots with cogent interviews of participants, including the police officer who directed the ill-fated sweep. While serving up an invaluable record of a landmark incident in the advancement of social equality, the film also presents a tragic overview of the hatred and violence perpetrated by a homophobic society in pre-Stonewall America. Both compelling and disturbing, Stonewall Uprising is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)