''Coming Out Under Fire'' is a 1994
documentary film
A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
directed and produced by
Arthur Dong
Arthur Dong (born October 30, 1953) is an American filmmaker and author whose work centers on Asia America and anti-gay prejudice.
Career
Arthur Dong was born on October 30, 1953, in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. He graduated from Ga ...
and narrated by actress
Salome Jens
Salome Jens (born May 8, 1935) is an American dancer and actress of stage, film and television. She is also known for portraying the Female Changeling on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (19941999).
Early years
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Je ...
. Based on
Allan Bérubé
Allan Bérubé (pronounced BEH-ruh-bay; December 3, 1946 – December 11, 2007) was a gay American historian, activist, independent scholar, self-described "community-based" researcher and college drop-out, and award-winning author, best know ...
's book of the same title, the film examines the attitudes toward
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
in the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Dong and Bérubé co-wrote the screenplay. It was funded with grants from the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
and the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...
1994). Other credits include: Director of photography, Stephen Lighthill; edited by Veronica Selver; music by Mark Adler. It was released by
Zeitgeist Films
Zeitgeist Films is a New York, New York, New York-based distribution company founded in 1988 which acquires and distributes films from the U.S. and around the world. In 2017, Zeitgeist entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with film distr ...
and had a running time of 71 minutes.
The film aired nationally on PBS in June 1995. It was released on home video in 1996 and on DVD in 2003.
Awards
*Special Jury Recognition For Technical Achievement at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
, 1994.
[
* Teddy Award at the ]Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
, 1994.
*George Foster Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
for Excellence in Television Broadcasting 1995.
* GLAAD Media Award Best Documentary
See also
*
References
External links
Official Website from Deep Focus Productions
''Coming Out Under Fire''
at the Internet Movie Database
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
Review of the film
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
1994 films
American LGBTQ-related documentary films
Films directed by Arthur Dong
Peabody Award–winning broadcasts
Sexual orientation and the United States military
1994 documentary films
Documentary films about World War II
LGBTQ and military-related mass media
1994 LGBTQ-related films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
English-language documentary films
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