''Dear Jesse'' is a 1998 American

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 ...

by Tim Kirkman that was released theatrically by Cowboy Pictures in 1998. Using a first-person narrative style in the form of a "letter" to

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

(R-NC), the filmmaker explores the parallels and differences between himself — an openly gay man — and the staunchly anti-gay rights public servant. The film also features interviews with Helms' foes and fans, community activists, novelists Lee Smith and Allan Gurganus, openly gay Carrboro mayor Mike Nelson, and people in the street, including a brief interview with

Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on October 6, 1998. He was transported by rescuers to Poudre Valle ...

, then a student at Catawba College.

Production

''Dear Jesse '' was produced by Mary Beth Mann and executive produced by Gill Holland. It was edited by Joe Klotz, with music by John Crooke and cinematography by Norwood Cheek.

Reception

Critical reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.

Awards and nominations

In 1998, the film won the Audience Award at Frameline, the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and was nominated for an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

and was named Best Documentary of the Year (runner-up) by the

Boston Society of Film Critics The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts. History The BSFC was formed in 1981 as a society of film critics in the New England area. It was founded to make “Boston’s unique critic ...

. After the film aired on the HBO/Cinemax “Reel Life” series, Kirkman was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

(Documentary Writing Category).

References

External links

* 1998 documentary films 1998 films Documentary films about American politicians Documentary films about gay men Films set in North Carolina 1998 LGBTQ-related films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films American LGBTQ-related documentary films English-language documentary films {{LGBT-documentary-film-stub