Just days after Advocate Magazine named PRIVATE ROMEO “one of the best overlooked films that you shouldn’t have missed in 2011,” and following a year of riding the international film festival circuit (including screenings in London, Paris, Germany, Singapore, Poland, Kiev, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and San Francisco, and soon Australia and Italy), we got the official word that PRIVATE ROMEO – Alan Brown’s feature film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet set in an all-boys military academy – will return to North America in 2012 for a theatrical release, opening in New York City beginning February 10, 2012 at Cinema Village. Break out those fresh 2012 planners, save the date and spread the word!
With February a short way down the pike, now’s a pitch perfect time to have a listen to (and purchase!) the soundtrack to PRIVATE ROMEO over on iTunes and Amazon – with music by Nicholas Wright, a genius in creating soundscapes that are all at once enthralling, playful, haunting and beautiful. The soundtrack is quite a masterpiece and it’s most definitely worth an add to your Spotify playlist.
In July of this year Outfest honored us with the “Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film” Grand Jury Award following PRIVATE ROMEO’s packed screening at the Ford Amphitheater in Hollywood, CA: “For bringing fresh life to a timeless love story and infusing each moment with a 21st century immediacy that balances naked passion with longing, and delivering it all with brilliant coherence, the Outfest 2011 Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film goes to the entire cast of PRIVATE ROMEO.”
It’s the 21st century immediacy (that our director Alan Brown unpacked from Shakespeare’s 400-year old “Romeo and Juliet”) that makes me so proud to have been a part of PRIVATE ROMEO: a timely project that contributes a bold, necessary and positive voice to the ongoing fight for human rights and equality. So timely, in fact, that Secretary of State Clinton’s December 6, 2011 remarks in recognition of International Human Rights Day perfectly convey the beat that lies at the heart of PRIVATE ROMEO:
Raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs. So I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility. Even though progress on this front is not easy, we cannot delay acting. So in that spirit, I want to talk about the difficult and important issues we must address together to reach a global consensus that recognizes the human rights of LGBT citizens everywhere.
Being LGBT does not make you less human, and that is why gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. I speak about this subject knowing that my own country’s record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect.
Read Secretary of State Clinton’s historic remarks on International Human Rights here.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to join in the extraordinary and tireless efforts of LGBT and Human Rights organizations,families, friends and individuals who work to end discrimination based on sexual orientation. If you need a place to begin making a difference, check out the Ali Forney Center, a center for homeless LGBT youth. Follow the lead of LGBT advocates Frank Selvaggi and Bill Shea (who made a generous gift to the Ali Forney Center to kick off a $1 million campaign to increase the number of beds available to homeless LGBT teens) by donating or giving your time to this organization which provides assistance to the more than 1,000 homeless LGBT youths living in New York City alone. There’s a holiday gift certainly worth giving.
Sean Hudock 