The Times of Harvey Milk

The Times of Harvey Milk
The Times of Harvey Milk film poster Film poster
Directed by	Rob Epstein
Produced by	Richard Schmiechen Rob Epstein Gregory W. Bex
Written by	Rob Epstein Carter Wilson Judith Coburn
Starring	See Cast
Narrated by	Harvey Fierstein
Music by	Mark Isham
Cinematography	Frances Reid
Edited by	Rob Epstein Deborah Hoffmann
Distributed by	New Yorker Films
Release dates	October 26, 1984 (1984-10-26)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$29,802

The Times of Harvey Milk is a 1984 American documentary film that premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and then on November 1, 1984 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. The film was directed by Rob Epstein, produced by Richard Schmiechen, and narrated by Harvey Fierstein, with an original score by Mark Isham.

In 2012, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Plot

The Times of Harvey Milk documents the political career of Harvey Milk, who was San Francisco's first openly gay supervisor. The film documents Milk's rise from a neighborhood activist to a symbol of gay political achievement, through to his assassination in November 1978 at San Francisco's city hall, and the Dan White trial and aftermath.

Participants

• Harvey Fierstein (narrator)
• Anne Kronenberg
• Tom Ammiano
• Sally Gearhart
• Allan Baird, Teamsters Union leader

Archive footage

• Harvey Milk
• Dan White
• George Moscone
• Dianne Feinstein
• Jimmy Carter

Featured people

The film was produced after Milk's death using original interviews, exclusive documentary footage, news reports, and archival footage, so that Milk is credited as the lead (posthumously). Other politicians including San Francisco mayor George Moscone (who was assassinated with Milk), and Moscone's successor and now United States Senator Dianne Feinstein appear in archival footage. The movie opens with a tearful Feinstein delivering her announcement to the media that Moscone and Milk had been assassinated by Dan White.

Also featured in the film is schoolteacher Tom Ammiano, who would go on to be a member of the California State Assembly.

Awards and honors

The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1984, and was awarded Special Jury Prize at the first Sundance Film Festival, among other awards.

Home media

A digitally restored version of the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in March 2011. The release includes audio commentary featuring director Rob Epstein,coeditor Deborah Hoffmann, and photographer Daniel Nicoletta, interview clips not used in the film, a new interview with documentary filmmaker Jon Else, a new program about The Times of Harvey Milk and Gus Van Sant’s 2008 film, Milk, featuring Epstein, Van Sant, actor James Franco, and Milk friends Cleve Jones, Anne Kronenberg, and Nicoletta, rare collection of audio and video recordings of Milk, excerpts from Epstein’s research tapes, featuring Milk partner Scott Smith, footage from the film’s Castro Theatre premiere and the 1984 Academy Awards, panel discussion on Supervisor Dan White’s trial, and excerpts from the 25th anniversary commemoration of Milk’s and Mayor George Moscone’s assassinations.

External links

• The Times of Harvey Milk at IMDb
• The Times of Harvey Milk at Box Office Mojo
• The Times of Harvey Milk at Rotten Tomatoes
• Criterion Collection Essay by Stuart Milk
• Criterion Collection Essay by B. Ruby Rich