A new documentary to look=
for, hopefully later this year, film is not complete yet
http://penitentheart.com/ &n=
bsp; — CF
~~~~
May 9, 2014
Cecilia Aldarondo, the fi=
lmmaker behindMemories of a Penitent
Heart, will be giving work-in-progress talks about the film at sev=
eral congregations around New York City. The film tackles themes of family =
acceptance, HIV/AIDS, Latino family culture, and Roman Catholic teaching on=
being gay.
In 1987, Miguel Dieppa re=
pented of his homosexuality as he lay dying in a New York City hospital. Af=
ter making history as the world’s first-ever Puerto Rican
heart transplant recipient, Miguel succumbed to AIDS, leaving behind a liv=
e-in partner, a devout Catholic mother, and a lot of troubling rumors.=
25 years later Cecilia’s =
mother handed her a box of 8mm home movies that she’d found in the fa=
mily garage. Spurred by this discovery, Cecilia began asking questions
about her uncle’s mysterious death. Did Miguel really repent of bein=
g gay on his deathbed? Did his devout Catholic mother push him into it? Did=
he really have AIDS? And what happened to his partner Robert, who’d =
disappeared after Miguel died?
While recent documentarie=
s have thoughtfully documented the AIDS crisis from within communities of s=
urvivors, Memories of a Penitent Heart does something
totally new. It is the first feature-length documentary to explore a very =
common occurrence during the crisis—faith-based discrimination agains=
t people with AIDS—from the perspective of a descendant reckoning wit=
h her family’s responsibility. This film demonstrates
what happens when well-meaning family members shut out their LGBT members,=
even when they don’t know they’re doing it. Memories of a Penitent=
Heart is a cautionary tale about missed opportunities, the intric=
acies of religious belief, and the most quietly
insidious forms of bigotry.
Join Cecilia at one of th=
e following filmmaker discussions:
May 22: Advent Lutheran
June 8: Middle Collegiate
On May 7, Cecilia and the=
team behind the film launched an Indiegogo campaign in
order to complete the film. Watch the trailer below:
http://vimeo.com/93307159
Ross Murray
Director of News, GLAAD
(646) 871-8040 | rmurray@gla=
ad.org |
www.glaad.org | www.facebook.=
com/glaad |
www.twitter.com/glaad
.
20. May, 2014 
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