GEN SILENT
Synopsis
The generation that fought hardest to come out of the closet... is going back in- to survive.
What would you do to survive if you were old, disabled and ill – and in fear of discrimination or abuse?
Gen Silent is the new LGBT documentary from award-winning director and documentary filmmaker Stu Maddux (Bob and Jack’s 52-Year Adventure, Trip to Hell and Back) that asks six LGBT seniors if they will hide their lives to survive.
They put a face on what experts in the film call an epidemic: gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender seniors so afraid of discrimination, or worse, in long-term/health care that many go back into the closet. And, their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their day-to-day lives over the course of a year in Boston, Massachusetts.
Unlike any previous LGBT film about aging, Gen Silent startlingly discovers how oppression in the years before Stonewall now leaves many elders not just afraid but dangerously isolated. Many of our greatest generation are dying prematurely because they don’t ask for help and have too few people in their lives to keep an eye on them.
Gen Silent brings these issues into the open for the first time. The film shows the wide range in quality of paid caregivers --from those who are specifically trained to make LGBT seniors feel safe, to the other end of the spectrum, where LGBT elders face discrimination, neglect or abuse. (Who would have expected caregivers to try to religiously convert these elders at their bedside!)
As we journey through the challenges that these men and women face, we also see reasons for hope as each subject crosses paths with a small but growing group of impassioned professionals trying to wake up the long-term and healthcare industries to their plight.
Budget:
$ 185,000.00
Project's Financial Needs
Immediate funds are needed to continue following our four subjects as one faces a terminal illess and another deals with long-term care of his partner.
In the following five months funds are needed for post-production
On an on-going basis for the next 12-months funds will need to be raised for marketing and outreach to institutions around the country.
Other financial Support
80% of production has been made possible by in-kind donations of time and equipment and expendables by the film's director, Stu Maddux. In addition, travel and lodging expenses have been offset by aquaintences of the film's subjects donating housing and frequent flyer miles.
Current stage of production
Post-Production
Estimated Completion Date
06/01/2010
Target Audience
Healthcare and long-term care workers, LGBT community.
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