PINK PALACE: BUDDIES

Pink Palace present BUDDIES. Originally released in cinemas in 1985, the film is a deeply moving portrayal of the start of the AIDS crisis and how the lesbian and gay communities organised themselves to fight it, in the face of government inaction and hostile media. The very first full length drama about AIDS, BUDDIES focuses on 25 year - old gay yuppie David (David Schachter) who volunteers to be a “buddy” to an AIDS patient. The gay community centre assigns him to Robert (Geoff Edholm), a 32 year - old politically impassioned California gardener abandoned by his friends and lovers. Revolving around the confines of Robert’s Manhattan hospital room, Bressan skillfully unfolds this two - hander with devastating effect. Tragically both Arthur J. Bressan and Geoff Edholm went on to die from complications of AIDS. "Bressan Jr’s film is full of fury, both explicit and subtle. It takes aim at the Reagan administration’s failure to act on the Aids crisis, and hits its target again and again. Compare this with the glossy Oscar-winning theatrics of Tom Hanks’s opera scene in Philadelphia (1993) and the pugnacious spirit of Buddies seems even more potent. Yes, it’s appalling that young men are dying, but the tragedy must be coupled with a fierce resolve to fight back – a battle cry ignored by so many Aids dramas of the era, which got lost in the excitement of A-list straight actors playing tragic gay victims. Edholm, who also died from Aids-related illness in 1989, has an arresting scene where he chokes with anger when he reads a homophobic article stating that Aids is God’s punishment on gay men. Yet the most powerful sequence pulsates with an understated rage; a final overhead shot of the White House cuts to a printer churning out an endless list of those who have died from Aids-related illness. Buddies’ authenticity is its greatest strength. This is a rare film from the era, made by and about gay men, and it movingly evokes the loneliness and isolation of so many with Aids. Robert never leaves his hospital room, where he lies alone, surrounded by messages warning medics to exert caution around Aids patients." BFI Please note there are NO ads or trailers, we start on time! Pink Palace is a super low fi highly relaxed event that takes place in the basement bar, its a safe queer space so come along and catch some queer film and pop culture history, each week the film is introduced by curator Andrew Woodyatt, and feel free to stay and chat afterwards, participation is encouraged!PT1H16M152025-01-23

Geoff Edholm

David Schachter

Damon Hairston

Joyce Korn

Billy Lux

David Rose

Arthur J. Bressan

PINK PALACE: BUDDIES"PINK PALACE: BUDDIES"

Showtimes

January 23, 7:30 pm