The Robert Epstein Collection: The Celluloid Closet / Common Threads / Paragraph 175 / The Times of Harvey Milk

A collection of four documentaries from queer filmmaker Robert Epstein. "The Celluloid Closet" (1995) - This entertaining and often hilarious look at homosexuality in the cinema features film clips, interviews and fascinating revelations. Lily Tomlin narrates. "Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt" (1989) - This powerful, Oscar-winning documentary brings the AIDS epidemic into sharp personal focus by telling the stories of five people memorialized on the NAMES Project's AIDS Memorial Quilt. Moving, inspiring study features music by Bobby McFerrin and is narrated by Dustin Hoffman. "Paragraph 175" (2000) - The title refers to a 19th-century German anti-homosexuality statute that was rarely enforced until Hitler came to power and used the law to wage a campaign of imprisonment and extermination against gays. This aspect of the Third Reich's legacy of brutality is examined through rare newsreel footage and interviews with several of the handful of survivors. Narrated by Rupert Everett. "The Times of Harvey Milk" (1984) - More than a story of one man's life, this Academy Award-winning documentary traces the coming of age of the Gay Rights Movement in the late '70s. Milk, a San Francisco resident, became that city's first openly gay elected official and was a nationally-known leader until his murder in 1978. Interviews, news footage and scenes of the citywide memorial services are featured.