still from Parting Glances

1986 / 90 min
Director & Screenwriter: Bill Sherwood
Cast: Richard Ganoung, John Bolger, Steve Buscemi, Kathy Kinney
35mm | Courtesy of First Fun Features
35mm restored print courtesy of the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project

Film introduced by Columbia Film professor Ron Gregg.

Tragically, the gifted Bill Sherwood only wrote and directed one film — this one. Parting Glances was the first feature film to deal with the AIDS crisis, which would soon claim the director’s life; but as Scott MacDonald wrote in The A.V. Club, “the tone of the movie couldn’t be further from Longtime Companion, Philadelphia, or the many other earnest AIDS pictures that followed. It is, more than anything, a party movie, with a sprawling cast of characters, a fresh scene to explore, some classic Bronski Beat tunes, and an infectious eagerness to fit as much life as it can into its 24-hour time frame.” Although the film is nominally about a gay New York couple, Michael and Robert, its center of gravity is the young Steve Buscemi as Michael’s ex-boyfriend Nick, an acid-tongued rock star with AIDS who rages against the dying of the light. (Ira Deutchman distributed the movie while at Cinecom.)

This screening is part of NY Indie Guy: Ira Deutchman and the Rise of Independent Film

On September 14-16 and September 20-23, 2018, Columbia University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts will host a retrospective exhibit honoring the career of Film Professor and Producing Concentration Supervisor Ira Deutchman. Since 1975, Deutchman has been a leader in distributing, marketing, and producing American independent films, international films, and arthouse films. He is perhaps best known for founding and running the distribution companies Cinecom, Fine Line Features, and Emerging Pictures. Deutchman has taught at Columbia since 1987.  

This retrospective will screen essential motion pictures from various points in Deutchman’s career, such as The Brother From Another Planet; Diva; Harlan County USA; sex, lies, & videotape; Swoon; and A Woman Under the Influence. Many showings will feature Q&A talkbacks with filmmakers or performers. The celebration will also include panel discussions and an extensive exhibit covering Deutchman’s impact on cinema.  

Sponsors

The Art House Convergence

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard

Film and Media Studies, Columbia University School of the Arts

The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University

The Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Columbia University

The University of Michigan Library