Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on the Pride film “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” (2017), currently on Netflix, about the mysterious death and challenging life of the drag queen icon of New York City. Happy Pride Week!
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Born Malcolm Michaels in New Jersey, the doc’s hero left for New York City in the mid 1960s, and found her niche among the colorful street people of the era, renaming herself Marsha P. Johnson. Three years later, on the night of June 28th, 1969, Johnson found herself in the midst of the Stonewall Inn Uprising, and several witnesses described her as being a prime motivator in the riots that began gay liberation. The documentary chronicles her mysterious death in 1992, her body floating in the Hudson River off the Christopher Street pier. The police ruled in a suicide, but in the 2010s an advocate named Victoria Cruz...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Born Malcolm Michaels in New Jersey, the doc’s hero left for New York City in the mid 1960s, and found her niche among the colorful street people of the era, renaming herself Marsha P. Johnson. Three years later, on the night of June 28th, 1969, Johnson found herself in the midst of the Stonewall Inn Uprising, and several witnesses described her as being a prime motivator in the riots that began gay liberation. The documentary chronicles her mysterious death in 1992, her body floating in the Hudson River off the Christopher Street pier. The police ruled in a suicide, but in the 2010s an advocate named Victoria Cruz...
- 6/24/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
by Glenn Dunks
It is sadly just a matter of fact that women of colour rarely get documentaries made about them without tragedy informing their very existence. “Death” is even right there at the start of the title for David France’s new film about one such pioneering person. And indeed, the mystery surrounding Marsha P. Johnson’s death is what acts as the central spine of his The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson as one activist, Victoria Cruz, sets about solving the mystery of the death of another activist 25 years ago.
But like the literal meaning behind the title of France’s last film, the Oscar-nominated masterwork How to Survive a Plague, this new film is also about “life” and surviving and ultimately acts as a testament to Johnson’s tenacity and pure force-of-nature attitude in the face of adversity – a tired cliché of a phrase that is nonetheless truly warranted here.
It is sadly just a matter of fact that women of colour rarely get documentaries made about them without tragedy informing their very existence. “Death” is even right there at the start of the title for David France’s new film about one such pioneering person. And indeed, the mystery surrounding Marsha P. Johnson’s death is what acts as the central spine of his The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson as one activist, Victoria Cruz, sets about solving the mystery of the death of another activist 25 years ago.
But like the literal meaning behind the title of France’s last film, the Oscar-nominated masterwork How to Survive a Plague, this new film is also about “life” and surviving and ultimately acts as a testament to Johnson’s tenacity and pure force-of-nature attitude in the face of adversity – a tired cliché of a phrase that is nonetheless truly warranted here.
- 10/10/2017
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
"If you were in New York -- in gay New York, in queer New York -- during her lifetime, you knew Marsha," documentarian David France says of his latest film's subject, Marsha P. Johnson. "She would call out your name or she would call out, "Hi, doll" and she was dispensing this kind of joy. Her joy was her form of resistance…When '69 happened and the mindset changed within the community and there was an agreement across the board to advocate for liberty, for freedom, nobody really knew what that looked like and Marsha modeled it. She just put it on. She said, 'This is what it's going to be like.' She threw off all convention and she said, 'Freedom is going to be truly free.'"
Marsha "Pay 'Em No Mind" Johnson has been called "the Rosa Parks of the Lgbtq movement," because of the pivotal role she played in the Stonewall riots of 1969. (Some...
Marsha "Pay 'Em No Mind" Johnson has been called "the Rosa Parks of the Lgbtq movement," because of the pivotal role she played in the Stonewall riots of 1969. (Some...
- 10/6/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
David France, an experienced and distinguished investigative reporter with a specific interest in issues relating to the Lgbt community, turned to documentary filmmaking in 2012 with his first feature How To Survive a Plague. Welding together vast amounts of archive and research sources in a style France describes as “archival verité” to compile a visual history of the AIDS activism he’d been writing about since the earliest days of the crisis, his film provided a comprehensive, compelling document of the epidemic and those fighting for recognition and a response to it. A similar style is used in France’s latest film, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, another intensely researched and deeply felt portrait that tells a similarly fraught and complex story. Marsha, a prominent personality in New York’s emergent late 60s transgender community and a key figure in the Stonewall Rebellion, died in 1992 in mysterious circumstances.
- 10/2/2017
- MUBI
Despite the years of adversity faced by self-described drag queen and activist Marsha P. Johnson — a participant in the Stonewall riots and an icon of New York City’s Lgbtq community — she is mostly remembered for her joy.
“She threw off all convention and re-invented life, really, around unhindered self-expression,” says filmmaker David France, who met Johnson soon after he moved from the Midwest to N.Y.C., where she was a “fixture” of the gay scene.
A familiar face along Manhattan’s Christopher Street, where she was often wreathed with flowers, Johnson is regarded as a key figure in...
“She threw off all convention and re-invented life, really, around unhindered self-expression,” says filmmaker David France, who met Johnson soon after he moved from the Midwest to N.Y.C., where she was a “fixture” of the gay scene.
A familiar face along Manhattan’s Christopher Street, where she was often wreathed with flowers, Johnson is regarded as a key figure in...
- 9/29/2017
- by Adam Carlson
- PEOPLE.com
Sure, there's a chewy Lgbtq true-crime doc, a stand-up comic's most personal special yet, another new anthology show, a late-night talkfest starring Sarah Silverman, a standout movie from Noah Baumbach and not one but two historical serial-killer dramas. But what you're waiting for is the return of Stranger Things, and rest assured, you're about to have your Reagan-era nostalgia itch oh-so-mightily scratched. Here's the lowdown on what you'll be streaming over the next month.
Acceptable Risk (Acorn, Oct. 16th)
Say a guy gets killed while on business in Berlin. Chances...
Acceptable Risk (Acorn, Oct. 16th)
Say a guy gets killed while on business in Berlin. Chances...
- 9/28/2017
- Rollingstone.com
The fall TV and film season is officially here, and so is a fresh collection of documentaries to satisfy your non-fiction cravings.
2017 Fall Preview: Et's Complete Coverage of New Films, Music, TV and More!
From intimate looks into Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato's personal struggles and lives off stage to an Oprah Winfrey-produced look into the prison system and powerful explorations of racial injustice, there's no shortage of captivating deep dives this season.
These are the new and upcoming documentaries you need to watch.
House of Z
Available now
Vogue.com
Design prodigy Zac Posen's unprecedented rise to the top of the fashion world at age 21 (and falling out of favor just a few years later) becomes the focus of the documentary, which reveals an honest portrait of a designer and his “darker times” fighting to rebuild his company and his reputation. “I think it takes a level of real maturity to reflect on oneself...
2017 Fall Preview: Et's Complete Coverage of New Films, Music, TV and More!
From intimate looks into Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato's personal struggles and lives off stage to an Oprah Winfrey-produced look into the prison system and powerful explorations of racial injustice, there's no shortage of captivating deep dives this season.
These are the new and upcoming documentaries you need to watch.
House of Z
Available now
Vogue.com
Design prodigy Zac Posen's unprecedented rise to the top of the fashion world at age 21 (and falling out of favor just a few years later) becomes the focus of the documentary, which reveals an honest portrait of a designer and his “darker times” fighting to rebuild his company and his reputation. “I think it takes a level of real maturity to reflect on oneself...
- 9/28/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
‘The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson’ Trailer: Docu Tells The Overlooked Story Of Trans Activist
The new trailer for the Netflix documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson from Academy Award-nominated director David France (How to Survive a Plague) puts the spotlight on the titular Johnson, who has been dubbed as the Rosa Parks of the Lgbt movement. In 1992, Johnson was found dead and floating in the Hudson River. The NYPD chalked it up as a suicide, but the docu goes into why this might not be the case. Johnson’s friend and fellow activist Victoria Cruz…...
- 9/12/2017
- Deadline
"Don't play detective yourself..." Netflix has debuted an official trailer for a documentary titled The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, the latest film from the director of the Academy Award-nominated How to Survive a Plague. David France's new doc is about a civil rights activist named Marsha P. Johnson. She was found dead in the Hudson River in 1992, though there was no investigation because the NYPD ruled it a suicide. Johnson was the "beloved, self-described 'street queen' of NY's gay ghetto" who fought for many great human rights changes back in the 1970s. The doc re-examines her death and dives deeper into what might've happened, spending time with Marsha's old friend and fellow activist Victoria Cruz. After being blown away by How to Survive a Plague, I'll watch anything by David France. This looks very compelling. The trailer (+ poster) for David France's doc The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson,...
- 9/12/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Twenty-five years ago — and some 23 years after the start of the modern Lgbt rights movement she championed — Marsha P. Johnson was found floating, dead, in the Hudson River in New York City.
Authorities ruled her death a suicide, despite the objections and incredulity of those who knew her. But Johnson’s case was not forgotten, and the story of her life and death and the search for answers that came after are the subjects of an upcoming Netflix documentary about the transgender activist remembered as the “mayor of Christopher Street.”
Co-written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson...
Authorities ruled her death a suicide, despite the objections and incredulity of those who knew her. But Johnson’s case was not forgotten, and the story of her life and death and the search for answers that came after are the subjects of an upcoming Netflix documentary about the transgender activist remembered as the “mayor of Christopher Street.”
Co-written and directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson...
- 9/12/2017
- by People Staff
- PEOPLE.com
Film will screen at Outfest Los Angeles this summer.
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson, David France’s follow-up to How To Survive A Plague.
The film premiered at Tribeca and explores the murder of the transgender legend and ‘street queen’ of NYC’s gay ghetto, who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and established with fellow icon Sylvia Rivera the world’s first trans-rights organization, Star, in 1970.
When Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, police refused to investigate the case and presumed Johnson committed suicide. Twenty-five years after her death, activist Victoria Cruz picks up the case.
Netflix plans a global launch later this year on The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which is presented by Public Square Films. L.A. Teodosio produced and Joy A. Tomchin and Sara Ramirez served as executive producers.
“Almost single-handedly...
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson, David France’s follow-up to How To Survive A Plague.
The film premiered at Tribeca and explores the murder of the transgender legend and ‘street queen’ of NYC’s gay ghetto, who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and established with fellow icon Sylvia Rivera the world’s first trans-rights organization, Star, in 1970.
When Johnson’s body was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, police refused to investigate the case and presumed Johnson committed suicide. Twenty-five years after her death, activist Victoria Cruz picks up the case.
Netflix plans a global launch later this year on The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which is presented by Public Square Films. L.A. Teodosio produced and Joy A. Tomchin and Sara Ramirez served as executive producers.
“Almost single-handedly...
- 6/2/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The 2017 Tribeca Film Festival has come and gone, but several of its highlights face an uncertain future. While the festival opened with an iTunes-ready documentary about Clive Davis and closed with back-to-back screenings of the first two “Godfather” films, many of the films in its competition sections arrived at the festival without distribution deals and ended it in the same state. Here’s at a few significant titles from this year’s edition that deserve to get picked up.
“Blame”
Overachieving multi-hyphenate Quinn Shephard was just 20 when she wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in her feature directorial debut, a modern spin on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” set in the witch hunt capital of contemporary America: the suburban high school. While Shephard cast herself as the film’s Abigail Williams — an outcast with secrets to spare who gets entangled with a smoldering substitute teacher, played by Chris Messina — the...
“Blame”
Overachieving multi-hyphenate Quinn Shephard was just 20 when she wrote, directed, produced, edited and starred in her feature directorial debut, a modern spin on Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” set in the witch hunt capital of contemporary America: the suburban high school. While Shephard cast herself as the film’s Abigail Williams — an outcast with secrets to spare who gets entangled with a smoldering substitute teacher, played by Chris Messina — the...
- 5/1/2017
- by David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, Jude Dry and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
David France’s Oscar-nominated “How to Survive a Plague” was a mesmerizing look at AIDS activism in the eighties and nineties, reconstructed with bountiful archival footage; France’s followup, “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson,” is a kind of thematic sequel, this time focusing on trans activism during the same time period. Both movies grapple with the reverberations of these dramatic efforts in the present moment, but “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” is particularly suspenseful for the way it recollects the past through the prism of a murder mystery, brilliantly fusing an archival history with the elements of a detective story.
Whereas “Plague” explored the efforts of Act Up and other institutions to combat the AIDS epidemic, “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” focuses on Greenwich Village “street queen” Johnson, a Stonewall riots hero who died under mysterious circumstances in 1992 when she was...
Whereas “Plague” explored the efforts of Act Up and other institutions to combat the AIDS epidemic, “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson” focuses on Greenwich Village “street queen” Johnson, a Stonewall riots hero who died under mysterious circumstances in 1992 when she was...
- 4/24/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
New York is a mecca for queer culture of all stripes. Set in the heart of downtown Manhattan, just a short walk from the cruising piers of Christopher street and the cocktail lounges of Chelsea, the Tribeca Film Festival is a natural home for Lgbtq creators and projects. From lesser known indie films to highly anticipated studio television shows, experimental Vr and new online work from queer up and comers pushing the conversation into new territory, the festival’s 16th edition offers plenty for the queer-minded.
Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
Here is a guide to the five best Lgbtq projects playing the festival this year.
“Tom of Finland”
Now, here is a biopic we can get behind (or underneath, whatever your preference).
The cult icon Tom of Finland is renowned for his homoerotic drawings of beefcakes in...
Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
Here is a guide to the five best Lgbtq projects playing the festival this year.
“Tom of Finland”
Now, here is a biopic we can get behind (or underneath, whatever your preference).
The cult icon Tom of Finland is renowned for his homoerotic drawings of beefcakes in...
- 4/20/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The mysterious death of a trans icon is front and center in The Hollywood Reporter's exclusive clip of The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.
The documentary focuses on the late legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto who, along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera, founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries, a trans activist group based in the heart of Greenwich Village. Johnson was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, and though the police pegged her death as a suicide, her comrades have always firmly rejected that claim. In the clip, activist Victoria Cruz seeks to finally solve...
The documentary focuses on the late legendary fixture in New York City’s gay ghetto who, along with fellow trans icon Sylvia Rivera, founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries, a trans activist group based in the heart of Greenwich Village. Johnson was found floating in the Hudson River in 1992, and though the police pegged her death as a suicide, her comrades have always firmly rejected that claim. In the clip, activist Victoria Cruz seeks to finally solve...
- 4/19/2017
- by Ashley Lee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Now in its sixteenth year, New York City’s own Tribeca Film Festival kicks off every spring with a wide variety of programming on offer, from an ever-expanding Vr installation to an enviable television lineup, but the bread and butter of the annual festival is still in its film slate. This year’s festival offers up plenty of returning favorites with new projects, alongside fresh faces itching to break out. From insightful documentaries to fanciful features, with a heavy dose of Gotham-centric films (hey, it is Tribeca after all), there’s plenty to dive into here, so we’ve culled the schedule for a few surefire hits.
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 20 – 30. Check out some of our must-see picks below.
Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
“A Gray State”
It might be the craziest story...
This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 20 – 30. Check out some of our must-see picks below.
Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
“A Gray State”
It might be the craziest story...
- 4/17/2017
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
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