Story Center Films, Singer & Deschamps Productions and the Independent Television Service (ITVS) present CURED, the remarkable and little-known story of the LGBTQ activists who successfully battled the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.
Directed by Patrick Sammon (Codebreaker) and Bennett Singer (Brother Outsider), the film will receive its world premiere online on August 24 at the 2020 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, running from August 20-30.
Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) considered every LGBTQ person—no matter how well-adjusted—mentally ill. As long as they were diagnosed as “sick,” progress toward equality was impossible.
CURED chronicles the battle waged by a small but impassioned group of activists who declared war against a formidable institution—and won. Combining eyewitness testimony with newly unearthed archival footage, the film takes viewers inside the David-versus-Goliath struggle that finally led the APA to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses.
Viewers meet the key players who achieved this victory, along with allies and opponents within the APA. The film illuminates the strategy and tactics that led to this pivotal yet largely unknown moment in the movement for LGBTQ equality.
Indeed, following the Stonewall uprising of 1969, the campaign that culminated in the APA’s 1973 decision marks the first major step on the path to first-class citizenship for LGBTQ Americans.
CURED was recently optioned by 20th Century Fox Television as the basis for a limited series to be written and executive produced by Steven Canals, the co-creator of Pose.
CURED was directed, produced and written by Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer. Executive producers are Sally Jo Fifer, Cole Rucker, Jeff Nalin, Andrew Tobias, and Mel Heifetz. The film was shot by Sam Henriques (The Good Soldier) and edited by Steve Heffner (Indian Point). Music is by Ian Honeyman (Gore Vidal: The United States Of Amnesia). The archival producers were Mridu Chandra (Women, War and Peace) and Lewanne Jones (Jackie Robinson). CURED is a co-production of ITVS, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
CURED will be available on Outfest’s digital platform starting on Monday, August 24 at 12:01 AM PST. The screening will be accompanied by a panel discussion moderated by Steven Canals and featuring filmmakers Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer along with two activists who appear in the film: Los Angeles resident Don Kilhefner and Rev. Magora Kennedy.
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