This groundbreaking film explores the power of youth and beauty in the gay community. A diverse group of gay men, ages 19 to 77, negotiate their fears of becoming old, undesirable, and alone. The film critically examines the pressure to look young and attractive, the lack of positive older role models, and the ways in which AIDS intensifies the fear and process of aging. BEAUTY BEFORE AGE offers a male perspective on a historically female issue, and illuminates the larger societal obsession with physical appearance.
GOLD APPLE – National Educational Media Network
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT – International Documentary Association
GRAND PRIZE – University of Oregon Queer Film Festival
AWARD OF RECOGNITION – Missouri Video Festival
HONORABLE MENTION – Silver Images Film Festival
Complex, sharp, disturbing, compassionate. The big connections in the film crackle and linger: between masculinity and loneliness, between age, AIDS and visibility, between the pursuit of wisdom and the pursuit of beauty. A terrific teaching tool.
–Joshua Gamson, Professor of Sociology, University of San Francisco
Provocative… the aging of the gay community now makes a discussion of the issues raised by this film essential.
–Jay Ruby, Visual Anthropology Review, Vol. 16, #2
Astonishing… highly recommended for all gay, and most generally comprehensive, collections.
–K. Glaser, Video Librarian