Out in the Silence
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Out in the Silence

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  • Directed by: Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer
  • Produced by: Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer

Released: 2009
Running Time: 56 min
Subtitles: English 

When a popular 16-year-old jock is brutally attacked for coming out at his small town high school, his mother reaches out for help to the only person she feels she can trust, an openly gay man who lives 300 miles away – filmmaker Joe Wilson, whose same-sex wedding announcement ignited a firestorm of controversy in the local paper. Returning home with camera in hand, Wilson documents the harrowing but ultimately successful battle waged by the teen and his mom against recalcitrant school authorities, as well as detailing the efforts of a lesbian couple to restore an historic theater in the face of vitriolic anti-gay attacks, and Wilson’s own unexpected friendship with an Evangelical preacher. As walls are torn down and bridges built, OUT IN THE SILENCE offers a fascinating and moving commentary on America's culture war.


Award

  • Special Jury Prize for Bravery in Storytelling - Nashville Film Festival 
  • Alternative Spirit Award - Rhode Island International Film Festival
  • Audience Award - Hardacre Film and Cinema Festival
  • Best Documentary - Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival
  • Best Documentary - Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
  • Best Documentary Out Takes - New Zealand Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Quotes

"Stunning" — Philadelphia Inquirer

"Powerful … These stories need to be told—and seen and heard." — San Francisco Bay Times

"Seethes, laments and inspires" — Village Voice

"A fresh and inspiring approach" — New York Magazine

"Poignant and harrowing" — David Mixner – Live from Hell's Kitchen

"A moving, enlightening commentary on America's culture war." — EDGEBoston

"A wistful portrait of small-town America" — Film Journal International

"Recommended for all viewers and deserves a place in all library collections, particularly those libraries serving small and rural communities." — American Library Association

"Though the film is made by two gay men, it doesn't seek to promote a "gay agenda" or to stereotype the "religious right." It's simply a matter of trying to understand attitudes in small-town America." — Christianity Today