Licensed to Kill (1997)
- Directed by
- Arthur Dong
- Genre
- documentary film, LGBTQ-related film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 1h 17m
- Rating
- 4.5 of 10 from 6 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A gay filmmaker interviews six inmates who killed people because of anti-gay prejudice. The documentary explores the reasons behind their violence without offering easy answers.
confrontationalsoberinganalyticalpersonaldisturbingreflectiveunsettling
What happens
Licensed to Kill is a 1997 documentary written, directed, and produced by Arthur Dong, in which Dong, a gay man himself, interviews six inmates who committed murder for reasons related to homophobia. It is the third film in a series of documentaries where Dong explores anti-gay prejudice, and was the only film at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival to win two awards, the Directing Award Documentary and the documentary Filmmaker's Trophy. It received Best Documentary at the 23rd Seattle International Film Festival. Dong cited a near-miss in 1977 with homophobic violence as an impetus for the project; the teenagers whom he and his friend largely evaded attacked two priests, Jim Brown and Douglass McKinney, shortly afterward just outside of the Castro District, San Francisco. In discussing the subject matter of the film, Dong specifically stated that the documentary covers "straight attitudes about homosexuality". He also said that he specifically did not present a single solution to the dilemmas highlighted in the film. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress, and was included in the curriculum of Concordia University's Fall 1999 "Film Studies: Representation and Sexuality" course. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Pride Divide (1997)
All God's Children (1996)
As Good as It Gets (1997)
Boogie Boy (1997)
The Celluloid Closet (1995)
Any Mother's Son (1997)
Boys Life 2 (1997)
Daddy & Papa (2002)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.