Stanley Kramer Award: 'Milk'
PGA honors producers Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen
By DAVID MERMELSTEIN
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117998873.html?categoryId=2788&cs=1The PGA states that its Stanley Kramer Award honors films that "dramatically illuminate provocative social issues." This year's recipient, Gus Van Sant's "Milk," produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, seems to have achieved that and more. "Milk" may well move auds to political action, suggest leaders of various gay-rights orgs.
"The impact of this movie has to be considered in the light of a number of things," says Chuck Wolfe, prexy of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to electing openly lesbian, gay, bi and transgender candidates. "You have it coming out just after a majority of Californians voted for Proposition 8 and stripped gays and lesbians of the right to marry. But at the same time, the citizens of Boulder, Colo., elected Jared Polis, the first openly gay (man) to enter Congress (as a non-incumbent). So it's one step forward and two backward."
Wolfe points out that Harvey Milk's political life was similarly erratic, with his losing elections before he won. "These things are struggles," Wolfe insists. "'Milk' shows people that it takes hard work, and that you have to keep fighting. The movie has, and will continue to have, an impact that way."
