Harvey Guillén Explains Why LGBTQ Artists Need to Tell Their Own Stories: ‘You Need to Control the Narrative’
Sundance 2020: “What We Do In the Shadows” actor spoke on a panel at the Latinx House in Park City on Sunday
Brian Welk | January 27, 2020 @ 11:58 AM
Last Updated: January 28, 2020 @ 12:09 PM
Revolve Impact /Aly Honore & Claudia Torres
“What We Do In the Shadows” star Harvey Guillén’s latest project is based on the true story of someone he knew in college who came out as a gay man, only for his identity suppressed by his own family after he died.
During his college years, Guillén walked in on his roommate and one of his classmates being intimate. Guillén encouraged his classmate to come out to his family, even though the roommate begged him not to. The classmate came out, but a week later, he was mysteriously found dead. At his funeral, his parents were so embarrassed, they never acknowledged at his funeral that their son was gay, and claimed he died of a heart attack.
“I was like, that wasn’t your son. Your son wasn’t those things. You don’t even know your son,” Guillen said on a panel on Sunday night at the Latinx House at Sundance. “That’s when I realized, people are going to tell your story unless you’re telling your own story, so you need to control the narrative. So we need to control the narrative of the history we’re making today.”
Guillén was one of five speakers on a panel titled LGBTQ Representation: Advocating for Greater Visibility in Hollywood, hosted by TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman and Wrap Women. He was joined by other LGBTQ influencers and filmmakers, including producer Taryn Arriola, GLAAD’s Jeremy Blacklow, actor Frankie Rodriguez and director Patricia Vidal Delgado.
The five panelists shared their own stories of coming up in an industry that’s historically been slow to change and promote inclusion on screen.
Revolve Impact /Aly Honore & Claudia Torres
Jeremy Blacklow is the director of entertainment media with GLAAD, and he said that LGBTQ content is in a “new era,” and he can’t even keep up with the number of shows that are being produced today. He also thinks 2020 is in for some “big moments” in terms of advancing the acceptance of LGBTQ characters in blockbuster films around the world.
He touted a new film premiering at Sundance called “Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen.” He pointed out that trans characters have been on screen in the 100 years of cinema, but they’ve been portrayed as jokes or as outsiders by writers who don’t speak for the community.
“It’s going to hit cis-gendered people on the heads like a ton of bricks,” Blacklow said of the film. “We need trans people telling trans stories, not cis people telling trans stories.”
Rodriguez plays an openly gay star on the Disney+ series “High School Musical: The Musical – The Series,” and for him, being able to tell his own stories meant finding an agent who would fight for him and help him avoid being typecast.
“For me, it was trying to find an agent that was going to step up and push down doors for me,” Rodriguez said. “Now I feel like I can do everything. So watch out.”
Vidal Delgado is the director of her debut film called “La Leyenda Negra” that’s playing at Sundance in the NEXT section of the festival. Set in Compton, “La Leyenda Negra” tells the story of a burgeoning relationship between two young women. Delgado found a way to shine a light on non-actors and through film tell the story of real people.
“It’s important for them to have a chance to showcase their talents,” she said.
Arriola is a producer on a handful of in-development projects, one of which she stresses is more than just a “gay” story.” She says that making sure that LGBTQ stories are universal is a way of making sure that stories aren’t being pushed out from the conversation.
“It’s the story of a human who ended up being a gay man,” Arriola said. “We can all make it. We don’t have to fight over the same slice of pie.”
16 Buzziest Sundance Movies for Sale in 2020, From Julianne Moore's 'The Glorias' to Michael Keaton's 'Worth' (Photos)
It's another Sundance Film Festival of slopes, snow, stars and sales. That's right, the market at the Sundance Film Festival is gearing up yet again with some buzzy titles among those just premiering at the festival and those in competition. And after last year produced some mega deals for movies like "Late Night," "The Farewell" and "Brittany Runs a Marathon" to name just a few, these are the features and documentaries TheWrap will be keeping an eye on while in Park City.
All Photos Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"The 40-Year-Old Version"
No, it's not the Steve Carell movie. Radha Blank wrote, directed and stars in this highly personal film about what it really looks like to be a struggling actress at age 40 when she leaves the world of community theater and records a rap demo track. The film marks Blank's directorial debut and is shot in New York entirely in black and white. "Queen & Slim" scribe Lena Waithe is a producer on the film, and "The 40-Year-Old Version" is playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Eric Branco
"Bad Hair"
Justin Simien's follow-up to his thought-provoking conversation piece "Dear White People" is set in LA in 1989 about a group of enterprising women trying to climb the ladder and be the next star of a music video TV show, all while battling in a war of words and dreadlocks. Elle Lorraine, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Blair Underwood and Laverne Cox all star in this satirical, psychological thriller that's debuting in the midnight section of the festival.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Black Bear"
"Black Bear" stars Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon in a drama about a couple who welcomes an aspiring filmmaker into their remote lake house, only to be wrapped up in a game of desire, manipulation and jealousy in the filmmaker's pursuit of art. The film is directed and written by Lawrence Michael Levine and will premiere in the NEXT section of the festival.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Rob Leitzell
"Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen"
In "Disclosure," filmmaker Sam Feder sits down with Hollywood's leaders and thinkers in the trans community like Laverne Cox, Lilly Wachowski, Yance Ford, Mj Rodriguez, Jamie Clayton and Chaz Bono. The documentary grapples with the history of trans characters in TV and movies, going way back to "Dog Days Afternoon" and "Boys Don't Cry" up through FX's "Pose."
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Four Good Days"
Glenn Close reunites with her director on "Albert Nobbs," Rodrigo Garcia, for this drama in which Close plays a mother who gets a surprise visit from her estranged, drug addict daughter (Mila Kunis). Close's character is resistant to give her daughter another chance after years of failed rehab and lying, but something about this time feels different.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Igor Jadue Lillo
"The Glorias"
Julianne Moore stars in Julie Taymor's biopic "The Glorias" about the journalist and feminist icon Gloria Steinem. But she's just one of five women playing Steinem at different stages of her journey in Taymor's unconventional approach to adapting Steinem's memoir "Life on the Road." Alicia Vikander, Janelle Monáe, Timothy Hutton, Lulu Wilson, Lorraine Toussaint and Bette Midler all star in the film.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"The Go-Go's"
This documentary's got the beat as it goes behind the scenes of one of the defining pop punk girl groups of the 1980s, The Go-Gos. The film from director Alison Ellwood reunites founding band members Belinda Carlisle and Jane Wiedlin during their early days in the Los Angeles punk rock scene up through their hit-making, MTV success and turn to fame, drugs and alcohol.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Paul Natkin
"Ironbark"
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this drama set during the Cold War-era and Cuban Missile Crisis about a mild-mannered businessman called upon by the British government to help uncover a Soviet mole. Jessie Buckley, Rachel Brosnahan and Angus Wright co-star. This is just the second feature film from Dominic Cooke after his 2017 film "On Chesil Beach."
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"The Nest"
In what is incredibly only Sean Durkin's second feature film since he won the directing prize from Sundance for "Martha Marcy May Marlene" in 2011, "The Nest" stars Jude Law and Carrie Coon as two ex-pats who leave suburban America for London in the 1980s. The two-handed character drama shows how their relationship slowly simmers and boils over as they try to manage their new, lavish lifestyle in England.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"The Night House"
Playing in the midnight section of the festival, this horror film from director David Bruckner stars Rebecca Hall as a woman living alone in a lakeside home following the recent death of her husband. The film is an updated take on a traditional ghost story as Hall experiences dreams that drive her to find answers about her husband's past. Sarah Goldberg and Stacy Martin co-star.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Elisha Christian
"On the Record"
The latest documentary from the directors of "The Hunting Ground" and "The Invisible War" is back on the market after Oprah Winfrey removed herself as an executive producer from the project and pulled the film from debuting on Apple TV+. Winfrey specifically felt the need to step aside from the movie because directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering wanted to show the film at Sundance before Winfrey felt it was complete. "On the Record" follows music executive Drew Dixon in the early days of #MeToo as she grapples with the decision to come forward about her her accusations of rape against Def-Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Martyna Starosta
"Save Yourselves!"
"Save Yourselves" is a zany sci-fi comedy about a Brooklyn couple that retreats to a remote cabin in the woods in order to unplug, only to miss the news of an alien invasion that's destroyed much of civilization. The film from directors Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer satirizes millennial culture and modern love. John Reynolds and Sunita Mani star in the comedy that's premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Matt Clegg
"Shirley"
"Shirley" stars Elisabeth Moss as the famous gothic horror author of stories such as "The Lottery" and "The Haunting of Hill House," Shirley Jackson. It's an unconventional biopic about how Jackson discovers the inspiration for her next novel through the eccentric behavior of a young couple she and her husband take into their home. Michael Stuhlbarg, Logan Lerman and Odessa Young co-star in the film from "Madeline's Madeline" director Josephine Decker. The film is playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Thatcher Keats
"Sylvie's Love"
Romantic, elegant and with a jazzy soundtrack, "Sylvie's Love" is a lush love story set in 1957 New York and spread out over years. Tessa Thompson is said to give a powerful performance in the film from writer and director Eugene Ashe, who melds music into his romance for a rich period piece. "Sylvie's Love" is playing in competition in the U.S. Dramatic section.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
"Wander Darkly"
Part mystery, part family drama and featuring what's described by Sundance as "demanding tonal shifts," "Wander Darkly" stars Sienna Miller trying to reckon with the future of her relationship with her husband (Diego Luna) and her infant child. At the same time, she's forced to solve the mystery of a recent traumatic accident. Tara Miele directs the film that's playing in competition in the U.S. Dramatic section.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Carolina Costa
"Worth"
"Worth" gives a new perspective of New York post-9/11 by following Michael Keaton as an attorney appointed to lead the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. But Keaton's character has a change of heart when he comes face to face with a community leader played by Stanley Tucci who lost his wife in the World Trade Center. "Worth" is director Sara Colangelo's third film, all of which have premiered at Sundance, including her previous film "The Kindergarten Teacher," which won top directing honors at the festival in 2018.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
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Documentaries like “On the Record,” “Disclosure” and “The Go-Go’s” are also making noise
It's another Sundance Film Festival of slopes, snow, stars and sales. That's right, the market at the Sundance Film Festival is gearing up yet again with some buzzy titles among those just premiering at the festival and those in competition. And after last year produced some mega deals for movies like "Late Night," "The Farewell" and "Brittany Runs a Marathon" to name just a few, these are the features and documentaries TheWrap will be keeping an eye on while in Park City.
All Photos Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Eric Branco
