John Edward Heys

Last updated

John Edward Heys (born April 24, 1954) is an American independent filmmaker, actor and writer who lives and works in Berlin. [1]

Contents

Life and career

John Edward Heys was born and raised in New Jersey. Upon his father's death two days after Heys' 12th birthday, he was enrolled and educated (grades 7 thru 12) at a private boarding school in northern New Jersey. After graduating from secondary school, Heys moved to Miami Shores, Florida, to the home of his maternal aunts.

After two semesters of college majoring in Liberal Arts, Heys moved to New York City in 1968 and became part of the East Village and West Village alternative life and LGBTQ culture. In August 1969, he founded America's first bi-monthly newspaper for the LGBTQ community, Gay Power, the official title totaling 24 issues, and was editor until August 1970. One of its covers was created by Robert Mapplethorpe. The newspaper also contained illustrations by Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, and featured contributors such as Arthur Bell, Taylor Mead, Charles Ludlam, Pudgy Roberts, Bill Vehr, Pat Maxwell, Clayton Cole, as well as columns from all of the active LGBSTG groups, from the most conservative Mattachine Society to the most radical The Gay Liberation Front, and all the other groups in between. Heys created several one-man performance pieces and acted with Cookie Mueller, H.M. Koutoukas, Charles Ludlam, Ethyl Eichelberger and as part of the Angels of Light NYC Group, which Hibiscus founded after moving to NYC. Heys was a subject for artists Peter Hujar, Francesco Clemente, Charles Ludlam, Richard Banks, Frank Moore and numerous other photographers. Heys was a close friend and muse of photographer Peter Hujar and the subject of many portraits. Hujar once remarked upon Heys' resemblance to Diana Vreeland, "I can take a picture of her and another of you and there is a resemblance". [2] In Berlin he was a friend of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, the Neue Deutsche Welle (New Wave) band Die Tödliche Doris , and radical gay activist Napoleon Seyfarth. Heys made two films of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and one of Napoleon Seyfarth and was the subject of an 8mm short film that Wolfgang Mueller made in 1984 in the legendary 1930s bordello, Pensione Florian.

Heys' films have been screened at many worldwide film festivals. [3]

Theater (actor)

Film actor

Theatre (director)

Filmmaker

Film festivals

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François Ozon</span> French film director and screenwriter

François Ozon is a French film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte von Mahlsdorf</span> German transgender woman (1928–2002)

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was born as Lothar Berfelde. She was a well-known transvestite in East Germany and founded the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. Later she became a LGBT-icon in Germany because of Rosa von Praunheim's biopic I Am My Own Woman (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">56th Berlin International Film Festival</span>

The 56th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2006. The festival opened with Snow Cake by Marc Evans. Digitally restored version of Sam Peckinpah's 1972 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid served as the closing film. British actress Charlotte Rampling was selected as the head of the jury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Award</span> LGBT film award of the Berlin International Film Festival

The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival. For the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay and lesbian film festivals, who view films screened in all sections of the Berlinale; films do not have to have been part of the festival's official competition stream to be eligible for Teddy awards. Subsequently, a list of films meeting criteria for LGBT content is selected by the jury, and a 3,000-Euro Teddy is awarded to a feature film, a short film and a documentary.

<i>Coming Out</i> (1989 film) 1989 film

Coming Out is a 1989 East German film directed by Heiner Carow and written by Wolfram Witt which deals with the lead character, a high school teacher, "coming out" and accepting himself as gay. It was the last East German film released to the public prior to the German reunification and one of the last films made by DEFA, the East German state film studio, and the only gay-themed feature film that it made.

<i>Before Stonewall</i> 1984 documentary film by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg

Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a 1984 American documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. It premiered at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on June 27, 1985. In 1999, producer Scagliotti directed a companion piece, After Stonewall. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 2019, the film was restored and re-released by First Run Features in June 2019. Later in 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

<i>Moscow Pride 06</i> 2006 Russian documentary film

Moscow Pride '06 is a documentary movie of the 2006 gay pride parade in Moscow.

<i>I Am My Own Woman</i> 1992 German film

I Am My Own Woman is a 1992 German semi-documentarian film directed by Rosa von Praunheim. The film attracted international attention and was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival in 1993, for example.

Gay Days is a 2009 Israeli documentary film about the emergence of an LGBT community in Israel, starring major activists in Israel's cultural life and LGBT community: Gal Uchovsky, Eytan Fox, Ellyot, Amalia Ziv, Amit Kama and others and some rare archival footage from pride events, feature films and student films.

Fig Trees is a 2009 Canadian operatic documentary film written and directed by John Greyson. It follows South African AIDS activist Zackie Achmat and Canadian AIDS activist Tim McCaskell as they fight for access to treatment for HIV/AIDS. It was also inspired by Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts. The film premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Teddy Award for Best Documentary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">61st Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 61st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 February 2011, with actress Isabella Rossellini as the President of the Jury. The Coen Brothers film True Grit opened the festival. 300,000 tickets were sold in total during the event, to 20,000 attendees from 116 countries, including 3900 members of the press.

The Queer Palm is an independently sponsored prize for selected LGBT-relevant films entered into the Cannes Film Festival. The award was founded in 2010 by journalist Franck Finance-Madureira. It is sponsored by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau, filmmakers of Jeanne and the Perfect Guy, The Adventures of Felix, Crustacés et Coquillages, and L'Arbre et la forêt.

<i>Jack</i> (2014 film) 2014 film

Jack is a 2014 German drama film directed by Edward Berger. The film had its premiere in the competition section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. It was one of eight films shortlisted by Germany to be their submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it lost out to Labyrinth of Lies.

Unfriend is a 2014 Philippine drama film directed by Joselito Altarejos. The film had its premiere in the Panorama section of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">65th Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the President of the Jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The first seven films of the festival were announced on 15 December 2014.

<i>Absence</i> (film) 2014 film

Absence is a 2014 Brazilian drama film directed by Chico Teixeira. It was screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Butterfly is a 2015 Argentine drama film directed by Marco Berger. It was screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>The Blue Hour</i> (2015 film) 2015 Thai film

The Blue Hour is a 2015 Thai horror film directed by Anucha Boonyawatana. It was screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Last Call at Mauds</i> 1993 American film

Last Call at Maud's is a 1993 American documentary film directed by Paris Poirier. The film explores the history of lesbian culture from the 1940s to the 1990s as it records the last evening of Maud's, a San Francisco lesbian bar that closed in 1989 after 23 years in operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">70th Berlin International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival board: business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The John Edward Heys Collection". The New York Public Library of Performing Arts. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  2. Frame, Allen http://bombsite.com/issues/29/articles/1261 Fall 1989, Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  3. "Website of the artist". John Edward Heys. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  4. Mallory Curley, A Cookie Mueller Encyclopedia (2010), pp. 487-488.
  5. "John Edward Heys". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 10 January 2013.