sex positive

Maybe it took somebody with no investment in the sexual-culture wars of the 1980s, like 24-year-old filmmaker Daryl Wein, to rediscover a lightning-rod figure like safe-sex pioneer Richard Berkowitz and present him without prejudice. A one-time S/M hustler, Berkowitz and his friend Michael Callen, supported by controversial AIDS researcher Joseph Sonnabend, began urging gay men to avoid unprotected anal sex as early as 1982 -- and were treated as pariahs by the mainstream gay community. Berkowitz is a fascinating, prickly, decidedly unsaintly character, and Wein's film provides a fascinating and crucial slice of traumatic sexual history that's all but invisible to younger generations.

"A fascinating and crucial slice of traumatic sexual history that's all but invisible to younger generations." (Andrew O'Hehir, Salon)

"An intriguing, candid central character - Berkowitz - makes Sex Positive shine." (Jonathan Roche, Metrosource)
GRAND JURY PRIZE WINNER – L.A. Outfest