SGS-TV Exclusive: Interview with “Vito” director, Jeffrey Schwarz.

A powerful documentary about Vito Russo, "Vito" will air on HBO in June, 2012.

Vito, the documentary film about the life of queer film historian/AIDS activist Vito Russo was the acclaimed closing film of the 16th annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival back in October, and everyone who attended that screening realized they had just witnessed an amazing and powerful look at a pioneer for LGBTQ rights. Not to mention the fact, it was a special privilege to be able to see the film on a big screen; Vito was largely funded by HBO and is only playing a few film festivals before its national debut in June, on HBO.

And, we were very delighted to have a chance to sit down and speak with Vito’s director, filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz the day of the screening in Seattle. We had a chance to talk about the making of the film, plus Mr. Schwarz’s previous films including Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon about the seminal gay porn star, Jack Wrangle, as well as his upcoming films including the eagerly awaited Divine documentary, I Am Divine which should start showing up in film festivals in 2012.

Filmmaker Jeffery Schwarz bares all at the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2011. Photo: Angelina Heyd

As film nerds, it was great fun to geek out with Mr. Schwarz and we could have spent hours blathering about mutual pop culture interests. However, the sound quality was not great for our interview; happily, you can hear Jeffrey just fine, but my questions and comments are really hard to hear…turn up the volume all the way to hear the complete conversation.

Fellow film nerds: Enjoy!

Jeffrey Schwarz Interview from SeattleGayScene.com on Vimeo.