Plot & Details
Noted documentary filmmaker Jem Cohen (along with Peter Sillen) directs this look at Benjamin, a Southern, gay, HIV positive, drug-addicted drag queen who led the blues-punk band "Smoke." Born Robert Dickerson in 1960, Benjamin played punk in Atlanta's grungy Cabbagetown section before fronting the queer-core band Opal Foxx Quartet. Thereafter, he began experimenting with such decidedly unpunk instruments as banjos and cellos and formed Smoke. As Cabbagetown lost its edgy spirit during the 1990s -- thanks to the yuppie-friendly condo boom -- so did Benjamin lose his fight against AIDS. He died of the disease early in 1999. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.
- MPAA Rating: Not Rated
- Genre(s): Foreign
- Run Time: 78min.
- Theatrical Release Date: 07/21/2000
- DVD Release Date: 01/21/2003
- Distributor(s): Cowboy
- Director(s): Jem Cohen, Pete Sillen
- Themes: Misfits and Outsiders
- Tone: Poignant,Quirky
- Keywords: HIV,band [music group],drag-queen,drug-addiction,legend [famous person],life-story,maverick,music,retrospective,tribute,underground [counterculture]
- Country of Origin: USA - Limited (07-21-2000)
- Language: English
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