Roy CohnJack Smith (1995)

When Jill Godmilows documentary Roy CohnJack Smith premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival the number of AIDSrelated deaths was reaching an alltime high in the United States over 270000 In New York City the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic many artists and filmmakers were grappling with the disease While Broadway was hosting the second part of Tony Kushners awardwinning play Angels in America downtown New Yorkers were fondly recalling another recent production Ron Vawters oneman show Roy CohnJack Smith in which the actor who died of AIDS in April 1994 performed two monologues first as Cohn the conservative lawyer and secondly as Smith the flamboyant experimental filmmakerboth of whom died of AIDSrelated causes in the late 1980s