Film Synopsis:
In PARTING GLANCES (1986), lovers Michael (Richard Ganoung) and Robert (John Bolger) form an emotional triangle with Michael's ex Nick (Steve Buscemi), a famed rock singer living with AIDS. The film chronicles the 48 hours prior to Robert's departure for Africa on a two-year work assignment and Michael's anguished confusion at the prospect of losing both the men he loves. Among the film's most-admired and remembered sequences is a raucous going-away party hosted by delightful then-newcomer Kathy Kinney.
Among the most beloved LGBT films of the last 25 years, Bill Sherwood's warm, moving debut feature shouldered its way into the bourgeoning independent film scene of the mid-1980s. The film instantly established its place in the hearts of gay moviegoers for its nuanced and unapologetic depiction of queer lives and the omnipresence of AIDS. At the same time, PARTING GLANCES achieved significant mainstream success and launched the career of Steve Buscemi.
AIDS claimed Bill Sherwood in 1990 before he could complete another film, and PARTING GLANCES faced the inevitable limbo and deterioration to which most queer indie films are consigned until it became the first feature film restoration by the Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation.
PARTING GLANCES was restored by the Outfest Legacy Project, a collaboration between Outfest and the UCLA Film & Television Archive and made possible by The Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation and Members of Outfest.
