Featured Films
It's Still Elementary
Ten years later, students and teachers talk about how learning and teaching about gay issues in school has changed their lives.
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That's a Family!
What children have to say about the changing shape of American families. That's a Family!
breaks new ground in helping children in grades K-8 embrace diversity.
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Five Days to Change the World
Student activists at the largest world peace conference in history take charge of their own destiny.
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Ask Not
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"Ask Not" is a multi-award winning provocative portrait exploring the effects of the US military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Broadcast nationally on the PBS series, Independent Lens, and honored with a special bi-partisan Capitol Hill screening for Congressmembers, "Ask Not" provokes thoughtful dialogue about the merits of banning those who are honest about their identities from serving their country.
Current and veteran gay soldiers reveal how "don't ask, don't tell" affects them during their tours of duty as they struggle to maintain a double life, uncertain of whom they can trust. The film also explores how gay veterans and youth organizers are turning to forms of personal activism to overturn the policy. From a national speaking tour of conservative universities to protests at military recruitment offices, these public events question how the United States military can claim to represent democracy and freedom while denying one segment of the population the right to serve. Interspersed with these principal storylines, the film reveals rare archival footage and key historical interviews with policy experts to explain the history and implementation of "don't ask, don't tell."
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"'ASK NOT' is a great gift. A rigorous and heartfelt look at the true costs of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, the film gives voice to men and women who too often can't be heard."
Dr. Nathaniel Frank, New York University, Author of "Unfriendly Fire: How the Gay Ban Undermines the Military and Weakens America"
"Timely and balanced... a strong, serious effort at mixing a discussion of civil rights and a look at Americans forced to choose between love for their country and love for another human being."
Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
"The film is poignant and thought provoking and would lend itself to a very solid discussion about discrimination and the rights of the individual in the military."
Barbara Pickell, Clearwater P.L., Florida, Library Journal
"Compelling politics, compelling stories, compelling film--and a compelling case that 'don't ask' undermines the very national security that proponents of the gay ban claim to defend."
Michael Sherry, Richard W. Leopold Professor of History, Northwestern University
"'ASK NOT' provides vivid historical context to explain the political origins of "don't ask, don't tell," along with compelling accounts of the resistance movements that have challenged this policy in the past few years. By documenting the educational efforts launched by gay veterans, the sit-ins at military recruitment centers, and the story of a gay soldier on duty in Iraq, the film gives multiple perspectives on the personal impact of 'don't ask, don't tell' making a strong case for its repeal."
Estelle Freedman, Edgar E. Robinson Professor of U.S. History, Stanford University
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About Johnny Symons |
Johnny Symons is an Emmy-nominated documentary video and filmmaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His film Daddy & Papa, about the personal, cultural and political impact of gay men raising kids premiered at Sundance, won more than 15 major festival awards, aired nationally on PBS' Independent Lens and received a national Emmy nomination for Best Documentary. His film Beyond Conception, a feature documentary about the relationship between a lesbian surrogate and a gay male couple as they conceive and bear a child, premiered at the Florida Film Festival and aired on Discovery Health Channel. Symons is the co-producer of the Academy Award-nominated Long Night's Journey Into Day, a feature documentary about South Africa's search for truth and reconciliation and winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. His newest documentary, Ask Not, about gays and lesbians serving in the US military under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival and is currently on the festival circuit before its national broadcast on PBS' Independent Lens.
Symons has been creating films on gay culture for more than 15 years, including Beauty Before Age, an exploration of the fear of growing older in the gay male community, which received an NEMN Gold Apple and an IDA nomination; Shaving the Castro, a portrait of a 70-year old Castro Street barber shop, which aired nationally on public television; and Out in Africa, an exploration of black African gay life, which was named Best Documentary at the Turin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. He has freelanced as a segment producer for the PBS gay and lesbian cultural affairs show, In the Life, since 1998. Symons graduated with honors from Brown University and has a Masters degree in documentary production from Stanford University. He currently teaches documentary film at Stanford and the Art Institute of California-San Francisco. |
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