Right before returning to the skies for next summer’s Independence Day sequel, director Roland Emmerich is aiming for awards, rather than attendance, for his fact-based drama Stonewall.
The film tells the story of 60s New York and the Stonewall riots that many believed were the beginning of the gay rights movement. British actor Jeremy Irvine, best known for War Horse and The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, leads the cast as a gay man fleeing from home who finds refuge in Greenwich Village and becomes a key part of the ensuing clashes.
The trailer might seem a little clunky at times but given the clearly marked ties to contemporary issues of LGBT rights as well as a Selma reference, this will be pushed as a potential awards contender after it receives its world premiere at next month’s Toronto film festival.
The film has already gained a small amount of controversy for pushing a white male agenda above other minorities. Some have complained that the lead characters all being of the same ethinicity and gender (other key roles are played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Ron Perlman) gives the film a limited focus, something Emmerich denies.
“I think we represented it very well,” he told Vulture. “We have drag queens, lesbians, we have everything in the film because we wanted to portray a broader image of what ‘gay’ means.”
- Stonewall hits US cinemas on 25 September with a UK date TBC
