Note: There are no showings currently in NYC. Click this link http://www.caminaentertainment.com/Upstairs_Inferno/Screenings.htmlto get info on where you can see this life-changing film.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ACCLAIMED GAY MASS MURDER DOCUMENTARY

UPSTAIRS INFERNO

From award winning director, Robert L. Camina and Executive Producers behind “Back on Board: Greg Louganis”, “Raid of the Rainbow Lounge” and “Southern Baptist Sissies”, comes UPSTAIRS INFERNO, a poignant and timely documentary chronicling the deadly 1973 New Orleans gay bar arson: an event that remained the Largest Gay Mass Murder in U.S. History for 43 years.

On June 24, 1973, an arsonist set fire to the Up Stairs Lounge, a gay bar located on the edge of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana.  For 43 years, it was the deadliest single event to affect the gay community in U.S. history.  Despite the staggering historical significance, few people know about the tragedy. Thirty-two people were killed and some bodies were never identified. One-third of the New Orleans chapter of the Metropolitan Community Church were killed in the blaze, including two clergy.  The primary suspect was never charged with the crime. The tragedy did not stop at the loss of lives. There were also the delayed injuries: lost jobs, fear, public ridicule and severed families. The devastation was compounded by the homophobic reactions and utter lack of concern by the general public, government and religious leaders. The fire permanently altered lives and was the root of many lifelong struggles.  

I think UPSTAIRS INFERNO (96 minutes) is the most comprehensive and authoritative film about the fire and its aftermath.   However, I didn’t want to create a stagnant documentary, with only an exposition of facts. Through very honest and intimate interviews, I wanted to humanize the story and show the real impact the fire had on the victims’ friends, families and the LGBT movement. It’s easy to trivialize a situation when you gloss over a headline in a newspaper (or a Facebook post). There is something about SEEING and HEARING the story from those who experienced an event, that truly makes it “real.” That’s what possesses the potential to create change.

However, UPSTAIRS INFERNO isn’t simply a stagnant exposition of facts. UPSTAIRS INFERNO brings humanity to the headlines by shining a light on the very painful effect the tragedy had on survivors, witnesses and loved ones.  Their interviews are gut wrenching, yet insightful.  Some of the people interviewed in the film haven’t publicly discussed the fire until now, especially on camera. The film is narrated by New Orleans’ own New York Times Best Selling Author, CHRISTOPHER RICE.

Featuring over 20 powerful interviews, it’s specifically noteworthy to mention that the film includes a rare, heartbreaking interview of a survivor who lost her lover, Reggie Adams in the blaze. As part of her long healing process, she legally changed her name to “Regina Adams” in honor of her “one true love”. In addition, the film includes Ricky Everett and Francis Dufrene (two survivors who barely escaped the inferno), a son of one of the victims, Reverend Elder Troy Perry (Founder of the Metropolitan Community Church), Johnny Townsend (Author, “Let the Faggots Burn”), Clayton-Delery Edwards (Author, “The Up Stairs Arson”), Clancy DuBos and Ronnie LeBouef (Two former employees of the Times-Picayune newspaper) and many more.

UPSTAIRS INFERNO is different than any other project the public has ever seen about the fire! UPSTAIRS INFERNO features exclusive interviews, reveals facts audiences have never heard and uncovers long lost artifacts, archival interviews and footage few people have ever heard or seen.

Audiences should expect to see a balance between investigative reporting and very intimate profiles of people lost or affected by the tragedy. The victims are more than statistics, more then names in a newspaper clipping or even names on a plaque.    These were unfinished lives, tragically cut short by a senseless act.   The victims and their families and friends left to cope with the aftermath deserved better treatment than what they got.  

“This is a gruesome story, there is no way around it and in light of June’s mass shooting at a gay bar in Florida, the parallels strike a painful chord”, acknowledges Director Robert L. Camina.  “Hopefully, now, more than ever, audiences walk away from the film with a renewed call for compassion: Compassion for those unlike us. Compassion for those who are hurting. Compassion for those in need.  Because there definitely wasn’t a lot of compassion when the deadly arson occurred.  In addition, I hope the film acts as a stark reminder that we need to seize the day.  We need to make sure we tell our loved ones every day that we love them, because we don’t know what lies ahead.  Life is fickle and unpredictable. Today may be our last chance.”

UPSTAIRS INFERNO recently received the JURY AWARD: HONORABLE MENTION at Frameline: the San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, citing its “Special Contribution to Queer History“, the JURY AWARD: BEST MEN’S DOCUMENTARY FEATURE and AUDIENCE AWARD: BEST MEN’S FEATURE at the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, the BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARD at the Long Beach QFilm Festival, the JURY AWARD: BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM at the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, the  AUDIENCE AWARD: FAVORITE DOCUMENTARY at the North Louisiana Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and the JURY & AUDIENCE AWARDS: BEST DOCUMENTARY at FilmOut San Diego.   In February 2017, UPSTAIRS INFERNO was honored to receive an invitation to screen at the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.

This is an incredibly important story in LGBT history and its underlying message will resonate across the globe, not just in the U.S..  Especially in the wake of the Orlando tragedy, we must continue to educate and enlighten people.  “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  UPSTAIRS INFERNO can open the door to a cathartic and constructive global conversation.

Some of the images in UPSTAIRS INFERNO are graphic in nature and may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

OFFICIAL TRAILER:

UPSTAIRS INFERNO – Trailer 1 [HD] (www.UpstairsInferno.com) from Camina Entertainment on Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/94900386 or www.UpstairsInferno.com

CHRISTOPHER RICE  (narrator) is a New York Times best selling author.  His debut, “A Density of Souls”, was an overnight best seller, and was greeted with a landslide of media attention, much of it due to the fact that Christopher is the son of legendary vampire chronicler, Anne Rice.   Much of his writing is heavily influenced by the years he and his Mom lived in New Orleans.  Rice considers New Orleans his “hometown”.   Christopher currently co-hosts his own Internet radio show, THE DINNER PARTY SHOW, with fellow New York Times best selling novelist, Eric Shaw Quinn.  Rice recently published the novel, “The Vines”, which is set in the outskirts of New Orleans. Christopher Rice also wrote the adapted screenplay for Anne Rice’s novel, “The Tale of the Body Thief”, which was acquired by Universal Pictures in November 2014, according to Variety Magazine.

ROBERT L. CAMINA (director) wrote, directed and produced several short films before premiering his first full length documentary, RAID OF THE RAINBOW LOUNGE (2012) to sold out audiences, rave reviews and a media frenzy.  RAID OF THE RAINBOW LOUNGE recounts the widely publicized and controversial June 28, 2009 police raid of a Fort Worth, Texas gay bar that resulted in multiple arrests and serious injuries. The raid occurred on the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Inn raid.  The film, narrated by TV icon Meredith Baxter, screened during 33 mainstream and LGBT film festivals across the United States, Mexico and Canada. The film won several awards including 5 “Best” Film and 3 “Audience Choice” Awards.  The film also received attention from the Office of the White House, Department of Justice and a division of the U.S. State Department.  At their invitation, the Library of Congress hosted a screening in October 2014.
(www.RaidoftheRainbowLounge.com)

For more information:
www.UpstairsInferno.com 

Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/UpstairsInferno

Twitter:  @UPSTAIRSINFERNO 

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