Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine opens Friday in NYC

Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine opens this week in theaters in NYC this, LA next week, 12 other theaters this months and is worth the time.

I saw the film at DOC NYC and liked it a great deal. The film is a wonderful returning to earth of Shepard who has become a symbol for the dangers of anti-gay violence. Made by a friend of Shepard, Michele Josue, wanted the world to know the Matt she knew, the one who was her friend and full of life. Josue wants the world to know more about Matt then the way he died.

I saw the film at DOC NYC and here are my thoughts:

Michele Josue's portrait of her friend Matt Shepard was made in an effort to make him more than just a person who died. It's an effort to make the tragedy more about a person than a symbol. The film also shows what happened in the wake of his death.Its the story of how the love of one young man changed the world (though as one friend says at the end in a way that no one really would have wanted).

This is a really good and deeply moving film about a young man who's life was cut short.

While the film can be a tad too loving, no one who knew Matt says anything bad, the film is honest enough to show all of the ups and downs of Matt's short life, we see the good things that happen and the bad. The film also doesn't shy away from dealing with Matt's death which is gone over in great detail, nor the hatred that some people express toward gay men and women.

Its a solid little film that will make you understand why Shepard became a symbol and is still a symbol of what can happen when hatred goes unchecked.