Honorary Speech for Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman by Andreas Bühlmann, Program designer, Pink Apple Film Festival 2017 We have all come together tonight to honor and celebrate the work of two outstanding gay filmmakers who managed to be internationally acclaimed and rewarded not only for their artistic achievements in film history, but also for their commitment to the gay community worldwide with their films. Not only does Pink Apple celebrate an anniversary this year, it is also the 30th anniversary of the Production Company TELLING PICTURES that moved into a building of a former catholic school for girls in San Francisco, back in 1987. It is the production company founded by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Little did they know what journey they would go on. Two years before in 1985, Rob Epstein and his co-filmmaking partner Richard Schmiechen received the Academy Award in the category Best Documentary for their film THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK. No other gay-themed film made by openly gay filmmakers had ever received this acknowledgement before. They reconstructed the life of Harvey Milk that stands paradigmatically for courage and commitment to the gay movement in the 1970s. The film made the life and tragic death of that pioneering person unforgettable for future generations to come. COMMON THREATS: STORIES FROM THE QUILT was the first collaboration of Rob and Jeffrey as film directors. An intimate and overwhelming masterpiece that documents the beginning of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in the early 1980s and that gives six people the space to mourn and honor their beloved dead friends. With COMMON THREADS, Rob and Jeffrey raised the social awareness of AIDS in a heterosexual-dominated world and they were rewarded with a (second) Oscar® in 1990. The 1995 released documentary THE CELLULIOD CLOSET is an important film for our festival, since it was the first film ever screened in the history of Pink Apple. It refers to the film historic discourse of depiction and representation of queer characters in mainstream Hollywood. A discourse opened by Vito Russo, who delivered the literary basis, was an important help and inspiration for the film. THE CELLULOID CLOSET is a not only a milestone in film history but also a call for attention to become aware of the homophobic tendencies in the money-driven mainstream film industry that last until today. PARAGRAPH 175 became a milestone by dealing with the history of the repression by the Nazis from 1933 until 1945 as well as during the following years when this inhuman law article made thousands of gays and lesbians suffer. The film not only helped its interviewed protagonists to deal with their mental wounds, it is also important proof that the long road to freedom can so easily be forgotten if nobody safe-keeps these personal stories for future times through audiovisual media. Tonight we saw HOWL, one of the latest works by Rob and Jeffrey as directors. It shows that even after so many years of their working partnership, they are not tired of reinventing themselves on and on. In hybrid genre style, Rob and Jeffrey created a piece of art that honors one of the great poems of the Beat generation written by gay author Allen Ginsberg and put Ginsberg’s achievements again in the broader context of gay history. Throughout their cinematography careers - that of course involve not just these five film titles mentioned previously but many, many more - Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman had remained authentic and committed to their work and their engagement for the gay community. The Pink Apple Film Festival is proud to hand them this year’s Pink Apple Festival Award and we’d like to thank Rob and Jeffrey very much for their achievements and unforgettable moments thanks to their artistic and cultural work. .