Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 12:05:58 -0500
From: RAKNGLTF@aol.com

Woman Vision Productions         3570 Clay Street  San Francisco CA 94118
(415) 346.2336


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     
February 14, 1995 
Contact: Dee Mosbacher, M.D., Ph.D.
(415)  207-4168 beeper/voicemail


"STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART" NOMINATED FOR ACADEMY AWARD IN THE SHORT
DOCUMENTARY FILM CATEGORY

San Francisco, CA (February 14, 1995)...The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences today announced  the nominees for its 67th Annual Academy Awards
competition.  Garnering a nomination for best Short Documentary Film is
"Straight from the Heart," a video tape developed by Dr. Dee Mosbacher of
Woman Vision Productions and Frances Reid in response to the Radical Right's
"The Gay Agenda" film series.

 "Straight from the Heart" profiles parents who have come to a new
understanding of their gay and lesbian children, and who now courageously
wish to share their stories.  It presents simple stories about real people:
 a police chief who talks about how proud he is of his lesbian daughter, a
Mormon family whose son is believed to be the first gay man in Idaho to have
died from AIDS and a black woman and her two lesbian daughters, both of  whom
had been accused of "catching" their lesbian orientation.  Perhaps one of the
most moving segments revolves around Dr. Roscoe Thorne and his son Tracy, the
naval aviator who was drummed out of the military in 1993 after publicly
acknowledging that he is gay.  "Straight from the Heart" comes at a time of
increasing hate crimes and anti-gay ballot measures proposed to codify
discrimination against gay men and lesbians.  This 24-minute video movingly
confronts the lies and distortions of the "Agenda" videos churned out by the
multimillion-dollar political machine of the Radical Right.   

 "Straight from the Heart,"  which was called "an extraordinary documentary"
by The New York Times, was designed for use in the diverse contexts in which
gay and lesbian issues are being debated.  Woman Vision Productions intends
to use the film as a vital part of the ongoing process to educate Americans
about lesbian/gay civil rights, gays in the military, homophobia and anti-gay
violence.  

 "The Academy Award nomination and ensuing publicity will help spread the
word about 'Straight from the Heart' and carry our message to those who most
need it," said co-producer Dee Mosbacher.  "It offers us a unique opportunity
to talk about our lives, rather than be talked about by our opponents.  We
hope the simple truth will be a powerful opponent to the lies and propaganda
that characterize the anti-gay videos."

 Woman Vision Productions intends to distribute the video to the "50 to 70
percent of the American people who, while opposed to discrimination based on
sexual orientation, still believe that homosexuality is immoral and
unacceptable," according to Mosbacher.  She recently became a member of the
Board of Directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) in
Washington, DC, which is distributing "Straight from the Heart" through its
Policy Institute.  Recently, NGLTF has used the film to counter right wing
rhetoric and propaganda in Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Iowa.
 According to producers of "The Gay Agenda," nearly 100,000 copies of that
anti-gay film have been distributed -- mostly free of charge -- to incite
activists to oppose civil rights for gay men and lesbians. 

 Mosbacher is co-producer and co-director of "Straight from the Heart."  She
is a physician who is outgoing Medical Director of the Mental Health
Department of San Mateo County in California and founder and President of
Woman Vision Video, a non-profit educational video company.  She is a
long-time activist in the San Francisco Bay Area and has served on the boards
of various organizations, including Lyon Martin Women's Health Services (past
board president), American Medical Students Association, Pitzer College and
American Association of Physicians for Human Rights (now called the Gay and
Lesbian Medical Association).  Mosbacher is leaving her position as medical
director to devote herself full-time to producing and directing videos about
homophobia.  She has also produced "Out For a Change: Addressing Homophobia
in Women's Sports," "Closets Are Health Hazards: Gay and Lesbian Physicians
Come Out" and "Lesbian Physicians on Practice, Patients and Power."

 Mosbacher is the daughter of Robert Mosbacher, former Secretary of Commerce
during the Bush administration and chief fundraiser for President George
Bush's 1992 re-election campaign.   Although an activist all her adult life,
Dee Mosbacher strengthened her commitment to fight the Radical Right after
watching the gay-bashing rhetoric of the 1992 Republican National Convention.

 Frances Reid, co-producer, co-director and cinematographer of "Straight from
the Heart," is an award-winning San Francisco filmmaker.  Her production and
direction credits include, "The Face of AIDS," (1992 first prize at the Black
Filmmakers Hall of Fame) and "Greetings from Washington, DC," (1981 San
Francisco Cable Car Award for Outstanding Documentary).  Her cinematography
credits include, "Reno's Kids," "Breaking the Silence, " and the Academy
Award-winners "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt," "In the Shadow of the
Stars" and "The Times of Harvey Milk."

 Deborah Hoffman, "Straight from the Heart" editor, was also nominated in the
feature length documentary category for "Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter,"
her directorial debut.   In the past, she edited "The Times of Harvey Milk"
and "Common Threads,"  both of which won Academy Awards.  Other projects have
included "Men Who Molest" (national Emmy) and Marlon Riggs' films "Color
Adjustment" (Peabody Award) and "Ethnic Notions" (national Emmy).


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