MINESHAFT: THE CRUISING MURDERS

The 1970s: San Francisco’s gay bars, leather, free love, and hot, kinky nights. Then, mysterious disappearances and murders—sometimes without bodies… A serial killer, perhaps? But the police aren’t rushing to solve these cases.
When a Variety reporter is found unconscious in his home, an investigation finally begins. In 1979, the successful director William Friedkin (*The Exorcist*, *The French Connection*, etc.) takes on the subject for his next film, *Cruising*, starring Al Pacino. The screenplay leaks and stirs up the gay community: how could anyone accept the continued portrayal of gay men as deviant individuals, lurking in the underworld, potential murderers, or notorious victims?
A fascinating and meticulous documentary, edited like a thriller, that sheds new light on cinematic representations and queer history.