THE SPARK : the origins of pride

This is a story of anger. That of the customers of the “Stonewall inn”, in a gay bar in New-York. It’s 1969 and they don’t have the right to stand in the street or even dance. One more police raid. A revolt. Several days of riots. This is our starting point to tell an almost unknown story: fifty years of struggle for equality, for humanity, for love… the history of the LGBTQ+ struggle.

This is a story of three cities. This story will be told through the perspective of three iconic neighborhoods: the Castro in San Francisco, Le Marais in Paris and Greenwich Village in New York. Each of these neighborhoods tell of a specific moment: the repression in the 60s and 70s, the appearance of AIDS in the 80s, the phenomenon of fashion with the appearance of gay marketing and drag-queens in the 90s, the struggle for marriage equality and normalization from the 2000s.

This is a story of trans, women and men. Told with a cinematic narrative, with few comments, this film is made up of interviews of direct witnesses of that time (personalities, artists, politicians, entrepreneurs or ordinary citizens), rare archives and current-day filming in these neighborhoods that have so changed.

This is a story of pride.

  • Benoit Masocco
    Director
  • CAPA
    Producer
  • Bertrand Delanoë
    Key Cast
  • Robert Badinter
    Key Cast
  • Gérard Lefort
    Key Cast
  • Dustin Lance Black
    Key Cast
  • John Cameron Mitchell
    Key Cast
  • Cleve Jones
    Key Cast
  • Hervé Latapie
    Key Cast
  • Lillian Faderman
    Key Cast
  • Marie Kirschen
    Key Cast
  • Didier Lestrade
    Key Cast
  • Gérard Koskovich
    Key Cast
  • Marie-Jo Bonnet
    Key Cast
  • Edmund White
    Key Cast
  • Jenny Bel’air
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    LGBT, historical
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 38 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    France, Netherlands, United States
  • Language:
    English, French
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • OUTPLAY FILMS
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Benoit Masocco

Born in north-eastern France in 1979, Benoit Masocco discovered his love for making movies at the age of six when his parents decided to invest in a camcorder. Since then, Ben has not stop making movies.
At 20, Benoit chose to broaden his horizons by becoming a radio journalist then a director and producer of television documentaries. Benoit also wrote and directed two theater plays and he is preparing his first feature movie, a modern Parisian love story.
“The spark” is the fourth documentary directed by Ben.

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