Milk is a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Sean Penn as Milk, alongside Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, and James Franco.
Attempts to put Milk's life to film followed a 1984 documentary of his life and the aftermath of his assassination, titled The Times of Harvey Milk, which was loosely based upon Randy Shilts's 1982 biography, The Mayor of Castro Street (the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1984, and was awarded Special Jury Prize at the first Sundance Film Festival, among other awards). Various scripts were considered in the early 1990s, but projects fell through for different reasons, until 2007. Much of Milk was filmed on Castro Street and other locations in San Francisco, including Milk's former storefront, Castro Camera.
The film was released to critical acclaim and grossed $54.6 million worldwide. It earned numerous accolades from film critics and guilds for Penn's and Brolin's performances, Van Sant's directing and Black's screenplay, it received eight Oscar nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, including Best Picture and went on to win two: Best Actor for Penn and Best Original Screenplay for Black.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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