Peter Adair
November 25, 1943 – June 27, 1996
New York Times Obituary article - “The silence of gay people on the screen has been broken," Vito Russo declared in The Advocate, a national gay newspaper.”
SF Examiner/SFGATE Tribute - “Mr. Adair made movies for more than 30 years, but he secured his place in gay history with "Word Is Out."
SF Examiner/SFGATE Obituary - "Ask a gay man or lesbian over 35 what film most affected their lives as gay people -- like as not they'll answer 'Word Is Out,”
Selected filmography -
1967 - Director and co-producer, Holy Ghost People, 53-minute documentary about a fundamentalist sect in West Virginia; co-winner, Film As Art category, San Francisco International Film Festival; selected for special showing, New York Film Festival; a classic ethnographic film frequently used on college campuses.
1977 - Producer and Co-Director, Word Is Out. Distributed internationally. In the U.S. it received exhibition in dozens of first-run theatres, three national PBS broadcasts, and extensive academic and grassroots use.
1981 - Director, Some of These Stories Are True. A half-hour dramatic and documentary videotape funded by the CPB on the nature of truth and fiction in documentary filmmaking.
1983 - Director, Teaching Adults to Read. A series of training tapes produced for the San Francisco Public Library's Project Read and used nationally to train teachers of adult literacy.
1984 - Director, Stopping History. An hour-long program for PBS which addresses the question: Does the existence of nuclear weapons require new ethical constructs on the part of citizens?
1986 - Co-Director and Co-Producer (with Robert Epstein), The AIDS Show - Artists Involved with Death and Survival, An hour-long special, broadcast nationally over PBS, combining on-stage dramatic pieces, interviews and cinema verite. Blue Ribbon Award Winner, American Film & Video Festival.
1987 - Director, The AIDS Antibody Test. A 15-minute educational videotape for people planning on taking the AIDS antibody test made for the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation
1992 - Director, Absolutely Positive. The 90-min documentary chronicles the lives and experiences of 11 individuals living with HIV without symptoms of AIDS. The film explores the emotional and everyday realities of coping with an HIV diagnosis, focusing on the determination to live meaningfully rather than just the physical illness. Featured on PBS's POV series. View on YouTube.
1995 - Director, In the 1st Degree. An interactive video CD-ROM that enables the viewer to control the course of the story. Winner of the Codie award for Best Use of Live Actors in Multimedia.
In January 1996, Peter received The Frameline Award, given in San Francisco to a person or entity that has made a major contribution to LGBTQ representation in film, television, or the media arts.
