Harvey Milk (1930-1978) was an activist and politician, and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America; in 1977, he was voted to the city supervisors’ board of San Francisco.
The following year, both he and the city’s mayor George Moscone were shot to death by another city supervisor, Dan White. Harvey Milk, the man, was previously the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary feature The Times of Harvey Milk (1984), directed by Rob Epstein and produced by Richard Schmiechen.
Oscar nominated director Gus Van Sant’s Milk is the first non-documentary feature to explore the man’s life and career.
Sean Penn won his second Best Actor Oscar for his role as Harvey Milk in the movie Milk.
