Shot in and around Boston, Gen Silent explores the complex issue of LGBT elderly who are sometimes forced back into the closet when they try to obtain long-term/health care. Filmmaker Stu Maddux (Bob and Jack's 52-Year Adventure, Trip to Hell and Back) asked six LGBT seniors if they will hide their lives to survive. They put a face on what experts in the film call an epidemic: gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender seniors so afraid of discrimination, or worse, in long-term/health care that many go back into the closet. And, their surprising decisions are captured through intimate access to their day-to-day lives over the course of a year in Boston, Massachusetts. Unlike any previous LGBT film about aging, Gen Silent startlingly discovers how oppression in the years before Stonewall now leaves many elders not just afraid but dangerously isolated. Many of our greatest generation are dying prematurely because they don't ask for help and have too few people in their lives to keep an eye on them. Gen Silent brings these issues into the open for the first time. The film shows the wide range in quality of paid caregivers --from those who are specifically trained to make LGBT seniors feel safe, to the other end of the spectrum, where LGBT elders face discrimination, neglect or abuse. (Who would have expected caregivers to try to religiously convert these elders at their bedside!) As we journey through the challenges that these men and women face, we also see reasons for hope as each subject crosses paths with a small but growing group of impassioned professionals trying to wake up the long-term and healthcare industries to their plight.

Already firmly in a life crisis at 12, things go from bad to worse for Jesse Hawthorne when her emotionally disconnected father moves the family to a rural town, a place whose beauty belies the toxic normality at its core. Jesse is almost immediately bullied by the local mini-mean girls in training, who find Jesse’s tomboy nature both repellent and yet somehow attractive. Her only ally is neighbor Jacob, who has his own demons (including an aggressive paint huffing brother) that he is trying to escape. Together they form likely friendships with the local super nerds, and, as puberty begins to hit their circle, everyone soon has a crush on each other, regardless of gender. Once Jesse and her outsider posse discover punk rock and sneaking out to shows, nothing will stop them as they embrace who they are and rise above the closed minds of their community. Complete with an infectious soundtrack, Night Fliers will remind you about the transformative power of friendships, and how salvation can come from unexpected places. (Description courtesy of Charlotte Gutierrez, Frameline 33)