Julio of Jackson Heights
A film by Richard Shpuntoff

Event Description 

On July 2, 1990, Julio Rivera was brutally beaten to death in the P.S. 69 schoolyard in Jackson Heights by three young men looking to “clean up” their neighborhood by “stretching out a gay guy”. The initial reaction to the murder was typical of murders of gay men in Jackson Heights: no coverage by the media, a low priority investigation from the police, and no protest from the community at large.

This time though, things would be different. A handful of Julio’s friends formed a coalition with members of Julio’s family and seasoned LGBTQ activists from groups like Queer Nation, ActUp! and the New York City Anti-Violence Project, and committed to changing “business as usual”.

Julio of Jackson Heights tells the story of the political awakening of New York’s largest and, up to that moment, most closeted LGBTQ community.

​

​​

About the Filmmaker

Born and raised in Jackson Heights, Queens, Richard Shpuntoff is a documentary filmmaker and photographer. He served as the official photographer of Queens Pride for its first twenty years (1993 – 2012) and has conducted over 100 interviews with a great range of people about the LGBTQIA+ history of Queens, and has shared much of this material through colleges, libraries and educational institutions. Julio of Jackson Heights (2016) was his first documentary film and it screened at over a dozen festivals nationwide. His second film, Everything that is Forgotten in an Instant (2020), had its New York premiere at MoMA’s Doc Fortnite festival, and it screened at festivals in France, England, Germany, Portugal and Spain.

​

Technical Credits

Julio of Jackson Heights, 93 minutes, year of production: 2016

Richard Shpuntoff …… director, writer, camera, producer

Hugh Gilmore ….. production assistance

Elyaqim Mosheh Adam … production assistance

Tatiana McCabe …. additional sound work

Edited at Monte Residency in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Post-production by The Boat VFX, Buenos Aires