Inspired by a collection of personal notebooks, this feature-length director’s cut of the short film by the same name is an experimental documentary on art, AIDS and activism. Following James Wentzy from South Dakota to New York City, the film traces his days from struggling and surviving as an artist to later becoming an AIDS video activist. In showcasing a unique individual through his involvement with the fight against AIDS and his tireless frontline reportage of the crisis, The Books of James is an intimate portrait of a neglected everyman/hero and unearths a time now forgotten.
James Wentzy
W.P. Wentzy
David Gasperik
Darrel Ellis
James Dee
Jonathon Chin
Michael Mitchell
Larry Kramer
Aldyn McKean
Anna Blume
Katrina Haslip
Andrea Schlesinger
John McIlveen
Ron Goldberg
Avram Finkelstein