Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 15:12:00 +0100
From: glaad@glaad.org (GLAAD)
Subject: GLAAD ON MOTION PICTURE ACADEMY NOMINATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:        Tamra King
                (213) 658-6775
                tamrak@glaad.org

GLAAD PRAISES MOTION PICTURE ACADEMY'S NOMINATION OF ANTONIA'S LINE, BUT
CRITICIZES BRAVEHEART NOMINATIONS

LOS ANGELES, CA -- February 14, 1996 -- The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation (GLAAD) commends the Motion Picture Academy's nomination of
Dutch film Antonia's Line for Best Foreign Language Film.

Antonia's Line, produced and filmed entirely in the Netherlands, is a story
about one woman's life and the people who are part of it.  Included in the
cast of characters is Antonia's (Willeke Van Ammelrooy) daughter, Danielle
(Els Dottermans), who falls in love with a woman named Lara (Elsie De
Brauw).

"Antonia's Line is a very honest story about women," says Tamra King,
GLAAD's Entertainment Media Director, "We are quite pleased that included
amongst the women is a lesbian character, who is depicted in a fair and
accurate manner." GLAAD strives to promote inclusive representations of
gays and lesbians in the media.

GLAAD is also disappointed with the nominations that Braveheart has
received.  "Mel Gibson has quite a homophobic history," continues King, "It
started with an insulting interview in Spanish magazine 'El Pais,'
continued with an extremely insensitive representation of a gay man in Bird
On A Wire, and then culminated with a very offensive representation of
Edward II, who was said to be homosexual, in Braveheart."

"While the film may be of artistic merit, we find it disheartening that the
Academy would nominate a film that distorts history and includes gratuitous
anti-gay violence," says King.  On May 23, 1995, GLAAD organized a
nationwide leafleting of theaters at which Braveheart premiered, educating
the public about the film's anti-gay content.

GLAAD is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive
representation  of individuals and events as a means of challenging
discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.

##

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Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
glaad@glaad.org
http://www.glaad.org

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, GLAAD, is a national
organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of
individuals and events in the media as a means of combatting homophobia and
all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity.
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