I spoke with filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato on September 14, 2011 in the afternoon before their HBO documentary, THE STRANGE HISTORY OF DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, screened at the fabled Castro Theater here in San Francisco. The pair were excited to see the film with an audience, particularly the one that would be at the Castro. The film covers the how Don't Ask, Don't Tell happened, what it's consequences were for service men and women forced to stay in the closet, and the malleable nature of prejudice against gays and lesbians over time. During the conversation, they talked about how avoiding journalistic detachment fuels their filmmaking, pondered the shift from facts to fiction when running government policy in the late 20th century, and how working on several projects at once is an important part of their process.

I spoke with filmmakers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato on September 14, 2011 in the afternoon before their HBO documentary, THE STRANGE HISTORY OF DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL, screened at the fabled Castro Theater here in San Francisco. The pair were excited to see the film with an audience, particularly the one that would be at the Castro. The film covers the how Don't Ask, Don't Tell happened, what it's consequences were for service men and women forced to stay in the closet, and the malleable nature of prejudice against gays and lesbians over time. During the conversation, they talked about how avoiding journalistic detachment fuels their filmmaking, pondered the shift from facts to fiction when running government policy in the late 20th century, and how working on several projects at once is an important part of their process.