10 Queer Films That Will Teach You More LGBT History Than 'Stonewall'

From: Mic.com

2.

 The Times of Harvey Milk

 (1984) 

While one might be more familiar with Gus Van Sant's Milk starring Sean Penn, the original documentary about Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in America, is also a cultural touchstone, preserved by the National Film Registry as an American work of art. The film documents Milk's political ascent in 1970s San Francisco from neighborhood activist to San Francisco City Council. It features many of the people central to Milk's story and a few familiar faces, including current Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who succeeded then-San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, who was assassinated alongside Harvey Milk in 1978 by Dan White, a scorned fellow city council member. 

In a review, noted film critic B. Ruby Rich wrote, "The Times of Harvey Milk has become a film that defies any expiration date."