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'Upstairs Inferno' Shows Forgotten LGBT History

WUNC | By Anita Rao,

Frank Stasio

Published August 18, 2015 at 12:05 PM EDT

Four years after the Stonewall riots, someone deliberately set fire to The Upstairs Lounge, a gay bar in New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Thirty-two people were killed, and many more were injured. It was the largest killing of gay individuals in American history, but to this day, little remains known about the tragedy. The new documentary “Upstairs Inferno” traces the story of the fire and documents the effect it had on survivors and the community.

"Upstairs Inferno" Documentary

The film screens this Saturday, August 22 at 9 p.m.to close out The North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. It also won the festival's award for "Best Men's Documentary Feature."

Host Frank Stasio previews the film with director and producer Robert Camina.

Watch the trailer below:

https://vimeo.com/94900386

'Upstairs Inferno' movie poster

Robert Camina is the director of 'Upstairs Inferno.'

Copyright 2015 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

See stories by Anita Rao

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio