New Documentary “Uncle Roy” (AUDIO)

I talked with filmmaker Keri Pickett about “Uncle Roy” the fabulous new documentary she directed chronicling 9 decades of Roy Blakey’s personal & professional archives. Growing up Keri hardly knew her enigmatic uncle until she followed him to NYC to pursue photography where an unexpected friendship took shape. As their lives intertwined she discovered his groundbreaking legacy of celebrity & gay photos. When Roy’s health declined Keri cared for him while preserving the stories he kept so carefully guarded. “Uncle Roy” follows the extraordinary life of globe-traveling-skater turned photographer Roy Blakey born in Oklahoma in 1930 dreaming of performing on ice. This love of figure skating led Roy to a career in theatrical skating, performing globally with Holiday on Ice. He then began collecting figure skating programs & photographs, a collection that expanded over his lifetime to 44,000 items including posters, costumes & more. After his professional skating career Blakey became a photographer in NYC capturing iconic figures including LGBTQ icons while his work in male nudes pushed boundaries in art & publishing. Roy’s book “HE” (1972) is considered a forefather of gay photography with his portraits of a generation largely lost to AIDS. “Uncle Roy” is currently playing the film festival circuit with upcoming screening including Reel Q the Pittsburgh LGBT Film Festival on October 9th, NewFest: 38th Annual New York LGBTQ Film Festival on October 18th, QDoc October 24th in Portland, OR, SCAD Savannah Film Festival October 30th & Indie Memphis Film Festival on November 8th. I talked to Keri about what she hopes to accomplish with her documentary & her spin on surviving these challenging times. LISTEN

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