I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole (2013)

• 75%
• 2013
• Documentary
• Jim Tushinski

An outspoken and articulate artist in a turbulent, passionate time, Wakefield Poole didn't think of himself as a pornographer. He was a filmmaker who used his dance and theater background to create beautiful, erotic art films that challenged the mind. Many agreed. To others, though, Poole just made dirty movies. I Always Said Yes: The Many Lives of Wakefield Poole tells the story of this sometimes overlooked gay liberation and independent film making pioneer. In an era when anyone making, promoting, or appearing in what the US government considered "pornography" could be liable for prosecution and jail time, Wakefield Poole was a remarkably open and honest gay filmmaker. He also became internationally famous and his movies screened for years as examples of films that could be artistic as well as sexually explicit. Filled with gorgeous archival footage, excerpts from Poole's lushly photographed films, and entertaining and illuminating interviews with Poole's contemporaries and colleagues, I Always Said Yes is a story of artistic integrity and disappointment, self-destruction, love, sex, fortitude, and musical comedy.