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Dear Jesse

Can you go home again? What if you're a gay man and home is a state where voters keep electing a homophobe to the US Senate? In 1996, native son Tim Kirkman returns to North Carolina to explore the parallels and differences between himself and Jesse Helms: they're from the same town and college, with media interests, from families blessed by adoptions, Baptists by upbringing. Tim puts his camera in front of his family, a boyhood pal, college friends, his pastor, Helms fans, community activists, novelists Lee Smith and Allan Gurganus, a mayor who's gay, and people in the street, including a brief interview with Matthew Shepard. What is it to judge, and what is it to love?

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Cast & Crew See All

Nathan A. Barbour
Self
Karen Brown
Self
Patsy Clarke
Self

Awards

  • 2000 - Emmy - Outstanding Achievement in a Craft in News and Documentary Programming - Writers - nominated
  • 1999 - GLAAD Media Award - Outstanding Film (Documentary) - nominated
  • 1999 - Truer Than Fiction Award - - nominated
  • 1999 - Open Palm Award - - nominated

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