Directed by Robin Campillo, a former member of the direct action advocacy group, the film shows the AIDS epidemic in 1990s Paris through the eyes of these activists, who stage die-ins, throw fake blood at pharmaceutical representatives, and debate among themselves the best ways to compel those with power into action. Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue, and Natalie Morales costar.īeats Per Minute is an essential new film that chronicles a hitherto neglected part of LGBT history: the ACT UP movement in France. Both Emma Stone, who stars as King, and Steve Carell, who plays Riggs, received Golden Globe nominations for their performances. The film from Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, the directing team behind Little Miss Sunshine, recounts the story of how that famous battle came to pass at the same time it tracks King’s love affair with hairstylist Marilyn Barnett. Beyond trouncing proud male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in the legendary 1973 Battle of the Sexes tennis match, Billie Jean King was a proponent for equal pay early in the game.
