Gary Keyes

I am an African American male, now entering my late 50's, born and raised in the most fantastic metropolis on Earth, New York City (specifically the "boogie-down" Bronx). Depending on my particular POV of the day, I consider myself blessed or cursed with the qualities of generosity, thoughtfulness, and vigorous curiousness. Similarly, I can be forgetful, lazy, and a master procrastinator. I am a very proud liberal, and would immediately encourage anyone and everyone to fight for what is right, fair, and decent. Going through life, from the moments of earliest discovery of one's body to the embarrassing perceived moments of pre-post teendom. Then later, from the agility and sometimes thoughtlessness of young adulthood to full-on adult and now approaching 'old geezerland', the one center of my life, my loves, and my near-religious beliefs was the world of cinematic entertainment. There has never been nor ever will be a form of human communication that has profoundly moved me, changed me, enraptured me, scared me, and educated me as the film world has done. It is my religion. I am a lifelong acolyte of its description of the collective human psyche. With no shame, I proclaim my constant admiration for its existence, and the influence it has on our societies and on us individually. From the earliest creators, to the most recent artists of mass media and streaming services, cinema is life.