FROM the acclaimed director Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting and Elephant) comes Milk, the powerful and inspiring story of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk.

Featuring an Oscar-tipped performance from Sean Penn and a supporting cast including Emile Hirsch (Into The Wild), Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) and James Franco (Spider-Man and The Pineapple Express), the film is rapidly emerging as one of the heavyweight Oscar contenders.

Gay Rights Activist. Friend. Lover. Unifier. Politician. Fighter. Icon. Inspiration. Hero. His life changed history, and his courage changed lives.

In 1977, Harvey Milk (Penn) was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America.

His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum.

From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.

It was fitting, therefore, that the film received its world premiere in San Francisco and duly attracted more than 1,400 people – many of whom protested at current gay themes, as if to heighten the continued relevance of the film.

The protest saw many people carrying banners declaring “No on 8” – a demonstration against the ballot measure that would eliminate the rights of same sex couples to marry in America.

Commenting earlier this year on the movie’s Oscar potential, Milk co-star James Franco told IndieLondon that it’s “an awesome movie”, adding: “It’s something that Gus Van Sant has been trying to make for over a decade. Sean Penn is incredible and he probably will win the Oscar. And I kiss him. So, it’s been a dream all around.”

Milk opened in US cinemas on Thanksgiving Weekend and drew an overwhelmingly positive response from critics.

Leading the fanfare, the Washington Post wrote: “Once in a while, a movie arrives at such a perfect moment, its message and meaning so finely tuned to the current zeitgeist, that it seems less a cinematic event than a cosmic convergence, willed into being by a once-in-a-lifetime alignment of the stars.”

While USA Today stated that “Milk has one of the finest ensemble casts this year and a magnificent, career-topping performance by Sean Penn, who disappears into the title role”.

MTV said that “Sean Penn gives one of his most fearless and thrilling performances in Milk, director Gus Van Sant’s recounting of the life and violent death of the first openly gay man to be elected to a significant municipal position in America”.

And the New York Times wrote: “Harvey Milk was an intriguing, inspiring figure. And Milk is a marvel.”

Entertainment Weekly described the film as “[an] incisive and stirring dramatization of Harvey Milk’s heroic life and violent death”.

And the Hollywood Reporter declared it to be “the first great film to look at civil rights from the perspective of the gay movement”.

Milk opens in UK cinemas on January 23, 2009.

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