Arthur J. Bressan Jr. (May 27, 1943 - July 29, 1987) was an American director, writer, producer, documentarian and gay pornographer, best known for pioneering independent queer cinema in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. He wrote and directed the 1985 feature film Buddies, which was the first American film to grapple with the subject of the AIDS pandemic. Other directorial endeavors include the largely influential 1978 documentary Gay USA (the first documentary by and about LGBT people ), and the 1983 feature film Abuse. He died on July 29, 1987, at the age of 44 due to an AIDS-related illness. Early life and young adulthood Bressan was born and brought up on West 68th Street in the Lincoln Square area of Manhattan. His interest in film was sparked by his love for classic films, as well as his exposure to productions that were undertaken in New York, notably, the 1961 musical West Side Story, most of which was filmed on his street and parts of Lincoln Square. Bressan deeply admired filmmakers Frank Capra and Preston Sturges, the works of which he has noted as being hugely influential on his personal ambitions and filmmaking style. Despite his love of filmmaking, Bressan never received any formal education or training relating to it, instead acquiring his filmic skillset from personal experience. His postsecondary education was composed of time at both New York University and Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. Bressan began to live an openly gay life in the early 1970s, correlating to the start of his time in San Francisco, a city known for its vibrant queer communities. Filmography The vast majority of Bressan's body of filmic work was concerned with gay and queer being, the bulk of which belonged to the genre of gay pornography. However, much of the pornographic imagery was interwoven with complex narratives conflicts, blurring the line between fiction film and pornography; this was relatively unconventional during the 1970s and 1980s. Below is a chronological account of Bressan's original filmography. Boys (short, 1969) Two gay men of vastly different temperaments, one being a laid-back cruiser and the other an intellectual, meet and grow an intimate connection. Coming out (documentary short, 1972) In this ten-minute short, Bressan interviews a variety of participants in San Francisco's first gay pride parade, the 1972 Gay Freedom Day celebration, shot in 16 millimeter colour film. The celebration consisted