Visiting Filmmakers Series: Daniel Junge with I Was Born This Way
Monday, November 10, 2025 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM EST
Johnson Center, Cinema
Daniel Junge, co-director and producer of I Was Born This Way, will visit George Mason University for two days.
Daniel will be at three events, November 10-11.
Monday, Nov 10, 5pm, Johnson Center Cinema: Screening of and conversation about I Was Born This Way.
Free and open to the public: Register at this link for the movie screening.
Monday, Nov 10, 1:30pm: Class visit
Free and open to all George Mason students. Seats are limited: see this link for information and to register for the class visit.
Tuesday, Nov 11: Masterclass
Daniel will discuss the creation of a scene in I Was Born This Way. Free and open to all George Mason students and alumni. Seats are limited: see this link for information and to register for the Masterclass with Daniel Junge.
When Archbishop Carl Bean sang the 1977 disco hit and gay anthem, “I Was Born This Way,” it was just the start of his mission to create positive change in the world. He went on to found the Minority AIDS Project and the world’s first LGBTQ+ church for people of color.
Co-directed by Daniel Junge and Sam Pollard, I Was Born This Way explores the life and legacy of Bean and his resounding message, “Love is for everyone.” It includes gorgeous archival footage and innovative rotoscope animation, as well as appearances by Lady Gaga, Questlove, Billy Porter, and Dionne Warwick. The documentary premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June 2025, and went on to screen at DC/Dox Film Festival, Frameline: the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and Sheffield DocFest in the United Kingdom.
See film site here.
Daniel Junge is an Oscar-winning and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker.
His films include the Oscar-winning Saving Face (co-directed with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy), Being Evel, Iron Ladies of Liberia, Fight Church, A LEGO Brickumentary, Tribeca-winner Chiefs, Oscar-nominee The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner and Oscar-short-listed They Killed Sister Dorothy. Junge also served as showrunner and director on the AMC series, Secret History of Comics, and Netflix's Emmy-nominated Challenger: The Final Flight.
Junge has taught documentary filmmaking at USC, UCLA, Loyola Marymount, and other institutions. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Please see this interview with Daniel and I Was Born This Way co-director Sam Pollard.
With support from College of Humanities and Social Sciences; College of Visual and Performing Arts; Film and Video Studies; CVPA's Office of Belonging and Inclusive Engagement+; African and African American Studies; English Department; History and Art History; Screen Cultures, University Life; LGTQ+ Resources Center, Office of Alumni Relations, Center for the Arts, and Women and Gender Studies.
Our event is free and open to the public.
#VisitingFilmmakersSeries #FAVS
For more information: contact film@gmu.edu
