"Gemmel & Tim" - Film Review
In the onslaught of true crime documentaries that appears on every streaming service, it’s usually the victims whose stories are exploited in the name of content. Little thought is given to the people whose stories are being churned out for the sake of entertainment. Fortunately, that is not the case with Gemmel & Tim, a documentary about the lives and deaths of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean. They were both young, gay, Black men who lived in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles, and whose paths crossed with a man named Ed Buck. Buck is a well-known donor to the Democratic Party who would invite young Black men to his apartment and give them drugs. Gemmel and Tim went to Buck’s apartment numerous times, and they both died there from lethal drugs overdoses.
Gemmel & Tim places the narrative firmly in the hands of people who love these men, present tense. Gemmel and Tim are basketball players, ballroom enthusiasts, friends, hikers, and more. This documentary ensures that their stories are more than the circumstances of their deaths. It’s an intersectional look at racism, drug use, and the queer community. At society’s tendency to look away from marginalized communities and how that led to these deaths. While Gemmel and Tim never met, their stories paralleled each other.
Remy M. Ndow (Animator) & Shivelight LLC
Supplementing the interviews and footage of the LGBT community in West Hollywood are stunning hand-drawn animations by Remy M. Ndow. They bring life and color to the memories of Gemmel and Tim in a way that celebrates these men and the multitudes they contained. While the filmmakers had access to some actual footage of Gemmel and Tim, the animations allow the audience to truly memorialize the lives of these men. The film organically shifts from celebrating chosen families, to the grieving process, to activism, all while keeping these men at the forefront.
So often, when everyday people become nationally known, the media clings to the most salacious aspects of their lives to tempt viewers to tune in. Gemmel & Tim is equal parts a chronicle of the deaths of these men and a critique of this type of irresponsible journalism. The news coverage of their deaths focused on the things they did for money when they were struggling. Newscasters played up the fact that Tim had a past in pornography, rather than looking at the systems in place that allowed Buck to live without repercussions.
Shivelight LLC
Gemmel & Tim, as well as the friends who tirelessly fought for justice, has no interest in looking into the psyche of Buck. There is no morbid curiosity about who this man is. Very little time is spent on Buck, and nor should it be. This documentary is recentering the story of the people who never should have been removed from the spotlight to begin with: the victims.
“My son is more than a movie or documentary. This is my baby, my son, who is a human being, and he’s loved by lots of people,” LaTisha Nixon, the mother of Gemmel, says toward the end of the film. It’s heart-wrenching because of the acute pain of losing her son, but also a steadfast reminder of how little respect other documentaries have shown to their subjects. Gemmel & Tim is respectful and damning, depending on who is the focus of the scene, while effectively offering a path forward to heal and change.
Gemmel & Tim will be available to stream starting October 18th. Find out where to stream.
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