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WHEN BOYS FLY”

“Fascinating.  I want to see it twice, that's how interesting it is.” -   Rex Reed

"When Boys Fly" is as close to our own “Boyz N the Hood” as I have seen… It speaks more emotional truth than any recent narrative film about gay life... As I watched the men in the film move through the weekend, their insecurities, desires and neuroses knocked me in the stomach with the same force Singleton's characters did, and I left feeling angry, sad and exhilarated at the same time."                                  
Our Own Boyz N the Hood
    -    Frontiers Magazine

“An important film that delivers a powerful message while remaining wildly entertaining.                                                                         
Dan Jinks
, Academy Award winning Producer     -    American Beauty” 

“When Boys Fly” has at its core, real people who’re handsome, articulate and honest. This makes it very easy to absorb … because you care about them. It’s heartbreaking to watch, yet it’s handled with sympathy and understanding and speaks to anyone who’s gone to a disco looking for love, life and acceptance… The party is captured in a way that sends shivers down the spine. You feel like you’re there. You wish you were there. Then, quite suddenly, you’re glad you’re not. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.                                                 
QX Magazine    
-    London, England 

“Extremely fun and entertaining…I felt completely drawn inside this underground world of complex characters.... Jam-packed with humor and brutal honesty... Engaging reality that shouldn't be missed."                                                                                                          
David Janollari
, Executive Producer     -    Six Feet Under”  

Halpern and Rolov, reveal secrets many wish would be buried in their MTV "Real World" meets Circuit Party true-life feature. They find more drama than daytime TV offers... drug overdosing, cheating boyfriends and unsafe sex, all of which is caught on camera. "When Boys Fly," is brave enough to present us with the good, the bad and the ugly. After all, in the words of Richard E. Grant's "The Player" character, "That's Reality!""                                                                                                          
NY Blade Magazine

“A powerful, hard-hitting look at a playground run amuck… highlighted by a first rate original soundtrack.”
Todd Headlee     -    Film Critic LA2nite.com

“Co-directors Stewart Halpern and Lenid Rolov have done an exceptional job of taking us into the eye of the storm by showing us the highs and lows, ups and downs, and joys and sadness that permeate this lifestyle… Extremely Provocative.”
IN MAGAZINE 

A revealing and intimate “sextravaganza” of sex, drugs and music.
RICE CINEMAS    
-    Houston, Texas

“Incisive contrasts highlight Stewart Halpern and Lenid Rolov's "When Boys Fly " as we join a group of friends on a quest for sex, drugs and fun.”
CHICAGO READER

"When Boys Fly" is making its way around the festival circuit with as much hopped-up enthusiasm as the circuit boys it profiles, and with good reason. It's a surprisingly honest, engaging look at three guys' experience before, during and after the infamous event. On one level the events manic energy is captured faithfully in the film and it's easy to see why hedonistic gay boys flock to these things in hordes. On the flip site, "When Boys Fly" is subtl terrifying, as when lead guy Tone admits casually, "I've been hospitalized once and I clinically died another time off of G," while his best bud is literally buzzing like a high voltage vibrator next to him.”
INSTINCT MAGAZINE 

"A vast improvement over the recent big-screen dramatization of circuit-party excess, "Circuit". Shot in "Real World" style, 
'When Boys Fly' does a good job of depicting aspects of the events, including excessive drug use, irresponsible sexual escapades and infidelity." 
CHICAGO WINDY CITY TIMES 

“When Boys Fly” follows five main characters. Tone a young man with an addiction problem who swears he'll never use again. Todd, a selfish 35 year old who is reliving his adolescence by dating very young guys: Jon, 21, who he claims to be his *soul mate* and Jason, his ex, who is along as a friend. Finally we have Brandon, a straight-laced college student who seems to be very together except for his many fears and misconceptions of what it means to be gay. The story becomes an insight to the party culture and it's effects on newbies, as well as showing the stupidity and consequences of those that feel they have to get high to have fun.” 
AIN’T IT COOL NEWS.com 

“With its airy Peter Pan title “When Boys Fly” sounds like a fun time, in this tale of a group of young me converging on one of the big "circuit parties." Well, there is all that. But, actually, there's lots more soul searching and reassessment going o in the film by Stewart Halpern and Lenid Rolov as it follows several men f very different backgrounds and temperaments. This is a slice-of-life documentary that takes viewers to a place that's supposed to be glittery and exciting, but also finds grimness and sadness. The filmmakers don't preach. They don't have to.” 
THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

“Flawless shooting, editing and sound provide the audience an insider's peek into a weekend of partying that only the few could handle and live to talk about. Filled with high energy, sexual abundance and tension, yet presented in a calming and non-judgmental manner. The viewer gets close enough to the action to feel the excitement, yet remains at arms length when the party goers start dropping, hearts are broken, and a virgin learns a valuable lesson.” 
THE DOG PILE.COM 

”From the club kid to the circuit party virgin, we follow a group of men as they experience lust, drugs, heartbreak and hope in a world where the party never has to stop. With an unflinching eye, directors Stewart Halpern and Lenid Rolov convey our search for love and acceptance among our own and our need to always have more.” 
IN TOUCH MAGAZINE 

“These were real people, with real interesting issues, who were young and attractive and had engrossing stories to tell. Watching the events unfold was curious and intriguing. It is both troublesome and fascinating, something you really have to see… "When Boys Fly" stands as a real period piece, a true testament, to a portion of the gay lifestyle in the early part of the 21st century. It is a true mirror, an accurate reflection, and, in that way, a significant and fascinating, and most importantly, accurate document of a moment in time.” GRADE: A+ 
FILETHIRTEEN.COM 

Excerpt from an article in the “ADVOCATE” magazine (below):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video and DVD
Surviving the circuit
Brandon Del Campo of the circuit party documentary When Boys Fly insists you can dance all night without tweaking your brains out
By Dennis Hensley
From The Advocate, October 15, 2002
In the newly released “Real World at a circuit party” documentary When Boys Fly (TLA Releasing), circuit virgin Brandon Del Campo does something so outrageous on the dance floor that even his chemically altered boogie buddies can’t believe it—he calls his mother. So was he actually able to hear his mother over the blaring dance music? “I had a good phone,” boasts the 25-year-old former University of California, Los Angeles, track star who currently works as a physical therapist in Los Angeles... “I should have got AT&T to sponsor me.”

He would have done the telecom company proud in this documentary about a quartet of very different gay men and their experiences during an infamous circuit party weekend. For while most of his fellow Fly boys drift in and out of coherency and consciousness—one even has a GHB overdose on-camera while his two attending buddies reminisce about their own trips to the ER—Del Campo remains sober, articulate, and remarkably self-possessed throughout. “It was easy to interview him because he’s so forthright and opinionated,” says codirector Stewart Halpern, who learned of Del Campo through photographer Klaus Gerhardt, who had recently snapped some shots of the athlete. “He had a lot to say about pretty much any subject you could think of.”
“He also had a lot of anxieties and apprehensions about that world,” adds coproducer Kevin Weiler, “and since he had never been to a circuit party before, we decided he would function as the audience’s eyes…”

Subj: Thank You
Date: Friday, July 26, 2002
From: HotJohnnieNYC@aol.com

This is Johnnie from your movie "When Boys Fly". While we did not get a chance to talk before the recent New York screening I wanted to send you congratulations. The film was more than I expected and something you can all be very proud of. 

While I have been worried ever since the filming of just how much of a freak I would come across as I was very surprised at how I ended up playing the part of the lonely, and hurt guy just looking for love and with optimism for the future. I was expecting to have to hide my face after the screening and yet I felt pretty good afterwards, especially when several guys noticed me as someone from the movie and flirted with me right in front of the auditorium.

As for me I am happily in a loving relationship for over a year now, have not used crystal meth for many months and am in the best physical condition of my life (it only took 37 years). 

For me the end of a long term relationship, the deaths of my father and 2 grandparents, and the physical and emotional damage wrought by my second major drug addiction (I successfully rehabbed from a cocaine addiction almost 7 years ago), plus the death of my cat all happened over the 5 years just prior to your filming me. Shortly after that my mother passed away after fighting Parkinson's Disease for 20 years. Even with all of that I have somehow managed to spring back and am just one example of the resilience of the human spirit, mind and body. 

Anyway I wish you all continued success with "When Boys Fly" and whatever future projects you take on. After returning to NYC and suffering through the loss of my job and mother I sat back and pondered on how my life would appear to the outside world. My conclusion was of course "fuck them," no one had been through just what I had and no one could judge me. But I also realized that there were lots of people suffering through similar events in their own lives didn't know how to break through and get moving once again. So rather than continuing to run away from my own problems and waste the talents and potential I've been blessed with, I decided it was time to start moving forward again and that perhaps in getting my own life together I might be able to help others who are struggling through their own life crisis. 

I will always be able to look back at your film and recall the many emotional stresses that were driving me to run away and suffer through heavy drug use to dampen the pain I was feeling. I will also use it as a reminder of how we need positive, balanced community leaders even in the circuit world so those who would use these events to hurt themselves might instead see them as an opportunity to rejoice in life and to learn how to get in touch with that joy without risking their health. This is something I am working to figure out how best to bring back to the circuit community and when I do I will be sure to let you guys now what my plans are. 

Sincerely, 

Johnnie, New York City

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