Robert Mapplethorpe was an artistic tour de force. He emerged from the fecund 1970s New York art scene, where he bonded with Patti Smith and partnered with the art collector Sam Wagstaff. Mapplethorpe’s photography could luxuriate in explicit imagery of gay sadomasochistic sex, yet it could also encompass pictures of flowers that exuded an almost classical splendor. In 1989, the year he died of AIDS, Mapplethorpe became the center of controversy when Senator Jesse Helms denounced his work in Congress and his exhibitions were deemed obscene and raided by police.

Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Inside Deep Throat) don’t hold back in confronting Mapplethorpe’s personal complexities or the unabashed provocations of his X-rated photography. The acclaimed filmmakers gain access to rare audio recordings of Mapplethorpe and conduct interviews with his friends and family. After the film’s world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, BBC reviewer Owen Gleiberman wrote, “The movie is a gorgeously edited scrapbook of underground passion.” – Thom Powers