Harvey Milk was directed by Gus Van Sant (My own private Idaho, 1991; Elephant, 2003) and written by Dustin Lance Black.

The movie was released at the end of 2008.

It is a biopic that represents the life of gay activist and politician Harvey Milk and the gay civil rights movement in San Francisco during the 1970s. The movie begins with the 40^th birthday of Harvey Milk and does not represent his previous life. He is seen recording his will all throughout the movie nine days before his assassination.

In most cases, the movie was well received by the press and critics and won several awards, such as the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director.

Sean Penn stars in the movie as Harvey Milk. Like the other actors for their characters, Sean Penn made deep researches on Harvey Milk. He changed his look, his way of acting and talking: one can hear that S. Penn’s voice is more high-pitched than it actually is. He also wore brown lenses to look more like Harvey Milk.