Upstairs Inferno

Upstairs Inferno is a 2015 American documentary written, produced, and directed by Robert L. Camina and narrated by New Orleans author Christopher Rice. Running 96 minutes, it takes an investigative approach to the June 24, 1973 arson attack on the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar on the edge of the French Quarter where 32 people were killed. Camina builds the film from archival footage, police reports, photographs, and local news clips alongside interviews with survivors, eyewitnesses, and city officials past and present, several of whom had never discussed the fire on camera. It documents how little coverage the attack drew at the time and how the district attorney declined to investigate even after the Louisiana state fire marshal recommended it. The film premiered as the closing night selection of the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on August 22, 2015, where it won Best Men's Documentary Feature, went on to roughly 40 festivals and a run of jury and audience awards, and screened at the Library of Congress in February 2017.