Philadelphia is a 1993 American drama film and one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and homophobia. It was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme. The film stars Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. It was inspired in part by the story of Geoffrey Bowers, an attorney who in 1987 sued the law firm Baker & McKenzie for wrongful dismissal in one of the first AIDS discrimination cases. Tom Hanks won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film, while the song "Streets of Philadelphia" won the Academy Award for Best... Original Song. Ron Nyswaner was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, but lost to Jane Campion for The Piano. Andrew Beckett is a senior associate at the largest corporate law firm in Philadelphia. Although he lives with his partner Miguel Álvarez , Beckett is not open about his homosexuality at the law firm, nor the fact that he is HIV positive. On the day he is assigned the firm's newest and most important case, one of the firm's partners notices a small lesion on Beckett's forehead.
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| Release date: | 1993 |
| Directed by: | Jonathan Demme |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 125 Minutes |
| Producer: | Jonathan Demme, Edward Saxon |
| Editor: | Craig McKay |
| Music by: | Howard Shore |
| Cinematography: | Tak Fujimoto |
| Screenplay by: | Ron Nyswaner |
| Estimated budget: | $26,000,000 |