Gus Van Sant says "Milk" will help people "wise up" on gay civil rights...

Following a screening of "Milk" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, director Gus Van Sant (pictured with Sean Penn at the 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Tuesday night) took questions.

Queerty reports that somebody asked the director how he felt the film could have impacted Proposition 8, if only it came out before the election. He said he and Focus Features could've rushed the film out before the Nov. 4 vote. Van Sant said they didn't even hear about the measure until July, and at that point it didn't have as much support. so there wasn't reason to think the movie would need to impact the outcome.

He's actually happy about Milk's post-election timing because seeing the film will make people "wise up" to gay civil rights, which will do more than passing "just one proposition."