CELEBRATE PRIDE
queer the screen
TOM OF FINLAND
The proudly erotic drawings of artist Touko Laaksonen, known to the world as Tom of Finland, shaped the fantasies of a generation of gay men, influencing art and fashion before crossing over into the wider cultural consciousness. But who was the man behind the leather? Dome Karukoski’s stirring biopic follows his life from the trenches of WWII and repressive Finnish society of the 1950s through his struggle to get his work published in California, where he and his art were finally embraced amid the sexual revolution of the 1970s. Tom’s story is one of love, courage and perseverance, mirroring the gay liberation movement for which his leather-clad studs served as a defiant emblem.
52 TUESDAYS
16-year-old Billie's reluctant path to independence is accelerated when her mother reveals plans for gender transition and their time together becomes limited to Tuesday afternoons. Filmed over the course of a year, once a week, every week (only on Tuesdays) these unique filmmaking rules bring a rare authenticity to this emotionally charged story of desire, responsibility and transformation.
THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE
This tender portrait of industrial music pioneer Genesis P-Orridge and their partner, erstwhile dominatrix Lady Jaye, was filmed over the course of seven years and completed following Lady Jaye’s sudden death in 2007. Integrating loving home movies, stylishly staged tableaux, and archival footage of P-Orridge’s post-punk bands Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, The Ballad poignantly centers on the body modification that brought the couple together in their journey through life and art. Their Pandrogeny Project, reflecting the same exploration of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin’s cut-ups that underlies P-Orridge’s music, finds its own reflection in Losier’s ecstatic images. Featuring syncopated editing, play with film speeds, and P-Orridge’s tracks layered over 16mm images shot in Losier’s signature style on a Bolex handheld camera, the film doubles as homage and cut-up collage of its own. Ultimately, Losier captures a radical vision and a unique love story. As she put it, “Like many others who have encountered him, I saw in Genesis the simple and profound notion that the manner in which you live your life is the highest and most unimpeachable form of art that exists.”--MOMA
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THE QUEEN
More than 40 years before RuPaul's Drag Race, this ground-breaking documentary about the 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant introduced audiences to the world of competitive drag. The film takes us backstage to kiki with the contestants as they rehearse, throw shade, and transform into their drag personas in the lead-up to the big event. Organized by LGBTQ icon and activist Flawless Sabrina, the competition boasted a star-studded panel of judges including Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers, and Terry Southern.. But perhaps most memorable is an epic diatribe calling out the pageant's bias delivered by Crystal LaBeija, who would go on to form the influential House of LaBeija, heavily featured in Paris Is Burning (1990). A vibrant piece of queer history, The Queen can now be seen in full resplendence thanks to a new restoration from the original camera negative.
WAR REQUIEM
"A stunning visual and serious music treat" (Variety), Derek Jarman's (Sebastiane, Jubilee) 1989 WAR REQUIEM reunites British cinema's enfant terrible with his muse Tilda Swinton (2008 Oscar® Winner for Michael Clayton) for a spectacular and moving interpretation of composer Benjamin Britten's groundbreaking 1961 orchestral masterpiece. Just as Britten combined the sacred Latin Requiem Mass with the searing unromantic war poetry of British infantry lieutenant Wilfred Owen, who was tragically killed in the final week of WWI, Jarman interprets Britten's six movements in eye-popping and heartbreaking dialogue-free tableaus illustrating war's infinite futility, sacrifice, and waste.