BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
2012. 93 min. Directed by Benh Zeitlin
Tickets here.
Our fall 2022 season of Queer|Art|Film concludes with Beasts of the Southern Wild, a dystopian family drama that takes place on the edge of the world. Six-year-old Hushpuppy (played by the remarkable Quvenzhané Wallis) and her ailing father Wink live in ‘The Bathtub’ – an island in the Mississippi Delta at constant risk of flooding. As her father’s illness worsens, so too does the climate around them, as melting polar ice brings rising floodwaters and prehistoric beasts to bear on their small community. Shot in a cinema-verite style by debut director Benh Zeitlin, and featuring a cast of amateur actors from a small Louisiana parish, the film achieves a documentary style even as it tells a fantastical tale. As presenter Lola Flash writes, “it speaks to the strength of community and centers family, in much the same way our LGBTQ+ families are empowered.”
Lola Flash uses photography to challenge stereotypes and offer new ways of seeing that transcend and interrogate gender, sexual, and racial norms. Flash received their bachelor's degree from Maryland Institute and Masters from London College of Printing, in the UK. Flash works primarily in portraiture, engaging those who are often deemed invisible. Flash has work included in important public collections such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, MoMA, the African American Museum of Culture + History, in Washington, the Whitney and the Brooklyn Museum.
Flash’s work welcomes audiences who are willing to not only look but see.
Still from Beasts of The Southern Wild (2012, Benh Zeitlin)
Queer|Art|Film is sponsored by HBO Max and presented in partnership with IFC.