Young and Wild (2012, Marialy Rivas)

December 15, 2014

“WE, the fornicators!" Daniela – a bi Chilean sex blogger / schoolgirl – must shoulder the hellfire of her Evangelical Christian family after being caught in the act and ousted from her staid school system. Snatching the World Cinema Screenwriting award at Sundance, this explicit and ecstatic romp is a poppy teen portrait of the AIM age. For Iranian-American filmmaker Desiree Akhavan (APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR), it was the "first film I've seen that effectively depicts the very real interactions people have over the internet, as well as one of the most honest portrayals of teen sex, love and lust out there."

In Celebration: All Over Me (1997, Alex Sichel)

November 10, 2014

In June, filmmaker Alex Sichel died at the age of 50, after a 3-year battle against breast cancer. A central figure in the early years of New Queer Cinema, Alex was also a screenwriter, a beloved teacher at both Columbia and NYU, and a fiery, opinionated member of both the Queer and Film Communities. In her honor QAF is proud to present her gorgeous first feature, ALL OVER ME, a coming-of-age drama -- born out of the riot grrrl movement -- about a teenager from Hell’s Kitchen (To Die For’s Alison Folland) who falls in love with her bad-girl best friend (Tara Subkoff, of the cult fashion line, Imitation of Christ). The evening will also include a short clip from A FILM ABOUT ANNA, the extraordinary film Alex was working on about her illness at the time of her death. Many of those closest to Alex, including her sister and co-screenwriter Sylvia Sichel, actress Folland, and producer Dolly Hall, will join us for this special, community-wide remembrance.

Liquid Sky (1982, Slava Tsukerman)

October 27, 2014

Androgynous fashion models, dope dealing performance artists, UFOs and killer orgasms are just a few of the elements that made Russian director Slava Tsukerman’s Warholian sci-fi film an instant cult-classic upon its release in 1982. Most alluring to the LGBT crowd was co-writer and star Anne Carlisle, who brilliantly played both bisexual model Margaret and her skuzzy drug-addict nemesis Jimmy (the scene where both characters have sex is surely a first in film history). The film’s vision of New York City as the coolest, strangest, most exciting place on Earth was particularly appealing to a generation of artists, freaks and queers, including our guest presenter, Russian-American artist and writer Slava Mogutin who moved here after being exiled for his subversive and pro-gay writings and activism in 1995.

West Side Story (1961, Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise)

September 8, 2014

It took four of New York’s leading gay theater artists – Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents – to brilliantly update one of the most beloved straight love stories in history, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. For our guest presenter, acclaimed choreographer Miguel Gutierrez (whose most recent show premiered at the 2014 Whitney Biennial) the Academy Award-winning film adaptation was his favorite film growing up, even though its “weird mix of codes” set him up for a “lifetime of confusion about being a queer, Latino dancer." If you’ve only seen it on TV, don’t miss the chance to see it on the big screen. Tonight, tonight...

The Queen (1968, Frank Simon)

August 11, 2014

Before there was Drag Race, there was The Queen. This seminal documentary about a 1967 NYC drag contest goes behind the scenes, recording the rehearsals, the conversations, and the jealousies that emerge in the lead up to the big competition. For drag king Murray Hill -- “the hardest working middle-aged man in show business” -- it was also “the first glimpse of gay/drag life that I'd ever seen.” Starring the legendary Flawless Sabrina, and including cameos by Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick and Mario Montez, we can’t think of a better way to end our Summer of Drag than with this perfectly preserved time capsule of the pre-Stonewall New York drag scene.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001, John Cameron Mitchell) 35mm print!

July 7, 2014

20 years after Hedwig and the Angry Inch first appeared as a revue at the legendary rock n' roll drag party Squeezebox, the creators of Brooklyn’s BUSHWIG festival are carrying the torch with their annual dragstravaganza, featuring the most exciting young queens in NYC. We’ll be joined by some of the girls and BUSHWIG co-founders Matty Beats (aka Horrorchata) and Simon Leahy (aka Baabes Trust), who writes, “We grew up with Hedwig, and love it because it deals not only with performative gender expressions but also the idea of multiple genders in one being. It was the first film to bring these ideas to a mainstream audience.” Join us for this groundbreaking film, plus a special surprise or two.

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) 35mm print!

June 9, 2014

Cannibalism. Homosexuality. Lobotomy. Only Tennessee Williams could pull together this Gothic mix and write a film as moving and beautiful as this. Elizabeth Taylor stars as a young woman who, at the insistence of her wealthy aunt (Katherine Hepburn) is being evaluated to receive a lobotomy after witnessing the death of her cousin. For the legendary Latina drag queen Barbra Herr – who started out in Times Square’s Sally’s Hideaway before owning the stages of Escualita, The Monster, and Friend’s Tavern -- the film’s depiction of violence against homosexuals “is still alive and well in our society today in this country and all over the world.”

Outrageous! (1977, Richard Benner)

May 12, 2014

Summer of Drag gets kicked off with this cult classic about a hairdresser whose schizophrenic roommate convinces him to turn his passion for imitating Hollywood starlets into a full-fledged career. Before long Robin (played by the brilliant Canadian drag superstar Craig Russell) is wowing crowds with his impressions of Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Mae West and more. Our guest host is the legendary drag superstar Lypsinka (aka John Epperson), who calls Outrageous! “the best feature film about drag performance and what it means to have chosen such a weighted, fraught profession.” Come out and celebrate the beginning of a very glamorous summer!

I Shot Andy Warhol (1996, Mary Harron)

April 14, 2014

Why did the lesbian playwright shoot the gay artist? No, it’s not the set-up to a joke, but the central question of Mary Harron’s whirling true-crime biopic about the woman who almost killed pop artist Andy Warhol for “a lot of real involved reasons.” Was Valerie Solanas (Lili Taylor) crazy? Was Andy out to get her? Or was she just too damn weird, even for the Factory? This surprisingly funny look at the chaotic conclusion of the pop art scene was a pivotal film for playwright and filmmaker Madeleine Olnek (Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same) who calls it “unique, subversive” and “brilliantly directed.”

The Aggressives (2005, Daniel Peddle)

March 24, 2014

This acclaimed documentary -- made by one of the fashion worlds most sought after casting directors -- picks up where Paris is Burning left off, focusing on a group of six NYC lesbians who dress and identify as men, blurring the lines between butch dyke and trans-male identities. For our guest host, writer-artist-performer and member of NY's own House of Ladosha, Juliana Huxtable, the film explores “the complexities of how desire is negotiated between the multitude of gender types in the ballroom community." You won't want to miss this rare screening of a film that for many in the Community has already transcended to “Legendary!"

Song Sung Blue (2008, Greg Kohs)

February 24, 2014

In the ’90s, Lightning and Thunder were Milwaukee’s biggest husband and wife Neil Diamond cover band. This hilarious and gut-wrenching documentary follows the loving couple’s high moments (performing with Pearl Jam) and very low moments (accidents, marital turmoil, illness, and more). Virtually unseen since winning both audience and jury awards at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2008, it’s a fascinating look at a very different kind of performance art. The brilliant NYC avant-pop star, film, video and visual artist Cody Critcheloe (of SSION) is our guest tonight. He picked the film because “I love love stories. It’s tragic and beautiful and made me cry really hard. I’ve never forgotten it.” Turn on your heartlight and join us.

Rebecca (1940, Alfred Hitchcock) 35mm print!

January 13, 2014

New bride Joan Fontaine is thrilled after marrying rich and charming Laurence Olivier, but everything comes tumbling down when she moves in with him and his creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, played with gothic lesbian perfection by Dame Judith Anderson. Will the memory of the first Mrs. DeWinter ruin their bliss? And just how did she die, exactly? Hitchcock’s Hollywood debut netted him his only Best Picture Oscar and the fascination of queer film fans like actress, comedian and singer Lea Delaria (currently tearing it up as a lesbian inmate on Netflix smash Orange Is the New Black). She says “To really appreciate Blue is the Warmest Color, Bound, Go Fish, and others, we need to acknowledge the lesbian undertones of Rebecca.” Manderley awaits!