Kenny Melman And Lisa Kron Among Those To Appear At 92YTribeca

Just in time for Gay Pride Month, 92YTribeca presents Queer/Art/Film, a new series of all things hybrid and poly-sexual. Curated by Butt Magazine contributing editor Adam Baran and filmmaker Ira Sachs, the series invites some of the most exciting, innovative (and homosexual) artists from the dance/performance/film/visual and literary arts to present and discuss their favorite films, in rare prints, on the big screen.

The series asks the question: How does film create a link from one queer generation to the next, from John Kelly to Jean Cocteau, from 8 1/2 to Paris is Burning, from Marlon Riggs to Chantal Akerman? Join us every Thursday in June and bi-weekly in the months to follow, to explore these unexpected pathways from one artist to the next.

Blood of a Poet is noted as an example of early surrealism on film. Told in four episodes, this semi-narrative follows an unnamed artist as he is transported into another dimension, where he encounters various bizarre scenarios. The film is presented by artist John Kelly, who refers to Blood of a Poet as “a heavy gilded door that opened onto a world of an extremely volatile lyricism, populated by a group of extravagantly beautiful, sexy, and menacing denizens.”

Director: Jean Cocteau. 1930 55 mn. 16mm.

Blue is the last of iconoclastic queer filmmaker Derek Jarman’s 12 features, completed only four months before his death, after his vision had been subsumed by constant blue light. The film’s continuous blue screen becomes an absorbing canvas for audiences’ visions, filled with Jarman’s poetic, angry, wistful and sometimes humorous accounts of his illness. Presented by filmmaker Matt Wolf, who calls the film “an arresting and transcendent gift from a queer legend.” Director: Derek Jarman. 1993. 79 mn. 35mm.

This iconic film is about a man who's caught in several worlds: the world of his wife, and the world of his lover; the world of his past successes as an artist, and the world of the film he's struggling to create. Director Federico Fellini takes the viewer in and out of fantasy and memory in a way that suggests that we live with one foot in the real world, and the other in the deepest recesses of our psyche, family, and culture. Presented by filmmaker Jennie Livingston, who experiences the film as “intertwined with my sense of what it is to be a queer filmmaker; It's always seemed to me that our imaginative and simultaneous bridging of many worlds is what makes queer lives and queer perspectives unique, and important.”

Director: Federico Fellini. 1963. 138 mn. 35mm.

Thu, Jun 25, 7:30 pm, $12

A lot of the best queer film content is not available to the general public. Banished either by conspiracy or oversight, this content demands to be seen – so see it now! Presented by writer/performer Kenny Melman, who warns, “We can't say what will be shown but expect TV specials, gay episodes of TV shows and Red Foxx.”
 
Thu, Jul 2, 8 pm, $12

Elia Kazan’s first film is adapted from the popular Betty Smith novel about a girl coming of age in a family beset by poverty and alcoholism. Presented by playwright and performer Lisa Kron.

Director: Elia Kazan. 1945. 128 mn. 35mm.

Thu, Jul 16, 8 pm, $12

Marlon Riggs made this groundbreaking film motivated by a singular imperative: “to shatter the nation's brutalizing silence on matters of sexual and racial difference.” While politicians denounced it as ‘pornographic art’ and PBS stations refused to air it, "Tongues Untied" showed the power of film-video-art as a tool for piercing the barricades between culture and politics. Presented by Thomas Allen Harris, founder and President of Chimpanzee Productions, a company dedicated to producing unique audio-visual experiences that illuminate the Human Condition and the search for identity, family, and spirituality.

Thu, Jul 30, 8 pm, $12

Ackerman's 1974 film is among her few overtly lesbian works. What makes this singular film especially endearing is that a very young Ackerman herself plays the lead, and through performance establishes the fundamentals of her highly original filmic style. Presented by author Sarah Schulman.

Pull the wig down off the shelf – we’ve got a Hedwig and the Angry Inch sing-along! Growl out the punky Tear Me Down and woefully croon Wicked Little Town the way you’ve always wanted. There won’t be any Zima, but there will be beer. Director: John Cameron Mitchell. 2001. 95 min.

For the residents of this quiet, rural Colorado town, “sex change capital of the world” is just another way of saying “home.” This film uncovers the town’s transformation from Wild West outpost to “transsexual mecca” for more than 6,500 transsexuals who have gone there to align their bodies with their minds. Directors PJ Raval and Jay Hodges in person for post-screening Q&A. Director: PJ Raval & Jay Hodges. 2008. 85 mn. DigiBeta.

For more information, visit www.92YTribeca.org/film.