Susanne Bartsch: ON TOP Opens Next Week at Laemmle Monica Film Center

An intimate immersion into the world of New York City nightlife and fashion icon Susanne Bartsch. Along with launching the career of RuPaul, and championing the early work of designers like Marc Jacobs and Vivienne Westwood, her legacy includes raising millions of dollars for the fight against AIDS.

People have flocked to New York City to break free from the oppressive shackles of social norms and find themselves for decades; Susanne Bartsch has dedicated her life to creating a safe HAVEN for just those people. The mother of avant-garde self-expression, Susanne creates imaginative spaces where people can live out their wildest fantasies night after night.

SUSANNE BARTSCH: ON TOP explores Susanne's life and impact through never-before-seen archival footage, verité cinematography, personal testimonials, and highly stylized imagery. From quiet moments at home to the creation of deliciously debaucherous spectacles, Susanne juggles family life with the overwhelming stress of being a one-woman industry. At an age when most of her peers have slowed down, Susanne moves forward more determined than ever.

ANTHONY&ALEX are an award-winning director duo who over the past decade have transitioned from experimental live theater to filmmaking. Their work has been featured on MTV, VH1, Vogue, Dazed, HuffPo, Rolling Stone, Paper Magazine, Bullett, Out, Vice, been banned from Youtube, and awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick. In 2015 they directed the feature length work Success, an experimental concert film for musician Liam Finn, that premiered at The Museum of the Moving Image. Anthony&Alex debuted their first feature documentary, Susanne Bartsch: On Top, which premiered at Hot Docs and went on to win the John Schlesinger award at the Provincetown International Film Festival. They are partners at No Weather, a production company and filmmaking collective in NYC.