Intro by filmmaker Zackary Drucker; Florrie Burke, widow of Barbara Hammer.
Collectively, Outfest, IndieCollect and UCLA are committed to sharing LGBTQ+ moving images in order to bring diverse communities together to discuss differing, often radical explorations of sexual orientation and gender identity. From this shared vision, the Pioneers of Queer Cinema program was conceived. The organizers and supporters of this series hope to introduce and reacquaint audiences with landmark queer works and their makers, while inspiring new conversations and renewed action surrounding the complex obstacles LGBTQ+ communities continue to face.
Program includes Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks (1947), Mike Kuchar’s Seascape (1984), Zackary Drucker’s At Least You Know You Exist (2011) and Barbara Hammer’s Nitrate Kisses (1992).
Read MoreBarbara Hammer’s debut feature Nitrate Kisses (1992) integrates the experiences of a diverse sampling of figures from the LGBTQ+ community—including a mixed-race gay couple, representative of the S/M community, and an older lesbian couple—with footage from Lot in Sodom (1933), one of the first American films to make explicit reference to homosexuality. With Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks (1947), a shoot-the-works celebration of outlawed sexuality; Mike Kuchar’s Seascape (1984), a gorgeous landscape film of ancient and echoing meanings paying homage to a lithe young muse caught at intersection of land and sea; and At Least You Know You Exist (2011), trans artist Zachary Drucker’s collaboration with elder and activist Flawless Sabrina, both together onscreen after the latter gives a stirring recitation of an essay on the false promises of capitalism and consumption.
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