QUEER FILM SERIES
Episode 6:
60s Post-Code Era
(Queer Underground)

Screening
Portrait of Jason (1967) directed by Shirley Clarke

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) directed by Toshio Matsumoto

Please be considerate of the audience and subject-mater, The Learning Machine is a safe-space and anyone who acts otherwise will be asked to leave.

Bring your friends!! SRSLY, having trouble getting LGBTQ people to show up! Makes me sad, but you do you babes.
BYOB and BYOP (Bring your own pillow for comfort!!)
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Hey ya’ll,

A reminder that from here on out, hopefully, we’ll be able to focus on 4 movies each month centered within a specific time period/subject matter/theme/director/etc. Which also means more opportunities to catch the queer films considering everyone’s busy schedules!

This month we continue our journey through the 1960s. Our second installment will be our first time watching stories about queer POC characters, and more importantly, non-actors being interviewed about their lives and sexuality.

$$FREE$$

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For those of you who missed the first one, here’s my mission statement:

My goals for this series is to educate and spread awareness of films not normally sought out by the straight-cis world or even seen by LGBTQ folks who aren’t cinephiles themselves. Through-out the series, I hope for the audience to gain a greater understanding about the outside forces that suppressed our community for so long (and who continue to do so) and how despite everything, LGBTQ characters continued to appear and eventually break-free of the oppressive hollywood/moralist shackles.

Although for many decades, LGBTQ characters were not shown under a flattering lens and were often sad, suicidal or muderous people, I will do my best to showcase the rare instances of characters being able to take some positive ownership of their sexualities in addition to the darker more “problematic” films.

Also, due to how western society works as well as the distribution of wealth and technology, the majority of the films, at least through the 1970s will also mostly be cis, white and male, but rest assured that there will be more diverse films as the series comes along. I hope to have a few “specials” inbetween the chronological order we will be watching the films in to break things up; including documentaries on LGBT historical/popular figures and films that are Queer-Coded starring LGBTQ icons.

I’m doing my best to read-up as much LGBTQ film theory/history as I can and will be happy to moderate discussion after the films have been shown!

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“Portrait of Jason” (1967) Directed by Shirley Clarke. The film features highlights of a 12-hour interview with Aaron Payne, alias Jason Holliday, a former houseboy, would-be cabaret performer, and self-proclaimed hustler.

“Funeral Parade of Roses” (1969) Directed by Toshio Matsumoto. Loosely adapted from Oedipus Rex and set in the underground gay counterculture of 1960s Tokyo. An important work of the Japanese New Wave, the film combines elements of arthouse, documentary and experimental cinema.

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Tags: Bridgeport, Chicago, Queer Film Series: Episode 6: Part IV, Shirley Clarke, The Learning Machine, Toshio Matsumoto