FSLC Announces Lineup for An Early Clue to the New Direction: Queer Cinema Before Stonewall

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces the complete lineup for An Early Clue to the New Direction: Queer Cinema Before Stonewall, April 22 - May 1.

When did queer cinema begin? What did it look like before the German New Wave breakthroughs of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Ulrike Ottinger, before the FLASHPOINT of William Friedkin's Cruising, before its efflorescence in the '90s? The popular understanding of gay and lesbian film prior to Stonewall-that pivotal moment in 1969-is often one of censorship and subtext, of sad young men and Dietrich in a tuxedo. This survey aims to revise that conception dramatically and from a number of different perspectives, considering homophile auteurs in classical Hollywood, visionary grindhouse fare, home movies, sapphic vampire pictures, UNDERGROUND camp stylings, and physique films alongside radical formal experiments and lavender touchstones like Leontine Sagan's Mädchen in Uniform. Charting a course from the late 19th century to the cusp of liberation, Film Society's pre-Stonewall program reveals the terrain of early queer cinema as far vaster and more varied than received histories might suggest.

"The subject of early queer cinema has long fascinated me; this survey has, in a sense, been in the works for over a decade," said Programmer at Large Thomas Beard. "Now, the result of those years of research is manifest in the 30 programs that comprise the series, and I'm thrilled that audiences will have a chance to revisit classics like Hitchcock's Rope while they also discover the many rare items on offer, like Jacqueline Audry's Olivia and Gregory Markopoulos's Twice a Man."

The most comprehensive survey of pre-Stonewall queer cinema ever assembled, this landmark series includes 23 features and 25 shorts, and spans 65 years of film history dating back to 1895-from Hollywood productions (Dorothy Arzner's The Wild Party, John Huston's Reflections in a Golden Eye, Vincente Minnelli's Tea and Sympathy) and independent movies (Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason, Andy Warhol's My Hustler), to films by international auteurs (Carl Theodor Dreyer's Michael, Ingmar Bergman's Persona, Germaine Dulac's Princess Mandane) and bold work from the silent era (Alice Guy-Blaché's Algie, the Miner, Sidney Drew's A Florida Enchantment). The series also boasts many rarities: Jose Rodriguez-Soltero's avant-garde Lupe Vélez biopic Lupe, Andrew Meyer's An Early Clue to the New Direction, the program's namesake, and a range of other curios, from '50s home movie Mona's Candle Light to No Help Needed, a fragment of vintage lesbian pornography.

Organized by Thomas Beard.

Acknowledgements:
Harry Guerro; Ed Halter; Jenni Olson; Jake Perlin; Bruce Posner; Janet Staiger; Anthology Film Archives; the Bob Mizer Foundation; the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC); Harvard Film Archive; Istituto Luce Cinecittà; the Library of Congress; the Murnau Foundation; the Museum of Modern Art; Oddball Film + Video; the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project for LGBT Moving Image Preservation; the Prelinger Archives; the Swedish Film Institute; and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, April 7 and are $14; $11 for students and seniors (62+); and $9 for Film Society members. See more and save with the $150 ALL ACCESS Pass or 3+ film discount package. Visit filmlinc.org for more information.