Queer|Art Announces SUMMER OF RESISTANCE Film Series at IFC Center

Queer|Art has announced "Summer of Resistance," a special season of films selected by activists and politically engaged collectives, presented as part of the long-running Queer|Art|Film series taking place at IFC Center from May 8-August 14.

In a time of political upheaval, guests are individuals who refuse to be silent and complacent, and instead are committed to organizing and creating change for the communities they serve. For four summer nights, cinema will be used as a jumping off point for lively, challenging post-screening discussions that give depth to resistance and encourage audiences to act.

A full itinerary follows; June 26's Pride screening of Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four marks the series' 100th film. All screenings begin at 8pm.

Monday, May 8
fierce pussy presents THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975
(Göran Olsson, 2011)

In 2011, a group of Swedish journalists traveled to the U.S. with the intention of "showing the country as it really is." The result is an extraordinary documentary that examines the Black Power Movement from 1967-1975, with appearances by Angela Davis, Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton. For tonight's presenters, the queer art collective fierce pussy -- a group that emerged in the early 1990s from the members' participation in ACT UP -- the film is "a look back at a time [that is] still very relevant today as we continue to create strategies of resistance in the current social and political moment." What a perfect way for us to kick off this special series - Summer of Resistance!

Monday, June 26
F2L presents SOUTHWEST OF SALEM: THE STORY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOUR
(Deborah Esquenazi, 2016)

Deborah Esquenazi's riveting documentary explores the imprisonment of four Latina lesbians who were wrongly convicted of child molestation in 1994, thanks to a potent combination of homophobia, misogyny and racism. In her quest for exoneration, Esquenazi unearths surprising details during interviews with the women and their accusers. Our guest presenters tonight are F2L, community activists who fight for queer and trans New Yorkers of color being targeted by the criminal justice system. For F2L, SOS sharply captures how "the media works alongside a racist colonial court system that aims to incarcerate criminalized queer and trans people of color." Join us for an important conversation.

Monday, July 24
Bianey Garcia presents THE SALT MINES & THE TRANSFORMATION
(Susana Aikin, Carlos Aparicio, 1990/1995)

These astonishing depictions of trans life on the margins in 1990s NYC follow three homeless Latinx trans women living on the West Side Piers who must engage in sex work to support their drug addictions. But things get much darker when a Christian preacher forces one of the women to renounce her trans identity in exchange for treatment for HIV. The films are a favorite of our guest presenter Bianey Garcia, a prominent trans Latinx activist with Make The Road NY. Bianey writes, "When I saw these documentaries, it broke my heart to see how my trans sisters lived during that time. Nowadays, there are people like me who fight for a better life for our future generations!!"

Monday, August 14
Tarab NYC presents A GLASS AND A CIGARETTE
(Niazi Mostafa, 1955)

We wrap up our Summer season with a captivating classic from the Golden Age of Egyptian Cinema. Tonight's presenter Tarab NYC is the only not-for-profit of its kind, whose mission is to foster an inclusive and safe community for queer Arab, Middle Eastern, and/or North African people in the greater New York City area. A Glass and a Cigarette features several of the era's brightest stars, including Samia Gamal who plays a woman transitioning from belly-dance stardom to domestic bliss. For Tarab NYC this film is a perfect fit for QAF, as it takes "careful consideration of gender in relation to class, career, and performativities of sexual availability."

Tickets to all screenings can be purchased here.

Queer|Art launched in 2009 to support a generation of LGBTQ artists that lost mentors to the AIDS Crisis of the 1980s. By fostering the confident expression of LGBTQ artists' perspectives, stories, and identities, Queer|Art gives voice to a population that has been historically suppressed, disenfranchised, and often overlooked by traditional institutional and economic support systems. The current programs of Queer|Art include the year-long Queer|Art|Mentorship program, and the long-running Queer|Art|Film series, held monthly at the IFC Center in lower Manhattan.

The Queer|Art|Mentorship program, launched in 2010, produces an evolving intergenerational dialogue within the LGBTQ arts community that has a direct impact on the landscape of contemporary art and culture as a whole. The program, which pairs emerging and established artists in a year-long exchange, has propelled the careers of a new generation of creators. Queer|Art|Film, now in its eighth year, provides a space for invited artists to honor those who came before them and whose work continues to inspire them, further charting a uniquely queer cultural lineage through cinema to other artistic disciplines.

A list of the intergenerational community of artists supported and brought together by Queer|Art includes: Silas Howard, Jennie Livingston, Matt Wolf, Hilton Als, Sarah Schulman, Pamela Sneed, Justin VivIan Bond, Jibz Cameron, Trajal Harrell, John Kelly, Caden Manson, Everett Quinton, Geo Wyeth, Angela Dufresne, Nicole Eisenman, Avram Finkelstein, Chitra Ganesh, Pati Hertling, Jonathan Katz, Reina Gossett, Sasha Wortzel, Jess Barbagallo, Morgan Bassichis, Monstah Black, Yve Laris Cohen, iele paloumpis, Rebecca Patek, Justin Sayre, Colin Self, Justine Williams, Michael De Angelis, Jacolby Satterwhite, Rick Herron, and Hugh Ryan, among many others.

For more, visit www.queer-art.org or follow on Twitter: @queerartnyc, Instagram: @queerart and Facebook: @queerartnyc.