Film Screenings / Programs / Series
CROSS-DRESSING AND DRAG ON SCREEN
June 9 – June 18
This summer and fall, Anthology presents a series of related programs exploring the diverse ways in which the cinema has reflected or embodied gender transgression. We inaugurated one component of the overall project in March, with a series – organized in collaboration with performance artist John Epperson, whose alter-ego Lypsinka was let loose on the world 35 years ago – showcasing the history of drag on screen. That series continues in June with a selection of films illustrating the various ways filmmakers have depicted, or utilized, cross-dressing, drag and performative gender transgression.
The program is loosely structured to highlight three main categories: documentaries portraying particular drag artists or festivals (the relevant films in this installment include VENUS BOYZ and OCAÑA), fictional films portraying this rich counter-culture (WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SUSAN JANE? and others), and films whose performers themselves cross-dress in order to play characters of another gender (including A MAN LIKE EVA).
Elsewhere on this calendar, we inaugurate an ongoing series entitled THE CINEMA OF TRANSGENDER; click here for more details.
Guest curated by John “Lypsinka” Epperson.
“Cross-Dressing and Drag on Screen” is presented in conjunction with the International Center of Photography’s exhibition, “Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change,” one section of which – curated by Carol Squiers in collaboration with Quito Ziegler – will be entitled, “The Fluidity of Gender”; the exhibition will be on display January 27-May 7, 2017.
Special thanks to John Epperson; Brian Belovarac (Janus Films); Daniel Bish (George Eastman Museum); Cassie Blake (Academy Film Archive); Charles Busch; Chris Chouinard (Park Circus); Filmoteca Española; Marc Huestis; Paul Marchant (First Run Features); Kristie Nakamura & Nicki Woods (WB); Stephen Parr (Oddball Films); Kanako Shirasaki (Japan Foundation); Richard Steele (HBO); George Watson & Rod Rhule (BFI); and Todd Wiener & Steven Hill (UCLA).
