Same Sex/Different Sex: Queer Identity and Culture

Los Angeles Filmforum continues their film screening series Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles, 1945-1980 with Same Sex/Different Sex: Queer Identity and Culture, featuring works by Robert Wade Chatterton, Penelope Spheeris,Chick Strand, and more.

From the 1950s through the 1980s, underground film was an avenue for artistic self-expression for lesbian and gay artists, and also occasionally provided a way for LGBT people to see representations of themselves without persecution. But the cultural climate changed dramatically over the decades, with the closeted screenings for friends of the earlier period changing to public screenings and well-advertised events. For example, in 1957 and 1964, the exhibitors at the Coronet Theater and the Cinema Theater respectively were each arrested by the Los Angeles Police for exhibiting obscene works, and both times the police were primarily targeting films with homoerotic (but not explicit) content – Fireworks by Kenneth Anger and Voices by John Schmitz in 1957; Scorpio Rising by Anger in 1964. Both times the exhibitor was originally convicted, but the conviction overturned in Los Angeles Country Superior Court.

By the late 1960s, after various court cases, such police action was no longer prevalent. The 1970s and 1980s brought the rise of identity politics, creating new venues for self-expression. There soon resulted healthy numbers of works with Queer Identity and culture as the subject by makers such as Pat Rocco, and multiple artists from the Woman’s Building – documentaries; fantasies; activist works; news reporting; experimental films – a full range of media art showing the lives and conflicts and creativity of LGBT artists – a point of view not yet found in mainstream media.

This program starts with a little-known work from 1962, made by Robert Chatterton, who was also a prominent underground film exhibitor. Taylor Mead, on one of his occasional visits to Los Angeles, acted in two films by Chatterton, including Passion in a Seaside Slum. Brought to our attention by Marc Siegel in the Alternative Projections symposium in 2010, Filmforum arranged for the preservation of Passion in a Seaside Slum with the generous support of the National Film Preservation Foundation and the Film Foundation. This is the premiere screening of this new print. We are also screening a remarkable short documentary made by Penelope Spheeris and lesbian public service announcements from the Woman’s Building in the 1970s.

More films to be added; waiting on confirmations for more great films. Plus, in person: Penelope Spheeris, and possibly more, schedule permitting.

Special thanks to Kristin Pepe, Outfest; the Getty Research Institute; Anthology Film Archives.

The show is free! Reservations are recommended, and will be held until 7:15 pm on show night, at which time they will be released to anyone present. Reservations available here.

Screening (Subject to change):

Passion in a Seaside Slum (Robert Wade Chatterton, 1962, 16mm (orig. 8mm), color, silent, 32min.) Restored print from the Academy Film Archive.

I Don't Know (Penelope Spheeris, 1970, 16mm, b/w, sound, 18min.)

Lesbian occupations--public service announcements (1970s, video, color, sound, 3 min., Each PSA 30” – 60” seconds) Produced by the Los Angeles Women’s Video Center. Courtesy of the Getty Research Institute. The LA Women’s Video Center was a collective of video artists including Jerri Allyn, Nancy Angelo, Annette Hunt and Candace Compton.

Fever Dream (Chick Strand, 1979, 7 min, 16mm, b&w, sound)

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Los Angeles Filmforum’s film screening series Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles, 1945-1980 features over 24 shows between October 2011 and May 2012. Alternative Projections is Filmforum’s exploration of the community of filmmakers, artists, curators and programmers who contributed to the creation and presentation of experimental film and video in Southern California in the postwar era. Film series curated by Adam Hyman and Mark Toscano. See more at alternativeprojections.com Alternative Projections is part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945 – 1980, an unprecedented collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene.

Alternative Projections: Experimental Film in Los Angeles, 1945-1980 is part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980. This unprecedented collaboration, initiated by the Getty, brings together more than sixty cultural institutions from across Southern California for six months beginning October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the L.A. art scene. Pacific Standard Time is an initiative of the Getty. The presenting sponsor is Bank of America.

Primary funding for Alternative Projections was provided by the Getty Foundation, with additional support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This screening series is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Special support provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Metabolic Studio. Additional support generously provided by American Cinematheque.

Los Angeles Filmforum is the city's longest-running organization screening experimental and avant-garde film and video art, documentaries, and experimental animation. 2012 is our 37th year.