Only in LA
Screenings & Events
Festivals, Special Guests, Retrospectives and more "one night only" queer cinema screenings.
Jan
19
January
19
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January
19
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27
7:30 pm
The Matrix
LOOK Dine-In Glendale
When The Matrix came out in 1999, nobody thought it was a queer movie--but directors Lily and Lana Wachowski have come out as trans (and made the wildly queer series Sense8). Watching the Matrix today shines a new light on its epic battles for liberation and authenticity.
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Jan
19
January
19
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January
19
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12:00 pm
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
Alamo Drafthouse DTLA
Long in the shadow of a similarly long-titled Australian movie about a drag act stuck in a small town in the 90s, this Spielberg-produced comedy was groundbreaking for Hollywood at the time.
Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. When the two meet pathetic drag novice Chi-Chi Rodriguez — one of the losers that evening — the charmed Vida and Noxeema agree to take the hopeless youngster under their joined wing. Soon the three set off on a madcap road trip across America and struggle to make it to Los Angeles in time.
Jan
18
January
18
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January
18
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3:15 pm
Rebecca
Karina Longworth
Vidiots Eagle Theater
In Alfred Hitchcock's first American film, the villainous housekeeper Mrs. Danvers is coded as a lesbian--whose unhealthy obsession with the gentleman's dead first wife motivates her to try to destroy his new bride.
Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.
Jan
18
January
18
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January
18
&
3:00 pm
Rebel Without a Cause
70th Anniversary
Egyptian Theatre
"It is of course vita that there be no inference of a questionable or homosexual relationship between Plato and Jim” wrote the MPPC censors, scolding this film from bisexual director Nicholas Ray with bi star James Dean and the "first gay teen on screen" played by out Sal Mineo.
After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid’s real troubles begin.
Jan
17
January
17
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January
17
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8:10 pm
Wake in Fright
New Beverly Cinema
This nearly-lost, queer-coded, incredibly violent Australian horror film follows a schoolteacher (out actor Gary Bond) who is stranded in an Outback mining town, where the local men draw him deeper and deeper into their deranged life far from civilization.
A schoolteacher, stuck in a teaching post in an arid backwater, stops off in a mining town on his way home for Christmas. Discovering a local gambling craze that may grant him the money to move back to Sydney for good, he embarks on a five-day nightmarish odyssey of drinking, gambling, and hunting.
Jan
15
January
15
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January
15
&
7:00 pm
Chinatown Punk Wars
Queer Diaspora
Director Steve Kochones
Philosophical Research Society
Gregorio Davila's Queer Diaspora series continues with this local documentary, about the 1970's punk scene in LA. Shunned by Hollywood venues, punk acts moved to Chinatown, where two rival punk bars developed into an inclusive underground scene welcoming of all sexualities.
In the late 1970s, two Chinese restaurants became the unlikely epicenter of L.A.’s burgeoning punk scene. The emerging music form featured fast-paced songs and hard-edged melodies with anti-capitalist messaging. As told through interviews with John Doe (X), Alice Bag (The Bags), Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, Black Flag, OFF!), and Martin Wong (Save Music in Chinatown).
Jan
6
January
6
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January
6
&
10:00 pm
Ema
Egyptian Theatre
To celebrate the release of Maria, the third in his accidental "Great Women" Trilogy, The Egyptian looks back at the career of Pablo Larraín. Check out Ema, the tense tale of a young bisexual dancer trying to get her son back at all costs as her marriage collapses.
Ema is a magnetic and impulsive dancer in a reggaeton troupe. Her toxic marriage to choreographer Gastón is beyond repair, following a decision to give up on their adopted child Polo. She sets out on a mission to get him back, not caring who she’ll need to fight, seduce or destroy to make it happen.
Jan
5
January
5
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January
5
&
3:45 pm
Cabaret
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Bob Fosse's film adaptation of the Broadway show, which won 8 Academy Awards, screens as part of the Academy Musuem's celebration of Technicolor. Showtunes, Liza Minelli, the rise of the Nazis, and forward (for 70's Hollywood) depiction of bisexuality make Cabaret a classic.
Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles and an impish emcee sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside a certain political party grows into a brutal force.
Jan
3
January
3
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January
3
&
8:00 pm
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Academy Museum
An amazing example of how the studios self-censored under the Hays code, Tennessee Williams' play about a closeted football star was adapted into a movie that talks in circles, but still won Oscars. Williams told fans "This movie will set the industry back 50 years. Go home!"
An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Jan
3
January
3
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January
3
&
7:30 pm
Extremely Unique Dynamic
Directors Harrison Xu & Ivan Leung, with special guests each night
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Ryan and Daniel, two childhood best friends and aspiring actors, spend one final weekend together before Ryan has to move to Canada with his fiancé. Wanting to create one lasting memory, they decide to make a movie… about two guys making a movie.. about two guys making a movie. Along the way, they unpack their decades-long friendship and prepare for the next chapters of their respective lives.
Dec
31
December
31
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December
31
&
7:00 pm
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Los Feliz 3
NEW RESTORATION! Though married to Agnes Varda for most of this life, French New Wave icon Jacques Demy was bisexual and died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. He is best known for his sunny musicals of the 1960s, where his voice shines through with romantic optimism.
This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother’s chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy’s return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.
Dec
30
December
30
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December
30
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7:00 pm
Velvet Goldmine
Egyptian Theatre
Young Ewan MacGregor, Christian Bale and Jonathan Rhys Meyers star in New Queer Cinema auteur Todd Haynes' loosely-fictionalized bisexual 1970s glam-rock faux biopic based on the lives and loves of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed. Say that three times fast.
Almost a decade has elapsed since Bowiesque glam-rock superstar Brian Slade escaped the spotlight of the London scene. Now, investigative journalist Arthur Stuart is on assignment to uncover the truth behind the enigmatic Slade. Stuart, himself forged by the music of the 1970s, explores the larger-than-life stars who were once his idols and what has become of them since the turn of the new decade.
Dec
30
December
30
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December
30
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2:00 pm
Cunningham
Academy Museum
This remarkable 3D documentary showcases the life work of gay choreographer Merce Cunningham, who was a trailblazer in modern and avant-garde dance, and frequently collaborated with his life partner, the composer John Cage.
The iconic Merce Cunningham and the last generation of his dance company is profiled in Alla Kovgan’s 3D documentary, through recreations of his landmark works and archival footage of Cunningham, John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, and more.
Dec
29
December
29
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December
29
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6:00 pm
Born in Flames
Brain Dead Studios
In near-future New York, ten years after the “social-democratic war of liberation,” diverse groups of women organize a feminist uprising as equality remains unfulfilled.
Dec
28
December
28
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December
28
&
9:45 pm
Bound
Hornyfest
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Corky, a tough female ex-convict working on an apartment renovation in a Chicago building, meets a couple living next door, Caesar, a paranoid mobster, and Violet, his seductive girlfriend, who is immediately attracted to her.
Dec
28
December
28
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December
28
&
7:30 pm
Flesh for Frankenstein in 3D
Academy Museum
Paul Morrissey wasn't queer, but he was a frequent collaborator of Andy Warhol's, and his underground films featured trans breakouts like Holly Woodlawn, bisexual leading man Joe Dallesandro, and prolific gay actor Udo Kier. Don't miss this X-rated sexploitation horror tribute.
Within the decadent walls of the Frankenstein mansion, the Baron and his depraved assistant Otto have discovered the means of creating new life. As the Baron’s laboratory begins to fill up with stitched body parts, the Baroness dallies with the randy new manservant and soon the decadent, permissive household is consumed by an outrageous, bizarre and hilarious combination of death and dismemberment.
Dec
28
December
28
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December
28
&
4:00 pm
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Egyptian Theatre
NEW RESTORATION! Though married to Agnes Varda for most of this life, French New Wave icon Jacques Demy was bisexual and died of AIDS-related complications in 1990. He is best known for his sunny musicals of the 1960s, where his voice shines through with romantic optimism.
This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother’s chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy’s return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.
Dec
26
December
26
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December
26
&
7:30 pm
The Maltese Falcon
Aero Theater
Peter Lorre's villain is explicitly gay in the novel, but to pass the censors in the iconic 1941 adaptation, the character's queerness manifests in subtler ways--like gardenia cologne and suggestively stroking a cane, though audiences at the time would likely catch the hint.
A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
Dec
24
December
24
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December
24
&
7:00 pm
Tokyo Godfathers
Los Feliz 3
On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.
Dec
22
December
22
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December
22
&
8:00 pm
Deep Red
Brain Dead Studios
One of Dario Argento's most famous Italian horror films, many of which play with gender, sexuality, and social critique, Deep Red has a gay supporting character who is wrongly assumed to be guilty because of his sexuality.
An English pianist living in Rome witnesses the brutal murder of his neighbor, a psychic. With the help of a tenacious young reporter he tries to discover the killer using very unconventional methods, and the two are soon drawn into a shocking web of dementia and violence.
Dec
22
December
22
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15
December
22
&
7:00 pm
Carol
Los Feliz 3
Make it a Todd Haynes Christmas! Lesbian period drama Carol follows Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara in the repressed world of 1950s high society New York City (at Christmas). The #1 film on the BFI poll of Best Queer Films of all time.
In 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman.
Dec
22
December
22
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December
22
&
2:30 pm
Saint Joan
Academy Museum
Was Joan of Arc the original gender outlaw? The 15th century teenager was burned at the stake for the heresy of wearing men's clothing (and helping to lead the French army).
Young Joan of Arc comes to the palace in France to make The Dauphin King of France and is appointed to head the French Army. After winning many battles she is not needed any longer and soon she is thought of as a witch.
Dec
21
December
21
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December
21
&
11:59 pm
Deep Red
New Beverly Cinema
One of Dario Argento's most famous Italian horror films, many of which play with gender, sexuality, and social critique, Deep Red has a gay supporting character who is wrongly assumed to be guilty because of his sexuality.
An English pianist living in Rome witnesses the brutal murder of his neighbor, a psychic. With the help of a tenacious young reporter he tries to discover the killer using very unconventional methods, and the two are soon drawn into a shocking web of dementia and violence.
Dec
21
December
21
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December
21
&
9:45 pm
Shortbus
Hornyfest
Vidiots Eagle Theater
Hedwig creator John Cameron Mitchell wrote and directed this sexually explicit ensemble comedy about the intersecting (sex) lives of couples gay straight and in-between, leading up to a gathering at the weekly Shortbus art/sex salon and orgy.
In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.
Dec
20
December
20
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December
20
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7:00 pm
Auntie Mame
Egyptian Theatre
If you know a gay man over 50, you've probably heard this film quoted endlessly. "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!" is one of many pearls of wisdom from Rosiland Russell as Mame, a progressive woman of the 1920s who takes in her orphaned nephew.
Mame Dennis, a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick after his wealthy father dies. Conflict ensues when the executor of the father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school.
Dec
19
December
19
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December
19
&
10:00 pm
Rent
Los Feliz 3
This rock opera tells the story of one year in the life of a group of bohemians struggling in late 1980s East Village, New York, USA. The film centers around Mark and Roger, two roommates. While a tragedy has made Roger numb to new experiences, Mark begins capturing their world through his attempts to make a personal movie. In the year that follows, they and their friends deal with love, loss, and working together.
Dec
18
December
18
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December
18
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10:00 pm
Tangerine
Los Feliz 3
A new queer Christmas classic, Tangerine follows trans workers Sin-Dee and Alexandra on a holiday odyssey across Los Angeles. Shot on a micro budget on three iPhones, Tangerine is a triumph of scrappy indie can-do--that led to Gotham and Spirit awards for co-star Mya Taylor.
It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.
Dec
18
December
18
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December
18
&
7:30 pm
Happiest Season
Writer/director Clea DuVall
Vidiots Eagle Theater
A young woman’s plans to propose to her girlfriend while at her family’s annual holiday party are upended when she discovers her partner hasn’t yet come out to her conservative parents.
Dec
18
December
18
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December
18
&
7:00 pm
The First Underground Movie Star: Taylor Mead at 100
Philosophical Research Society
Poet, actor, filmmaker and traveler, Taylor Mead was a fixture of postwar America’s art and counterculture scenes, gleefully bridging the Beat movement and New York’s downtown scene. An uninhibited screen comedian and queer icon, Mead’s centennial will be celebrated tonight.
Dec
18
December
18
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December
18
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7:00 pm
Ashik Kerib
Los Feliz 3
Bisexual Soviet film director Sergei Parajanov was jailed for his art, his sexuality, and his support of nationalist movements within the USSR. None of his films are explicitly Queer by modern standards, but they play with gender, kitsch, and folklore in beautiful ways.
Wandering minstrel Ashik Kerib falls in love with a rich merchant’s daughter, but is spurned by her father and forced to roam the world for a thousand and one nights. Now presumed dead by those he loves, he performs for the poor and unfortunate on his journeys through the wilderness. Parajanov’s visually ravishing ‘tableaux vivants’ tell Lermontov’s romantic tale while Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs transport us into its mystical landscapes.
Dec
16
December
16
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December
16
&
8:00 pm
NSFW Film Festival
Queer Sex Positive Short Films
AKBAR
NSFW Film Fest is dedicated to screening queer films that would normally be excluded by mainstream outlets because of sexual content. Join Queer Planet for their fifth annual screening of these sexy, daring, and creative short films at Akbar!
Dec
16
December
16
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December
16
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8:00 pm
Pumping Iron II: The Women
Programmer Elizabeth Purchell
Brain Dead Studios
Presented from a rare archival 35mm print provided by the University of North Carolina School of the Arts featuring music by Grace Jones, The Art of Noise, by historian, programmer and filmmaker Elizabeth Purchell (in person) and Hollywood Entertainment.
PUMPING IRON II: THE WOMEN, a film that is changing the way the world views the female physique-creating “a new definition of the female form.” Join four women as they prepare for the 1983 Caesars Palace World Cup Championship: the sultry and curvaceous Rachel McLish, the current champion; the super-muscular Bev Francis, Rachel’s toughest competition; and newcomers Lori Bowen and Carla Dunlap.
Dec
16
December
16
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December
16
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4:00 pm
Paris, 13th District
Egyptian Theatre
This story of criss-crossing romances in a Paris apartment building was co-written by lesbian auteur Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, Portrait of a Lady on Fire) and co-stars Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire).
Émilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy – They’re friends, sometimes lovers and often both.
Dec
15
December
15
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December
15
&
10:00 pm
Female Trouble
Los Feliz 3
The life and times of Dawn Davenport, showing her progression from bratty schoolgirl to crazed mass murderer - all of which stems from her parents' refusal to buy her cha-cha heels for Christmas.
Dec
15
December
15
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December
15
&
8:00 pm
Jesus - Der Film
Director Michael Brynntrup
Academy Museum
An "cinematic burlesque" retelling of the story of Christ, shot by teams of East and West German underground filmmakers who didn't know what each other were shooting, all coordinated by and starring queer avant-garde Michael Brynntrup as Jesus.
The joint high mess of 80s German underground: An exercise in exquisite corps (and in some cases probably also automatic writing) for which artists from both nations shot episodes from the Good Book - not necessarily following the text too closely.
Dec
15
December
15
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December
15
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8:00 pm
My Own Private Idaho
Brain Dead Studios
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV,” Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike’s estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Dec
15
December
15
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December
15
&
7:00 pm
The Flower on the Stone
Hammer Museum
Bisexual Soviet film director Sergei Parajanov was jailed for his art, his sexuality, and his support of nationalist movements within the USSR. None of his films are explicitly Queer by modern standards, but they play with gender, kitsch, and folklore in beautiful ways.
Set in a new mining town in the Donets Coal Basin, it centres on a clash between the young miners, the political establishment, and a religious cult lead by a devious Pentecostal evangelist infiltrated into the community who tries to make the workers fall under his influence.
Dec
15
December
15
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December
15
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4:30 pm
Querelle
Alamo Drafthouse DTLA
The final film made by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, this adaptation of the Jean Genet novel follows a sailor on leave in France as he simultaneously tries to cover up his involvement in a murder and embarks on a sexual odyssey of self-discovery.
A handsome Belgian sailor on shore leave in the port of Brest, who is also a drug-smuggler and murderer, embarks upon a voyage of highly charged and violent homosexual self-discovery that will change him forever from the man he once was.
Dec
15
December
15
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December
15
&
11:00 am
The Wild Party
Restoration Premiere
Academy Museum
Dorothy Arzner was a successful Hollywood director when there were few women, and even fewer out lesbians, at the top of the profession. This new restoration of the pre-code gem was an early talkie, and the earliest surviving film by Arzner.
Wild girls at a college pay more attention to parties than their classes. But when one party girl, Stella Ames, goes too far at a local bar and gets in trouble, her professor has to rescue her. Gossip linking the two escalates until Stella proves she is decent by shielding an innocent girl and winning the professor’s respect.