Oddball Films is kicking off pride month with Underground Queer Cinema, a program of vintage 16mm low-budget, high-concept films from the 1950's through the 1970's that defied the boundaries of sexuality, narrative and (at times) good taste; featuring campy drag fairy-tales, homoerotic experimental works, the transgender superstars of Warhol's factory, and more. Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising (1964), is an experimental masterpiece of homoeroticism, bikers, occultism and groovy girl groups. The camptastic Sinderella (1962) retells an age-old fairy tale with a dragnificent twist for a new generation. Academy Award winning filmmakers Frank and Caroline Mouris give us Screentest (1975) a compelling and kaleidoscopic portrait of a gender bending acting troop (print courtesy of the Jenni Olson Queer Archive). Get a glimpse inside The Factory with an excerpt from the documentary Andy Warhol (1973) featuring clips of some of Warhol and director Paul Morrissey's audacious early works as well as interviews from superstars. Behind Every Good Man (1966), a rare and understated portrait of an African American transgender woman shopping, cruising and musing in 1960s Los Angeles. Plus! The first openly gay cartoons, The Goofy Gophers (featuring the voice of recently departed comic genius Stan Freberg) in the uncensored Lumber Jerks (1955); a number from legendary San Francisco drag queen Charles Pierce from The Charles Pierce Review (1969), and more surprises.
NEW SHOW ADDED: Friday, June 5th at 10:00pm
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
One of the most important films in Kenneth Anger’s body of work, Scorpio Rising employs the sounds of teen pop and the iconography of 50s and 60s motorcycle culture to create a shrine to teenage rebellion. It is part pop promo, part homo-erotic home movie and is packed with ironic symbolism and style – from his references to the occult to the partially naked, leather-clad bikers riding their bikes recklessly until they crash. Considered by many as the precursor of the pop promos of today - with its angular shots and contemporary soundtrack - the force and poetry of Anger's work has greatly influenced generations of filmmakers, designers and fashion photographers. Anger pioneered the use of the pop music in narrative film by filling the soundtrack entirely with Elvis, girl groups, and top 50 chart hits.
A kaleidoscopic documentary of nine queer actors as they give free rein to their fantasies. They dress up, strip down, cross-dress; paint their faces, paint their nails, paint the set and generally camp it up while, on the densely layered soundtrack, they dish each other’s performances, the film as a whole, and film documentaries in general. Print courtesy of the Jenni Olson Queer Archive.
Lumber Jerks (Color, 1955)
Featuring the “Goofy Gophers”, who have been called the first openly gay gophers in Hollywood. Aside from the intimation of behind-closed-doors cross-dressing, a scene where gas is siphoned from a truck was censored in later versions of this cartoon. The Gophers are voiced by Mel Blanc and the recently departed Stan Freberg.
About Oddball Films
Our films are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.