Author: beckett

TRANS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AT SPECTACLE

Posted on by beckett

This TDOR, Spectacle presents a double feature of  90s documentaries by Susana Aikin and Carlos Aparicio about survival, conversion, and transsexual life in the AIDS crisis. The Salt Mines follows Sara, Gigi, and Giovana, three Latina trans women, as they make their home in a West Side garbage facility while struggling with drug addiction and sex work. The Transformation follows Sara, five years after the events of The Salt Mines, now dying of AIDS, living as a man in a Texas Evangelical community in exchange for material support.

The double feature will be introduced by Maxelle Talena of the Dysphoria podcast and [GUEST TBD] in a talk/performance that will feature poetry as well as discussion about addiction, transition, and life in New York.

All proceeds will be donated to F2L (Fund the Inside) an organization that provides material support to queer and trans incarcerated people.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19 – 10PM w/
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER – 20 PM w/

THE SALT MINES 

dir. Susana Aikin, Carlos Aparicio, 1990
United States. 47 mins
Spanish and English w/ English Subtitles.

Sara, Gigi, and Giovanna, three Latina trans women, make their home in a West Side garbage facility while struggling with drug addiction and sex work. 

THE TRANSFORMATION
dir. Susana Aikin, Carlos Aparicio, 1996
United States. 53 mins
Spanish and English w/ English Subtitles.

Sara, five years after the events of The Salt Mines, is now dying of AIDS. She lives as a man in a Texas Evangelical community in exchange for material support.

OHIO TEENS REMAKE THE CROW

Posted on by beckett

The program pairs filmmaker David Ullman’s underground documentary Inertia: Re-Making The Crow (2001) with James O’Barr’s The Crow (1998), his no-budget, shot-on-video adaptation of the gritty comic, who’s making the documentary chronicles.

Created by a group of small-town Ohio teenagers during the 1990s, the two films together capture both an ambitious act of DIY filmmaking and the singular energy of high school friendships. A program about artistic obsession, friendship, frustration, and youth. The screening on Friday the 13th features a virtual Q and A with David Ullman himself. (59min)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13th – 7:30PM  w/Q&A
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17th – 10:00PM
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23rd – 7:30PM

JAMES O’BARR’S THE CROW
Dir. David Ullman, Matt Jackson. 1998
United States, 59 min.
In English.

A year after his own tragic death, a young man rises from the grave to seek vengeance for the brutal murder of his fiancée. Through painful flashbacks, he relives their deaths and remembers their life together. Donning a sinister, mime-like visage, he stalks the murky alleyways and rain-slicked city streets, determined to exact a terrible and bloody revenge upon the gang that killed them.

This shot on video high-school adaptation of James O’Barr’s graphic novel, THE CROW, was created from 1994-1998 and is often more bleak and depressing than its blockbuster counterpart. The low-budget, suburban, black and white photography gives the film an often black-metal music video feel… a fact that’s helped by its use of authentic heavy metal and hardcore music. More than a few fans of the comic consider it the more faithful adaptation.

CW: Sexual Assault, self-harm

INERTIA: RE-MAKING THE CROW
Dir. David Ullman. 2001
USA. 60 min.
In English.

A raw and self-reflective coming-of-age documentary, Inertia: Re-making The Crow follows two small-town teenagers in the 90’s as they obsessively recreate James O’Barr’s graphic novel. What starts as a simple after-school fan project becomes a four-year odyssey that consumes their entire high-school existence, and accidentally portrays the birth of two artists.Through intimate behind-the-scenes footage and candid interviews, the film reveals the passion, persistence, and resourcefulness of youthful creativity. (61min)