QUEER FEST – KENNETH ANGER’S MAGICK LANTERN SHORTS at Genesis Cinema (Sat 15 July 2023)
“EROTICA, DOCUMENTARY, PSYCHODRAMA, AND SPECTACLE” from “ONE OF AMERICA’S FIRST OPENLY GAY FILMMAKERS”!
An evening of Kenneth Anger’s short films from the iconic Magick Lantern Cycle, including FIREWORKS (1947), RABBIT’S MOON (1950–71), and SCORPIO RISING (1964).
Kenneth Anger’s enormously influential short films serve up a mind-bending cocktail of homoeroticism, symbolism and occultism, mixed with a pioneering use of pop and classical music. His controversial life and career – Anger also wrote trash-talking dumpster fire, Hollywood Babylon – are spiked with falsehoods, radicalism, censorship (leading to a landmark civil rights judgement), violence, and scandal.
As ArtReview put it at the time of his recent passing (Anger died aged 96, 11 May 2023): “Few people present a better case for separating the art from the artist than Kenneth Anger. He was a man of intense contradictions, having become a legend long before his death.”
In films that are celebrated for their liberating use of light, Anger revealed the contradictory drive towards darkness that’s still very much visible in today’s rights-eroding extremism. Join Token Homo for this rare BAR TRASH special event as he explores Kenneth Anger’s outrageous underground legacy and screens 6 films from the iconic Magick Lantern Cycle (1947–81).
PROGRAMME
- Introduction
- FIREWORKS (1947 / B&W / 15mins)
- PUCE MOMENT (1949 / Colour / 6mins)
- RABBIT’S MOON (1950–71 / Tinted B&W / 16mins)
- Intermission
- EAUX D’ARTIFICE (1953 / Tinted B&W / 13mins)
- SCORPIO RISING (1964 / Colour / 28mins)
- KUSTOM KAR KOMMANDOS (1965 / Colour / 3mins)
CONTENT WARNING: programme contains scenes of violence and offensive imagery.
BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by Token Homo. All films screen with introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, themed drinks and subtitles/captions (where possible!).