Queer Film Now: a LGBT+ Curatorial Project
Mentor 1
Carl Bogner
Location
Union Cinema
Start Date
28-4-2017 12:00 PM
Description
The goal of Queer Film Now is to create film screenings that provide a historical context for current practice and work to expand definitions of LGBT+ film. Many artists in early LGBT+ film face underrepresentation, due to the lack of circulation of their work. The earliest examples of LGBT+ film are not found within the conventional modes of commercial filmmaking nor are they easily accessible. Experimental and underground film movements were essential in providing support for early queer voices. Through the process of researching historical film criticism, historical art texts, and exhibition histories (film festival schedules, underground film venue screening histories) I assembled a working catalogue of artists and films to select from for potential screenings. My research also included total immersion in film viewing, as I watched over 32 hours worth of films (more than 100 individual films by more than 50 individual filmmakers, including 2 feature films). In working with campus resources, community partners, and film and video distribution organizations, I curated individual programs, each asserting an independent, foundational thesis. The research project has already resulted in the exhibition of one program, "Corporeal Materialism: A Brief History (1963-1974) of Bodies from the Queer Underground", supported by the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival on October 16, 2016.The research project will also materialize in a second program, showcasing the works of the 1960s underground filmmaker José Rodríguez-Soltero. I will provide introductory remarks and program notes for each screening. The purpose of these film screenings will be to not only help viewers gain a more expansive sense of LGBT+ history, but also to help negotiate formal and conceptual relations between historical work and contemporary film practice. Ultimately, this is a research project about the practice of representation, and the crucial role diversity plays in art exhibition.
Queer Film Now: a LGBT+ Curatorial Project
Union Cinema
The goal of Queer Film Now is to create film screenings that provide a historical context for current practice and work to expand definitions of LGBT+ film. Many artists in early LGBT+ film face underrepresentation, due to the lack of circulation of their work. The earliest examples of LGBT+ film are not found within the conventional modes of commercial filmmaking nor are they easily accessible. Experimental and underground film movements were essential in providing support for early queer voices. Through the process of researching historical film criticism, historical art texts, and exhibition histories (film festival schedules, underground film venue screening histories) I assembled a working catalogue of artists and films to select from for potential screenings. My research also included total immersion in film viewing, as I watched over 32 hours worth of films (more than 100 individual films by more than 50 individual filmmakers, including 2 feature films). In working with campus resources, community partners, and film and video distribution organizations, I curated individual programs, each asserting an independent, foundational thesis. The research project has already resulted in the exhibition of one program, "Corporeal Materialism: A Brief History (1963-1974) of Bodies from the Queer Underground", supported by the Milwaukee LGBT Film/Video Festival on October 16, 2016.The research project will also materialize in a second program, showcasing the works of the 1960s underground filmmaker José Rodríguez-Soltero. I will provide introductory remarks and program notes for each screening. The purpose of these film screenings will be to not only help viewers gain a more expansive sense of LGBT+ history, but also to help negotiate formal and conceptual relations between historical work and contemporary film practice. Ultimately, this is a research project about the practice of representation, and the crucial role diversity plays in art exhibition.
