LGBTQ Classics Archives

Panel + Screening of “Dick Tracy”

Celebrating 35 years since the release of the film “Dick Tracy” with a panel of experts, led by festival head Yair Hochner. The panel will try to answer the question of why Madonna is a pop culture icon, and specifically a gay icon?

Participating in the panel are:
Amir Kaminer, film critic and culture journalist who interviewed Madonna multiple times
Dana Kessler, journalist and artistic director of the Soundtrack film festival
Michal Shapira, singer and actress
Kay Long, drag artist

“Dick Tracy” might just be the most colourful and musical comic book movie of all time. Warren Beatty enlisted for his film the help of Stephen Sondheim, the composer and lyricist of many musicals, such as “Company”, “A Little Music Night”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Into the Woods”, “Sunday in the Park with George”, “Assassins” and “Follies”. His career started with writing the lyrics for the musicals “West Side Story” and “Gypsy”. “Dick Tracy” is half a musical film, which earned Sondheim an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his work on the film. The songs are performed by the icon, singer, actress, director and Kabbalah aficionado – Madonna.

The plot is very simple: “Dick Tracy” is a detective battling against “Big Boy” Caprice, the head of the mafia, portrayed by Al Pacino with heavy makeup. Madonna portrays a pleasant bar singer named Mahoney, who is romantically involved with Big Boy. Aside from them, a number of famous actors appear in this film for mere moments, with or without heavy makeup, from the likes of Dustin Hoffman, James Keane, Charles Durning, William Forsythe, Seymour Cassel, Paul Sorvino, Mandy Patinkin, Catherine O’Hara, James Keane, Kathy Bates and Dick Van Dyke. The film was shot by the artist Vittorio Storaro (“Apocalypse Now”, “Reds”, “The Last Emperor”), and has a bold visual style which attempts to be as faithful as possible to the aesthetic of the original comic strips.

“Dick Tracy” was nominated for a total of nine Academy Awards, including: Best Supporting Actor for Pacino’s performance, and won in three categories: Best Original Song, Best Makeup and Best Art Direction.

Courtesy of Disney+

Querelle

German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s last film from 1982 is an adaptation of the 1947 Jean Genet novel “Querelle de Brest”. When Belgian sailor George Querelle’s ship docks in Brest, he visits ‘Feria’ a bar and brothel run by Madame Lysiane, her husband Nono who had illegal businesses and her lover Robert, who happens to be George’s brother. Both brothers have a complex relationship based on love and mutual loathing, when all that Madame Lysiane and her husband care about is getting George Querelle into their bed.

‘Querelle’ is an erotic and stylish masterpiece that brings to the screen a hot dish of passions, lust, sex and a lot of killings. With spectacular sets and costumes that reminds the drawings of fetish artist Tom of Finland. The international cast is no short of perfect- bisexual American actor Brad Davis (“Midnight Express” who was also an AIDS activist, of which he died in 1991), French cinematic diva Jeanne Moreau (“Jill et Jim”) and Italian actor Franco Nero (star of spaghetti western film series “Django” who also appeared in Tarantino’s “Django Unchained”) in a gentle and unexpected role as the captain of the ship who is secretly in love with Querelle.

Pink Narcissus

In Memory of James Bidgood (1933-2022)

“Pink Narcissus” is a 1971 ground breaking, queer, camp and daring American film created by artist James Bidgood, and starring unknown actors such as Don Brooks, Bobby Kendall and stage actor Charles Ludlam.

Alone in his apartment the hero of “Pink Narcissus” is having erotic fantasies about a male prostitute and surprise visits by a bodyguard. In every world he fantasizes about he is the hero, whether he is a Roman slave, a matador or a belly-dancing harem guard.

Bidgood filmed “Pink Narcissus” on a 8mm camera, during seven years (1963-1970), in his studio apartment. After a dispute with the distributors of the film he decided to remove his name from the credits and the film was released under ‘anonymous director’, which led to rumours that the one who actually filmed it was Andy Warhol. Only during the 90’s it was revealed that the actual creator was Bidgood, who was still living in the same studio apartment where he filmed “Pink Narcissus”, and he received the credit he was due. Since then the film has been shown in dozens of festivals and gained cinematic tributes all over the world.

Viewing is 18+ due to explicit sexual content.

My Beautiful Laundromat

TLVFest is proud to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the British Classic, directed by Stephen Frears (“Dangerous Liaisons”, “The Queen”) and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke. The film was written by Hanif Qureshi who later adapted it into a successful play.

Two young men from totally different backgrounds in 80’s London meet during the Thatcher administration and the economic changes she led. The plot takes place in a hard neighbourhood, in a community of Pakistani immigrants and poor white folk.

Omar is a young Pakistani whose family opens a launderette in the neighbourhood. Johnny is a young white man who starts to work there. Both men, who live in a community full of racism and prejudice find themselves not only working side by side, but fall in love with each other as well. The British Film Institute had included this film in the ‘Best 100 films of the 20th century’

Come watch the greatest actor of our generation, winner of three Academy Awards Daniel Day-Lewis (“My Left Foot”, “There Will Be Blood”, “Lincoln”) in one of his first and best roles.

Desert Hearts

Donna Deitch, an awards winning documentarist was also the first out lesbian director who paved the way for many others with her debut feature film “Desert Hearts”. The film is based on a novel by Jane Rule written in 1964.

Helen Shaver is starring as Vivian Bell, a 35 years old professor from Columbia University who’s going to Reno to get divorced. She arrives at the farm of Frances Parker (Audra Lindley) in order to stay the required 6 weeks before she can become a Nevada resident and get her divorce.

In the farm Vivian catches the attention of Frances adopted daughter Cay (Patricia Charbonneau) an out and confident lesbian. Cay works at a casino and is a decade younger than Vivian. At first Vivan is trying to stay strong against Cay’s shameless flirting but when the emotions flood over she cannot resist anymore and the two end up in each other’s arms.

Already as its debut release back in 1985 “Desert Hearts” delighted audiences in the most prestigious film festivals around the globe- Locarno, Toronto and Sundance and now you have a chance to get swept into the romance set against the desert backdrop and the country soundtrack that accompanies the film in an original and high quality 35mm version.

Buddies

Arthur J. Bressan, Jr.’s low budget masterpiece from 1985 is still as effective and moving as it was 40 years ago.

David (David Schachter) is a 25 years old yuppie who volunteers to be a “Buddy” to an AIDS patient. The LGBTQ community center teams him with Robert (Geoff Edholm), a 32 years old gay gardner from California, with very sharp political views, who had been abandoned by his friends and loved ones.

This is a lyrical cinematic piece for two actors (the rest of the cast is only heard, not seen) of the relationship between a young man who’s got his whole future ahead of him and who becomes best friends with a man who is dying of a then incurable disease. Aided by an elegant and meticulous script the result is rare perfection that is immortalising in a real moment a whole period of LGBTQ history.

“Buddies” is the first feature length film about the AIDS pandemic. It made its international debut on September 12 1985 in the Castro Theatre, with director Bressan and his two actors present. Five days later on September 17 1985 the US president Reagan finally uttered the word AIDS in public for the very first time. Sadly, Brassen himself died of AIDS in 1987 as did his actor Geoff Adholm in 1989. David Schachter still lives in New-York.

The Wizard of Oz

Judy Garland is Dorothy, the unhappy child carried away by a tornado with her dog Toto, all the way from Kansas to the fantasy land of Oz where she discovers after many adventures that true happiness is to be found in her own back yard. The excellent directing of Victor Fleming, Judy Garland’s amazing performance, the eternal music- all made ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to one of the biggest most loved films ever produced in classic Hollywood. The film won academy awards for the song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and the soundtrack. Judy Garland won a special academy award for her performance.

The Wiz

Who would have thought that Sidney Lumet, the Jewish director who started his career at 4 years old in a Yiddish theatre will end up directing such classics as “Dog Day Afternoon”, “Cerpico”, “12 Angry men” and many more.

Lumet’s cinematic version of “The Wiz”, a 1974 Broadway musical is based on an Afro-American cast and is set in an Urban Oz that brings Harlem to mind. The film was released in 1978 and told the story of Dorothy Gail, a 24 years old teacher from Harlem, who is magically transported to Oz, the urban fantasy land. In her search for help from the mysterious Wizard she befriends a scarecrow, tinman and a coward lion.

The film was a co-production of Universal Pictures and Motown Records, was filmed in Queens New York with a cast that included Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horneת and Richard Pryor. Quincy Jones was in charge of the musical direction. When the film was released it fell flat, both commercially and critically, but as years passed it gathered a loyal audience and today is considered a classic that preceded its time.

The Wizard of Oz (1925)

The first ever film to bring to the big screen the story of Dorothy Gale is celebrating its centennial anniversary and that is an excellent opportunity to be reminded of Larry Semon’s silent film based on Frank L. Baum’s book.

The film tells the story of Dorothy, the rightful heiress to the throne of Oz who, with the help of three farm hands, is battling the evil prime minister who has taken control and is terrorising Oz.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

The plot of this film takes place five years after the first, where Freddy Krueger was supposedly defeated. A new family, the Walsh family, moves to Springwood- to 1428 Elm Street, the house where Nancy Thompson (the heroine of the first film) used to live.

17 years old Jesse Walsh moves into Nancy’s old room and as expected Freddy Krueger pops into his dreams and demands he kill for him. He takes hold of Jesse’s body in order to make enough kills for him to return to life in the real world.

The film contains a subdued gay vibe throughout. Jesse is played by Mark Patton who formerly had played a gay teen in “Come back home to the 5 & dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean”- both in the Broadway version and the big screen version and was awarded the first Scream King title.

In this film you will find a dark bar with leather wearing men and locker room scenes. When Jesse’s girlfriend tries to make out with him he runs to the room of his naked best friend. A “No girls allowed” sign on Jesse’s bedroom and plenty more camp surprises.

Screenwriter David Chaskin admitted he hid queer subtext regarding coming out and same sex desires in the script. Robert Englund (forever Freddy Krueger) says the choice to cast Mark Patton had been intentional due to his sexual orientation.

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LGBTQ Classics

Panel + Screening of “Dick Tracy”

Querelle

Pink Narcissus

My Beautiful Laundromat

Desert Hearts

Buddies

The Wizard of Oz

The Wiz

The Wizard of Oz (1925)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge

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