WAYS IN BEING GAY

DE PROFUNDIS (Lawrence Brose, USA, 1997, 65 min, 16mm, with a score by Frederic Rzewski)

De Profundis is a mesmerizing and seductive investigation of Oscar Wilde's transgressive aesthetics. Incorporating 1920s home movies and early gay male erotica along with images from Radical Faerie gatherings and queer pagan rituals, radical drag performances and images of confinement, the film sets up a haunting investigation of queerness, masculinity, history and sexuality.

Using experimental alternative chemical processing techniques to alter the original images, the film addresses the fixed framing of masculinity while questioning concepts of redemption, contamination and transgression set against critical readings of Wilde and of contemporary gay culture. These images are buttressed against a soundtrack composed of Wilde aphorisms, a score by Frederic Rzewski (written for the film), and multi-tracked interviews with diverse contemporary gay men.

Brose is an experimental film artist who has created over 30 works and lectured on experimental cinema throughout the world since he began filmmaking in 1980. Many of his works, produced in collaboration with composers and performers, explore history, gender, and queer politics and aesthetics. Since its release in 1997, De Profundis has been greeted with critical acclaim and has been screened at over 60 festivals and venuesinternationally.

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November, 2000. - 2000