Amnesia. 2000. USA. Directed by Jerry Tartaglia. 7 min. 16mm
My Gay Pride. 1994. USA. Directed by Uzi Parnes. 10 min. Digital
Dyketactics. 1974. USA. Directed by Barbara Hammer. 4 min. 16mm
Chumlum. 1963. USA. Directed by Ron Rice. 26 min. 16mm
Flaming Creatures. 1963. USA. Directed by Jack Smith. 42 min. 16mm
Program run time: 89 min
Exploring the intersection of gender identity, political resistance, and personal expression, this program commemorates the activist impulses that motivated generations of pioneering queer filmmakers. It is dedicated to Jerry Tartaglia (1950–2022) whose films, videos, and vocal commentary were devoted to fostering queer visibility in the evolving politics of the moment over four decades. His See for Yourself (also presented in this series) looks unflinchingly at the ravages of HIV; with Amnesia, he recovers images of queer culture from found footage, ephemera, and photography, preserving a hidden-in-plain-sight history and lighting a way forward without remorse. In the same spirit, Uzi Parnes continued his long-running documentation of Pride parades, street festivals, and grassroots activism in My Gay Pride, the highlight of which is a moving performance of “When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)” by Connie Francis, rendered a capella by Jimmy Somerville of Bronski Beat. Humor seasons the progressive messaging in Barbara Hammer’s Dyketactics, which she described as “a popular lesbian commercial, 110 images of sensual touching montages in A, B, C, D rolls of kinesthetic editing.” Chumlum and Flaming Creatures feature the legendary gay provocateur Jack Smith and elaborately costumed co-conspirators in gender-ambiguous acts of hedonism; closing the program, these notorious works use camp techniques to challenge societal norms. Fittingly, as a result of Jerry Tartaglia’s efforts as a collector, he played an active role in furthering the work of Smith and Gary Goldberg (whose work is also included in this series). MoMA’s recent acquisition of the Tartaglia Archive allows the Department of Film to begin the process of restoring and preserving his legacy, and that of his contemporaries as well.