Four By Anger

Co-presented with QFest

In association with Southwest Alternate Media Project
Sunday, July 31, 3:30 PM
Location:  Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium, 1001 Bissonnet

$10 General Admission at www.mfah.org

$8 QFest/Film Buffs/Aurora/SWAMP Members (door sales only)

Though arguably best known as the author of the hugely popular Hollywood Babylon series, Kenneth Anger is perhaps one of cinema’s most influential filmmakers, having invented a cinematic language all his own through his wholly original use of color, editing, cinematography, and sound design, in turn influencing and inspiring such directors as Martin Scorsese, Andy Warhol, Quentin Tarantino, Guy Maddin, Todd Haynes, and David Lynch. With a body of work spanning almost eight decades and continuing to this day (his most recent film being an ad for famed Italian design house Missoni, inspired by his earlier short, Puce Moment), Aurora is proud to partner with QFest to feature four of Anger’s most famous works, each beautifully restored to 35mm by the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Films include: Kustom Kar Kommandos, Fireworks, Rabbit's Moon, Scorpio Rising. 

This screening showcases the work of Kenneth Anger in FOUR BY ANGER, a stunning programming featuring four of Anger's best known works, including his first film, Fireworks, the bittersweet Rabbit's Moon, the unfinished, enigmatic Kustom Kar Kommandos, and his best known film, the iconic, influential Scorpio Rising. All prints are recently restored, pristine 35mm archive prints from the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Featuring:

Kustom Kar Kommandos (USA; 1965; 3 min; Color; 35mm)

Scored around The Paris Sisters' melancholy cover of Bobby Darin's Dream Lover, Anger's ostensible portrayal of the Southern California hot-rod scene is a sly and slick homo-erotically-charged Technicolor® vision of the love affair between man and machine.

Fireworks (USA; 1947; 15 min; B&W; 35mm)

Anger's "first" film, Fireworks is a brash and bold experimentally poetic melodrama walking the fine line between pointed social-political statement and unapologetic gay-porn fantasy. Anger himself portrays a young gay man savagely brutalized by a pack of sailors, only to be revived by a Herculean mystery man and his fireworks.

 Rabbit's Moon (USA; 1971; 16 min; Color; 35mm)

Shot using blue filters to mimic the moonlit effect of the silent film era, Anger's unusually bittersweet tale of unrequited love is exquisitely rendered around the story of the clown Pierrot, who's futile longing for the "rabbit in the moon" sets him up for a cruel joke hatched by the trickster Harlequin, who introduces the lovelorn Pierrot to the beautiful Colombina, for whom Pierrot falls foolishly in love.

Scorpio Rising (USA; 1963; 29 min; Color; 35mm)

Set within the secretive milieu of the underground biker community, Scorpio Rising remains an unrivaled and unfettered commemoration of queer identity, occult ritual, and the cult of masculinity. Perhaps the single most influential film of all time, Scorpio Rising's influence cannot be overstated: a groundbreaker in every sense, it arguably invented post-modernism and the subliminal message, and by openly depicting queer subculture (resulting in an obscenity trial that ultimately proved the film's artistic and social merit), single-handedly paved the way for future queer filmmakers.

Free parking is available in four outdoor, street-level lots north of the Law Building. Two are along Main Street: one at Bissonnet, one at Oakdale; and two are off Montrose Boulevard: one at the Glassell Studio School and one at the Glassell Junior School.  Special thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston for their support of this program and of QFest.

The story of QFest begins in 1996, when a group of maverick arts organizations collaborated and created The First Annual Houston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, better know as The HGLFF. Inaugurated by Loris Bradley of DiverseWorks, Liz Empleton of Rice Cinema, Sarah Gish of Landmark Theatres, and Marian Luntz of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The HGLFF would soon grow to include Steve Buck of The Angelika Film Center and Andrea Grover of The Aurora Picture Show. In 2007, to mark the festival's eleventh anniversary and to better reflect the chances taking shape in the GLBTQ community, The HGLFF changed it's name to QFest: The Houston International GLBTQ Festival. Inspired by the spirit of our maverick founders, QFest aims to be a vanguard for all things Queer: both an incomparable event for the community, and an inspiring experience to be shared by all. 

For more information on QFest screenings, please visitwww.q-fest.org.