settima

family

Bröllopsbesvär [Wedding: Swedish Style] (Åke Falck, 1964)

Nov

11

Bröllopsbesvär (1964)

Bride and groom, and resentfulness at front. DP: Rune Ericson.

A dysfunctional family*

 

On a wedding day, and night, a family's dirty secrets are laid bare.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for November is, again, not date-based, but follows a sloppy schmaltzy all-American Thanksgiving-y narrative. Trying to make it work my way.

Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)

Mar

6

National Dress Day

Paris Is Burning (1990)

Pepper LaBeija is a stunningly extravagant gold-sequined dress. DP: Paul Gibson.

Paris Is Burning is probably best known for its fabulous #ballroom and #vogue​ㅤing scenes but in its heart, it tells the story of #family, of people who found their new ménage where they can live and love without fear and prejudice.

“In the ballroom circuit, it is so obvious that if you have captured the great white way of living, or looking, or dressing, or speaking – you is a marvel.”

– Pepper LaBeija

While you may expect a fierce documentary about #TransRights, or maybe merely a glamorous parade, you will be confronted with the flagrant #racism that made the #BallroomScene so essential for the Black and #Latinx LGBT+ community who founded it. And the tragedy of its demise in the name of pop culture even more heartbreaking.