LGBT Senior Alliance Spring Social

press release:

Michelle Citron - Two Short Documentaries LGBT Senior Alliance Spring Dinner Social Thursday, April 18th, 6:00 - 8:00 pm Madison Senior Center, 330 W Mifflin Street, Madison

Renowned filmmaker Michelle Citron has been making documentary films that border on experimental since the 1970s, and her films have been screened at festivals and museums across the globe. Citron plays with form and content in order to get her messages across and create meaningful, potent art that sticks with audiences long after the final frame. When Citron first began experimenting with film, feminist film theory was asking questions about form and how structure plays into the creation of political and activist films.

Citron addresses this fundamental question with every piece she creates, experimenting with traditional storytelling tropes and even creating some projects that go outside the realm of film, such as interactive video and mixed-media art. "Lives:Visible" and "Leftovers" are Citron's two films we will screen at the Senior Alliance dinner. Both continue her investigation into form and storytelling by using a collection of over 2,000 photographs. The photographs were taken over several decades by a lesbian couple, Norma and Virginia, and document their lives and their community as they aged and the world changed from the 1930s to the 1970s.

LIVES: VISIBLE (2017, 35 mins):

Lesbians in a box... two thousand private snapshots hidden away for over fifty years reveal the rich history of Chicago's working class butch/fem life in the pre-Stonewall era. Spanning four decades, from the 1930s to the early 1970s, the snapshots provide a rare look at a vanished and vibrant Lesbian culture: images of lovers and friends as they played, posed, serially switched partners, worked, partied, drank, and aged. Now we all take selfies; these women used a Brownie camera to tell the story of their community. LIVES: VISIBLE explores the ephemeral nature of culture and the power of the images we make.

LEFTOVERS (2014, 23 mins):

Citron turns her filmmaking lens onto the photographers themselves, exploring Norma and Virginia's lives during their later years. "For the last decade or so, Norma and Virginia were virtual hermits," Citron said. "They lived in this vibrant, large community of women for decade after decade, but by the time they reached their early 70s, the community was gone." Citron explores the couple's relationship and the community so integral to their lives in "Leftovers," using the photographs in a transparent, animated way. Citron also found letters between the couple that are featured in the film, showing the connection and love shared between these women.

"The photographs are used to put you in history... but you are looking at a photograph," Citron said. "A photograph isn't history; it's a sample of history, and it reveals a lot, but it also obscures a lot."

Enjoy an evening of friends, food and LGBT History! A catered meal will be served at 6:00 pm.

To cover food and other expenses, a donation of $10.00 is requested; $5.00 for low-income.

For more information, call OutReach at 255-8582 or e-mail Angie at angier@lgbtoutreach.org