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Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.
Pink Narcissus
U.S., 1971
West Coast restoration premiere!
In 1963 — the year of Scorpio Rising, Flaming Creatures and Warhol’s first films — physique photographer James Bidgood began working on an ambitious homoerotic film fantasy he called Pink Narcissus. For over six years, he filmed his star, Bobby Kendall, using 8mm Kodachrome and later 16mm Ektachrome stock on numerous lavish sets, most built in the confines of his cramped Manhattan apartment.
After many delays, the film’s backers grew tired of waiting for a finished film and dropped Bidgood from the project. Bidgood repudiated their version, and when Pink Narcissus was released in 1971, his credits for producing, directing, writing and photography were listed as “Anonymous.” Nearly 30 years later, Bidgood reclaimed his role as the visionary creator of the queer cinema classic and became a major influence on artists ranging from Pierre et Gilles to David LaChapelle and Steven Arnold. Now, over 60 years after Bidgood began crafting his sumptuous opus, the Archive presents its 4K restoration in this West Coast restoration premiere.—Michael Lumpkin
DCP, color, 68 min. Director: James Bidgood. With: Bobby Kendall, Don Brooks, Charles Ludlam.
Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from a 35mm internegative, 35mm print and 35mm track negative. Funding provided by Snapdragon Capital Partners. Laboratory services by Roundabout Entertainment, Inc., Audio Mechanics. Special thanks to Frameline, Marcus Hu, Michael Lumpkin, Strand Releasing and James Woolley.
Support for the screening is provided by the Robert Gore Rifkind Foundation Queer Screening Endowment and The Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation.
