Starring: Jack Waters, Sarah Schulman, Orran Farmer, Eamon Fahey, Mike Bailey-Gates

A radical revisitation. This updated version of Stephen Winter’s 2015 film unearths the ghosts of Jason and Shirley, restaging the volatile 12-hour shoot of the 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason—held at the Chelsea Hotel—which blurred the line between subject and storyteller.

Jason Holliday, a sharp-witted Black gay man, whose identity splits between personas–performer, hustler, muse, provocateur–is once again in the room with Shirley Clarke, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who insisted on framing his life. Now, with newly unearthed footage, the director returns 10 years later, not to resolve the contradictions, but to reopen them. What was once a document becomes a haunting, a conversation with what was left outside the frame. Time folds. Power shifts. And Jason, still impossible to contain, speaks back.

Before Jason and Shirley Revisited, we’ll be screening the short Birth of the Hive Queen, dir. Tempest Creation (8 min.)
Amina, a trans escort, gives birth from her anus.

Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell

Hailed around the world as one of the greatest movies ever made, the Academy Award–winning Bicycle Thieves, directed by Vittorio De Sica, defined an era in cinema. In poverty-stricken postwar Rome, a man is on his first day of a new job that offers hope of salvation for his desperate family when his bicycle, which he needs for his work, is stolen. With his young son in tow, he sets off to track down the thief. Simple in construction and profoundly rich in human insight, Bicycle Thieves embodies the greatest strengths of the Italian neorealist movement: emotional clarity, social rectitude and brutal honesty.

4K restoration

The late Richard Pryor influenced a generation of comedians of all races, and his scathing brand of satire is offered in full bloom in a live concert performance taped in Southern California in the 1970s. Utilizing exaggerated facial expressions, numerous obscenities and keen observation, as well as his acting experience and razor-sharp comic timing, Pryor delivers monologues on race, sex, family and any number of other topics. This documentary also includes music by Patti LaBelle.

A pair of fans of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden launch a crowdfunding campaign to help Paul Di’Anno (aka The Beast), the band’s iconic original singer, get back on his feet literally, emotionally and professionally. Neglected by healthcare workers in the U.K., wheelchair-bound Di’Anno leaves his home in the middle of the pandemic and travels to Croatia, where he rides an emotional rollercoaster, running out of money, reuniting with his former Maiden bandmates and falling in love — all while his health makes a dramatic turn-around thanks to the goodwill of fans, doctors and nurses. Di’Anno makes a heroic, risky and drama-filled return to the stage as Metallica’s James Hetfield and Gene Simmons of Kiss, as well as members of Slayer and Megadeth, make appearances and testify to Di’Anno’s importance and lasting impact.

Starring: Boris Karloff, Myrna Loy, Lewis Stone, Karen Morley, Jean Hersholt

As one considering the love The Deuce dost hold for Moms might ask: “Dost The Deuce not also love Dads?” Well, ask away!! The answer you’ll get: The Deuce dost indeed love Dads! In point of fact: The Deuce is down with Daddies! Big ones, sugar ones… long-legged, disco, dewdrop… Beat-it Daddies… cool… deadbeat Daddies – drop dead!! “But what of these Dads dost The Deuce Daddies most admire?,” you may ask – to which The Deuce dost respond that, to The Deuce, the most admired of daddies is a diabolical Daddy! Indubitably! And, even better: The Deuce especially admires diabolical Dads with equally diabolical daughters!! Indubitably they do! “Fooey,” you say?? Not fooey! For The Deuce says “Fu-Manchu” to you – and furthermore – in honor of this month’s Daddy Day – The Deuce is gifting to you – its Daddies, daughters, sons and lovers: THE MASK OF FU-MANCHU!! For YOU! Indubitably diabolical! That’s The Deuce for ya!

The undeniably indubitably diabolical Dr. Fu Manchu is up to yet another of his devilish death-dealing schemes toward his ever-sought end-game of World Domination… And dost the diabolical Doc deal his dastardly deeds solo? No! This devil has a daughter! A dutiful dastardly daughter just as delighted with devilry as her diabolical Daddy! But what’s a dutiful dastardly daughter to do when her diabolical Daddy develops a death-ray designed to destroy those with less colorful complexions and sets his sight squarely on some simpleton she might just fancy to be her own personal minion slash sex-slave?? See for yourself, Nayland Smith!!!

Headlined by the double-trouble team of Boris Karloff – basking in the brazen badness of the fiendish Dr. Fu Manchu, chewing the scenery with relish in his pre-camp, pre-Code over-the-top characterization of Chinese chicanery – and Myrna Loy – at her most man-eater-ish as the diabolically devilish Doctor’s devilishly delirious daughter, Fah Lo See… maniacally manipulating and marvelously manicured… titillated with inflicting tortures on timid twits and modeling an outlandishly arrayed smorgasbord of the most sequin-soaked sexed-up-styled très moderne dresses that diabolical designer extraordinaire, Adrian, could fever-dream up for her…

Taking novelist Sax Rhomer’s race-baiting Yellow Scare hokum (albeit quite enjoyable hokum) as a starting point to spring-board triple-axle deep-end dive into a swirling sex-pool smoldering with sado, maso, supio, pan-and-scan sweat-soaked, pent-up and panting sexual desire so debauched it can be no mere coincidence to find one “John Waters” credited as its Assistant Director – as if in some perfect time-collapsing pairing of perversity peddlers – and the whole of the hokum decked out in designer Cedric Gibbons’s decadently Deco decor, the opalescence of which itself an invitation to revel in its diabolical decadence… delirious! A hypo of hopped-up hokum that had the crowds of the Capitol Theatre so hot-under-the-collar they were wishing Wisk was already invented!!

It’s gonna be an indubitably diabolical dive into delicious debauchery… so bring a Daddy to The Deuce!!

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Ralph Graves, Lowell Sherman, Marie Prevost

Hosted by Caroline Golum and Cristina Cacioppo. Preceded by a DJ set of pre-code era tunes and more from Owen Kline in Trees Lounge, plus our signature cocktail special “Blonde in Hell” from 6-7pm.

When self-professed “party girl” Kay (Barbara Stanwyck) meets aspiring artist Jerry (Ralph Graves), he sees something inspiring in her late night make-up smeared face. He propositions her to pose for a painting – and to her consternation, nothing more. At first they are at odds: he suspects she might be after his family’s wealth, she questions his interest in her. Soon enough, their feelings for each other surface, but his parents are determined to stop it at all costs.

In Ladies of Leisure, director Frank Capra lovingly captures Stanwyck in the role that made her a star. Although her portrayal of Kay is way more vulnerable than we’re used to, with the movie administering punishment contrary to what we typically cheer for in pre-codes, well, it’s just emotionally resonant enough to give a pass, thanks in part to a save-the-day physical feat by Kay’s trooper friend Dot (Marie Prevost).

Starring: Martin Dubreuil, Marie-Eve Petit, Marc Vaillancourt, Anthony Pereira, K.M. Lavigne

Featuring a very special guest host for the evening, Unkle Spooky

“Chaotic, sleazy, and unmistakably SOV.”

This city will chew you up and swallow you whole in this Canuk pseudo-snuff masterpiece of SOV insanity! The streets of Montreal are rotten with sex, drugs, and unhinged violence when a pack of disturbed, broken souls collide in a nightmare of home invasions, thrill-killing and cannibalism. There are no more heroes, just more meat.

Urban Flesh is pure late-90s SOV slasher grime. It’s an abrasive collage of sleaze and nihilism where narrative takes a backseat to slimy homemade gore and a FTW attitude. The movie’s fixation on unfiltered violent ecstasy sends it firmly into transgressive territory, aligning it with the most confrontational and notorious examples of DIY horror of the era like August Underground, Atroz and Necromaniac. Ugly, raw, and completely unpolished, Urban Flesh isn’t trying to entertain—it’s here to punch you right in the face.

Special Screening before feature: the SOV slasher short Blood Rail (2025), followed by cast and crew Q&A

Starring: Mick McCleery, Sasha Graham, Scooter McCrea, Joel D. Wynkoop, Michael Gingold

“An oddball anthology stitched together by alien paranoia.”

The year is 2030, and Earth is already screwed. A lone, time-traveling survivor uncovers the truth: the alien invasion didn’t begin with war, it started years earlier, buried deep inside our human bodies. Alien doubles, flesh eating worms, and a string of other bizarre encounters prove that our planet was marked for annihilation long before it happened.

Directed by renowned SOV veterans Kevin J. Lindenmuth and Mick McCleery, The Alien Agenda: Out of the Darkness is a quintessential slice of late-era shot-on-video sci-fi horror, mixing the popular anthology trope of the era with the mainstream X-Files mania that swept the nation. It’s moody, experimental structure and grassroots production design make it a raw and fascinating artifact of regional DIY cinema—where the limitations become part of the aesthetic, and its high-minded sci-fi ideas shove their way right past those lo-fi trappings.

For six decades, Jimmy Grashow’s intricate woodcuts and fantastical sculptures have graced museums and galleries, iconic album covers and over a thousand publications. As Jimmy approaches 80, he is given the commission of a lifetime that proves to be both exhilarating and daunting. As he obsessively carves his magnum opus, Jimmy searches for the meaning behind this profound and sacred piece to which he devotes every moment. But life is full of surprises and Jimmy is faced with a difficult decision. Navigating through the unexpected twists and turns with humor and trepidation, he experiences the true agony and ecstasy of being an artist. Jimmy & The Demons is an unforgettable reminder that life can be a chaotic struggle, but the power of love, kindness and courage is undeniable.

Starring: Megan Seely, Dan Bakkedahl, Mamoudou Athie, James Urbaniak, Danny Deferrari, Bethany Kay, Benjamin Norris

The FOFIF presents a Brooklyn screening of its new release, Megan Seely’s debut feature Puddysticks, as part of its THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project. The Wednesday screening includes a Q&A with Seely and cast members and the weekend brunch screenings include special introductions. To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.

Puddysticks follows anxious video-game designer Liz and her therapeutic odyssey into a secret society of adults who play like they are little kids. Led by the alluring Sylvester Cromwell, the society compels each member to reveal their most shameful memory, with the promise of psychological healing through childlike play. But when Liz finally gains the courage to share her own darkest trauma, her world turns upside down and she must find her own way to free herself of her past.

Megan Seely’s debut feature is a joyously twisted dark comedy produced by Oscar-winner Alex Coco (Anora).

Part of The Future of Film is Female’s THREE FILMS, FIVE CITIES project.