This Thursday January 21st at 5:30m pm PST / 8:30pm EST, join Newfest and Emmy-nominated Circus of Books filmmaker and artist Rachel Mason and the Peabody and Emmy-winning creator of Transparent, Joey Soloway, in conversation. Rachel and Joey will discuss the importance and dynamics of LGBTQ families, Jewish identity, and the cathartic and complex art of telling one’s own story on screen. The virtual event is presented in partnership with PFLAG, JQ International, Film Fatales, and IDA.
Best known in visual art and experimental music circles for her fantastical mixed-media performances, Rachel Mason’s first feature film, The Lives of Hamilton Fish, premiered at Raindance in the UK and has toured festivals and museums internationally. Her acclaimed feature doc now streaming worldwide on Netflix, Circus of Books, chronicles the eponymous iconic bookstore and gay porn shop that served as the epicenter for LGBTQ life and culture in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to many in the community it served, the store was cultivated and cared for by Mason’s parents, Karen and Barry, a straight conservative Jewish couple. The film is an intimate portrait of the Masons and their accidental journey to become one of the biggest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States. Their story unfolds through the lens of their daughter, Rachel. Mason also wrote and performed the end credit song, Give You Everything.
Joey Soloway is the creator of the groundbreaking Emmy-winning Amazon series Transparent, a poignant comedy that artfully explores identity, love, sex, God and boundaries through the lives of a complicated American family. Soloway is also currently developing three films. Based on the iconic comic book character, they are set to write and direct Red Sonja, they are also partnering with Julianne Moore on Mothertrucker, an epic feature that follows a college professor’s friendship with Joy Mothertrucker, Americaʼs one and only female ice road trucker. Soloway is also set to direct, Ride, a biopic about Sally Ride, the first American woman to journey to space and her legendary mission.
Read more about this event on the NewFest website.
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