De Profundis
A FUNDRAISER FOR THE LAWRENCE BROSE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
Buffalo-based filmmaker, curator and arts advocate Lawrence Brose’s landmark De Profundis is a 65-minute meditation on gay desire based on Oscar Wilde’s infamous prison letter presented via lush hand-processed imagery. The film utilizes vintage erotica, home movies, radical faerie gatherings, pagan rituals and drag shows alongside a piano score by Frederic Rzewski which incorporates Wilde’s text as a means of exploring assimilation and sexuality through hand painted frames and manipulation. The result is an exploding utopia of colour and a layered but equally privileged soundscape. A simply haunting work of terrifying beauty.
Recently the film has come under scrutiny by the US Department of Homeland Security and the US Justice Department as Brose now faces serious charges for allegedly possessing illicit digital images. One hundred of the listed images in the charges are film frames from De Profundis. The fact that he is under indictment for using images made by others to examine the taboos that such laws are meant to prevent is as overreaching as it is disturbing. This prosecution should be viewed as a challenge to artistic freedom, brought by a U.S. Attorney’s office that previously unsuccessfully prosecuted Critical Art Ensemble founder Steve Kurtz.
This screening is a fundraiser for Brose’s legal defense fund.
If travel restrictions are lifted we look forward to welcoming him in person at the screening.
For more information and to donate please visit lawrencebroselegaldefensefund.com
Programme:
De Profundis, Lawrence Brose, 1997, 16mm, 65 minutes, USA
Music: Frederic Rzewski, with additional compositions by Lawrence Brose and Douglas Cohen
@ Gladstone Hotel, 2nd Floor | 1214 Queen St West
Tuesday September 21, 2010 | 8:00pm screening, $5-10 suggested donation
De Profundis
De Profundis
De Profundis
De Profundis