John Waters
Birthday: 1946-04-22 Place of Birth: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Synopsis
Growing up in Baltimore in the 1950s, John Waters was not like other children; he was obsessed by violence and gore, both real and on the screen. With his weird counter-culture friends as his cast, he began making silent 8mm and 16mm films in the mid-'60s; he screened these in rented Baltimore church halls to underground audiences drawn by word of mouth and street leafleting campaigns. As his filmmaking grew more polished and his subject matter more shocking, his audiences grew bigger, and his write-ups in the Baltimore papers more outraged. By the early 1970s he was making features, which he managed to get shown in midnight screenings in art cinemas by sheer perseverance. Success came when Pink Flamingos (1972) - a deliberate exercise in ultra-bad taste - took off in 1973, helped no doubt by lead actor Divine's infamous dog-crap eating scene. Waters continued to make low-budget shocking movies with his Dreamland repertory company until Hollywood crossover success came with Hairspray (1988), and although his movies nowadays might now appear cleaned up and professional, they retain Waters' playfulness, and reflect his lifelong obsessions.
Acting
Lynch/Oz
Victor Fleming’s 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is one of David Lynch’s most enduring obsessions. This documentary goes over the rainbow to explore this Technicolor through-line in Lynch’s work.
Tell Me Iggy
This new intimate documentary looks at the extraordinary journey of the 75-year-old American rocker, who has come back from everything, and especially from the worst, but with his capacity for wonder intact.
The Velvet Underground
Experience the iconic rock band's legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.
Time Warp Vol. 1: Midnight Madness
From "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" to "The Big Lebowski" and everything in between, this fascinating deep-dive documentary begins its celebration of the greatest cult movies of all-time discussing the birth of the midnight movie.
At the Video Store
Equal parts personal essay, intense rumination, and playful satire, this movie laments the death of the American Video Store while it searches for the missing human element in today's digital landscape.
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn
Legendary and controversial attorney Roy Cohn was a power broker in the rough and tumble world of New York City business and politics. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s top counsel during investigations into Communist activities in the 1950s, Cohn is also known for being Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, fixer and mentor.
Queercore: How to Punk a Revolution
A documentary on Queercore, the cultural and social movement that began as an offshoot of punk and was distinguished by its discontent with society's disapproval of the gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender communities.
Suburban Gothic
An awkward, unemployed man who can talk to the dead teams up with a rebellious bartender to find the vengeful ghost that's been terrorizing their town.
Sympathy For The Devil: The True Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment
Google 'The Process Church of the Final Judgement' and you'll discover a long list of conspiracy theories. Only now, former members reveal the truth about the misunderstood group once dubbed 'One of the most dangerous Satanic cults in America.'
Tab Hunter Confidential
Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Tab Hunter himself shares first hand, for the first time, what it was like to be a studio manufactured movie star during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the consequences of being someone totally different from his studio manufactured image.
I Am Divine
Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine succeeded in becoming an internationally recognized icon, recording artist, and character actor of stage and screen. Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay men and women, drag queens and punk rockers, and countless other socially ostracized misfits and freaks. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture.
The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies
A love story about the legendary sexploitation director Joe Sarno and his loyal wife and business partner Peggy. The film relates their part in the history of sex film, their lives between New York and Sweden, and their struggle to produce one last erotic film.
Mansome
From America's greatest beardsman, to Morgan Spurlock's own mustache, Executive Producers Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Ben Silverman bring us a hilarious look at men's identity in the 21st century. Models, actors, experts and comedians weigh in on what it is to be a man in a world where the definition of masculinity has become as diverse as a hipster's facial hair in Williamsburg. The hilarious follicles of men's idiosyncratic grooming habits are thoroughly combed over as men finally take a long hard look in the mirror.
Excision
Alienated teen Pauline struggles with the pressures of fitting into high school, pleasing her mother and a burning desire to lose her virginity. With a grotesque curiosity for the darker side of life, Pauline is considered a social outcast by everyone around her. Enticed by flesh, she retreats into her own fantasies and hopes to become a great surgeon - that is, if she doesn't go insane first.
These Amazing Shadows
Tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself.
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
A riveting and emotional journey into the world of writer William S. Burroughs, a man considered as cold as an iceberg on a winter night.
Beautiful Darling
James Rasin's documentary “Beautiful Darling” honors American Transgender actress and best-known Warhol Superstar, Candy Darling, and her all-too-brief life and career, with a combination of current and vintage interview material, rarely seen archival photos and footage, and extracts from Darling's movies.
It Came from Kuchar
It Came from Kuchar is the definitive, feature documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers. George and Mike Kuchar have inspired two generations of filmmakers, actors, musicians, and artists with their zany, "no budget" films and with their uniquely enchanting spirits.
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
The story of American film criticism.
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press
A look at the life and work of American publisher Barney Rosset, who struggled to bring controversial works like "Tropic of Cancer" and "Naked Lunch" to publication.
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels
THE WILD WORLD OF TED V. MIKELS, a new documentary by Kevin Sean Michaels (no blood relation to Ted, but the same spirit), is a rollicking look at the independent cinema and film pioneering of Ted V. Mikels, who has been producing films for over 60 years. Way before limited-budget action films became termed as "grindhouse," Ted was wowing audiences with his own special brand of guts, gore, humor, violence and most of all -- style. THE CORPSE GRINDERS 1 + 2, THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES, 10 VIOLENT WOMEN, MISSION: KILLFAST, THE BLACK KLANSMAN, THE DOLL SQUAD, THE WORM EATERS and GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS are some of Ted's films that have made their cinematic mark.
