Beginning tomorrow evening with Blood of a Poet, 92YTribeca is hosting Queer/Art/Film, a celebration of all things hybrid and polysexual (Blood of a Poet, Derek Jarman’s Blue, Fellini’s 8 1/2, Queer and Unavailable, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, andTongues Untied). Curated by Butt Magazine contributing editor Adam Baran and filmmaker Ira Sachs, and recently featured on Playbill, the series invites some of the most exciting, innovative (and homosexual) artists from the dance/performance/film/visual and literary arts to present and discuss their favorite films—in rare prints—on the big screen. We have a Q&A with Ira where we hear more about his vision for the series, what the word Queer means to him, and more. The big reveal is at the end, when Ira confides his crush on Kenny Melman: ”Don’t tell him, but I’ve always had a crush on him from afar.”

The interview, as they say, is after the jump.

Tell us about your vision of the series.

This series combines a lot of my favorite things in the world: movies, gay people, and artists. I don’t know exactly what will happen when you put them together, but its bound to be interesting. I just hope someone gets laid, or falls in love, during or after one of the screenings. Then we will know it’s really been a success.

How do you feel that film influences queer culture differently than other art forms?

Movies and queer culture are almost synonymous, in some ways, because movies have been the dominant art form of our lives, and have entered our collective imaginations from childhood on.  For myself, it’s hard to separate my identity from the movies I have seen. Who would I have become if there was no Judy Garland, for example, or Rainer Werner Fassbinder? A very different person than I am, that’s for sure.

What films have influenced you personally, and in what ways?

That would be a very long list, but let’s go with Veronika Voss, Loulou, I Could Go on Singing, Make Way for Tomorrow, Shadow of a Doubt, Kes, Mes Petites Amoureuses, and Au Hasard, Balthazar. These are all movies I think about a lot when I’m working on my own projects.

Not all of the films picked have overtly gay themes. How do you think these films fit into the series as a whole?

There’s no part of the brain set aside specifically for “gay themes.” For me, watching Wizard of Oz every year was as much a part of my identity as having my first sexual experience with a man. This series reflects that who we are as gay artists isn’t limited by any one type of experience, or definition. 

The use of the term Queer seems wide reaching nowadays, not restricted to “gay” individuals. For instance, we have heard it used by heterosexual people who identify as Queer, which implies definitions aside from sexual. Do you agree? What does “Queer” mean to you?

To be honest, the term “Queer,” doesn’t sit that well with me, but I think it’s much better, particularly in this context, than “LGBT,” which is so clinical its almost anti-septic. Since I started working on this series – and I thank my friend the art historian Richard Meyer for the title, by the way – I’ve started to think more about “queer,” as a word, and try to figure out what about it I don’t like.  Yes, it’s inclusive, though in some ways, only to those who embrace or enjoy its somewhat aggressive stance.  It also feels weird for me, at 43, because its very much a term that I connect with youth. I also notice that it’s a term that makes straight people uncomfortable, which probably adds to my own discomfort with it. And it’s a bit dated…..so, as my answer shows you, it’s a complicated term and I have complicated feelings about it.  But I have noticed that the more I use it, the more I start to own it, and that’s also been interesting. Maybe I don’t like it because I don’t want to be identified as such, as queer.

What films have you not seen in the series? Anything you are particularly excited about?

It’s a great group of artists who picked these movies, so I think all the nights are going to be fun.  I haven’t seen A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but I loved the book as a kid, and I love Elia Kazan’s movies (his politics notwithstanding), so I’m guessing that one will be right up my alley.  I saw Je, Tu, Il, Elle only once, but its stuck with me, and I really want to know if the movie Akerman made has any semblance to the movie in my head. I was at the first screening of Marlon Riggs Tongues Untied, at MOMA back in ’89, and I remember him almost more than the movie, so I’m looking forward to a re-visit. I’m bringing my nieces to Fellini, and Cocteau. Derek Jarman’s Blue can only really be seen on the big screen, so that’s a must.  And then there’s Kenny Melman, who’s got his “night of surprises.” Don’t tell him, but I’ve always had a crush on him from afar.

[Queer/Art/Film]

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