Our Iconic Queer Ancestors: Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman: painter, filmmaker, gardener, gay rights/AIDS activist, and Saint — Saint Derek of Dungeness of the Order of Celluloid Knights, as canonized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. 

Simultaneously deeply emotional and deeply political, his films are foundational contributions to queer cinema, taking on the arc of history, the political dynamics of religion, the vital energy of historical queerness and art - philosophical, spiritual films full of brutal, beautiful wisdom and magic. 

In this class, we’ll journey from his early short films and music video collaborations with some of Britain’s rising stars of the ’70s and ’80s to his transmutation of his HIV-positive diagnosis into powerful and political masterpieces, culminating with a screening of his last filmic testament, and a birthday celebration for this great Aquarian thinker and creator.

Films:

1/8: JUBILEE (1978, 103 min)

1/15: CARAVAGGIO (1986, 93 min)

1/22: THE GARDEN (1990, 92 min)

1/29: BLUE (1993, 79 min)

This class will be taught by Max Swanson, a filmmaker, performance artist, writer, curator and educator based in Portland. Max is passionate about creating spaces that connect our innate curiosity & creativity, through our love of cinema, to our collective healing, pleasure, and liberation.

Enrollment is limited to 18 students.

Email us at education@moviemadness.org if you have any questions.