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Portrait of Jason

Shirley Clarke
| USA
| 1967
| 105 min

On the night of December 2, 1966, Clarke and a tiny crew convened in her apartment at the Hotel Chelsea to make a film. There, for 12 straight hours, they filmed the one-and-only Jason Holliday as he spun outrageous tales, sang, donned costumes, and reminisced about good times and bad behaviour as a gay hustler, sometime-houseboy, and aspiring cabaret performer. The result is a mesmerising, if unsettling, portrait of a remarkable, charming, and tortured man, who is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking.

Director
Shirley Clarke
Producer
Shirley Clarke
Section
Retrospective
Festival Year
2019