Jason and Shirley | Regional Film Premiere

The regional premiere of a new film fictionally revisiting the fateful real-life meeting of a wealthy filmmaker and a fabulous but downtrodden man that resulted in the 1966 film Portrait of Jason. A fictional retelling of a true story of power, destiny, and "truth." MORE INFO: http://www.intermediaarts.org/catalyst-series-jason-and-shirley **Join us at 6PM Friday for an in-depth pre-screening dialogue with Harry Waters, Jr. and Chitra Vairavan digging into the intersectional issues presented in the film!** FULL DESCRIPTION: Intermedia Arts and Tru Ruts' brown CINEMA café present Stephen Winter's newest film Jason and Shirley. In December 1966, Shirley Clarke, a wealthy Jewish Oscar-winning film director, invited Jason Holliday to her penthouse in the legendary Chelsea Hotel. Jason was a fabulous but downtrodden black, gay, middle-aged hustler and aspiring cabaret performer known throughout New York’s pre-Stonewall jazz world. Shirley filmed him telling wild stories from his turbulent life, determined to find a groundbreaking “truth” in the documentary. This footage became Portrait of Jason, (1967). Hailed as a masterpiece, Portrait of Jason documented Jason telling stories of racism, homophobia, abuse and prostitution, with Shirley and her partner (the riveting but troubled black actor Carl Lee) seeming to urge Jason toward a tangled emotional breakdown. But what really happened that day? What was the true nature of Jason’s relationship with Carl? What is the true nature of “truth”? Jason and Shirley is a new film, fictionally revisting of that fateful meeting and blowing the lid off this true story of power, destiny, and "truth." With dreams, musical numbers, and graphic emotion, Jason and Shirley is inspired by actual events, but is itself a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in the film are fictional. This film is NOT in theaters or available for streaming. Please join us for the Midwest Premiere of Jason and Shirley!