Jenni Olson Movies
- 2008
575 Castro Street was the address of the camera and photo supply store owned by Harvey Milk in San Francisco during his years as one of the most visible gay rights activists in America and the first openly gay man elected to public office. Production designer Bill Groom recreated Milk's camera shop as it looked in 1977 as a major set for Gus Van Sant's film Milk, and filmmaker Jenni Olson also used the set as the location for her short film 575 Castro Street. The film is designed to recall the visual style of some of the experimental filmmakers who participated in the inaugural San Francisco Gay Film Festival in 1977, as light and shadow play against the walls of the store as sun shines through the shop windows. (Many of these early films were shot in Super 8, using equipment and film purchased and developed at Milk's store.) As we watch the subtle shifts of light on the walls, the soundtrack plays a recording made by Milk shortly before his death, in which he talks about the importance of the gay rights movement and his role in it. 575 Castro Street was an official selection at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 2006
- Add Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to QueueAdd Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to top of Queue
Gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers, actors, and critics explore the history of queer cinema in this made-for-cable documentary. Eschewing any overarching narration, co-directors Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades illustrate archival footage and film clips with dozens of interviews. They also provide timelines and factoids to punctuate the discussion of specific eras. Although the background material and the interviewees allude to the subtext of Hollywood classics, the bounty of world cinema, and the history of experimental film, the focus remains squarely on the American independent movement, from the 1960s underground through the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s to the post-Brokeback Mountain landscape of 2006. Interview subjects range from cultural commentator Michael Musto and actors Alan Cumming and Jane Lynch to directors John Cameron Mitchell, Jennie Livingston, and Randy Barbato. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema made its bow July 16, 2006, on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, (more)
The sixty-five minute, avant-garde experimental film Joy of Life opens as a feature on the day-to-day experiences of a militant lesbian in the San Francisco Bay area, and her bittersweet, occasionally heartbreaking search for love and lust. It then uses these themes as a springboard, segueing, free-form, into a documentary exploration of lesbian sexuality, Frank Capra's 1941 classic Meet John Doe, and the history of the Golden Gate Bridge as a point of departure for suicides. In voice-over, Lawrence Ferlinghetti delivers his poetic elegy to Frisco, City of Light, while the late Weldon Kees (rumored as a Golden Gate jumper) composed the music used in the film. Writer-director Jenni Olson authored this picture, which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and received high praise from The San Francisco Examiner and The Village Voice. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
This humorous and insightful documentary is composed exclusively of movie trailers promoting films which depict the lives of African-Americans. From the patronizing promotion for 1946 Disney film, The Song of the South to the hip, tongue-in-cheek promo for Putney Swope, the range of attitudes from the '40s through the '90s is clearly and entertainingly shown. Surprisingly, in the comparison, the promotions for the much-despised "blaxploitation" films of the seventies come off well. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1997
As with its predecessors Homo Promo, Trailer Camp and Afro Promo, the messages between the lines are as provocative as what appears on the screen. This time, director Jenni Olson uses over 30 movie previews from the '30s through the late '90s to explore the role of Jewish people in American cinema. Featuring a wide variety of film clips beginning with the Marx Brothers A Day at the Races (1937) and including such films as the Moishe Oysher vehicle Singing in the Dark (1956), this movie also features clips from films specifically aimed at Jewish audiences, The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and other Holocaust-themed films, and unintentionally campy efforts about Jewish people, starring gentile actors such as Sidney Lumet's A Stranger Among Us (1992). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1996
Film archivist and former director of the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Jenni Olson created this fast-paced and often funny, campy 75-minute film comprised entirely of spliced together movie trailers. Some of the segments have themes such as a breezy look back at John Travolta's career that includes trailers from such films as Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive, Grease, Perfect, and Moment by Moment. Other trailers include Mae West in Sextette, the disco camper Thank God It's Friday, Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber, Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew and the rarely seen Chastity, the serious acting debut of Cher. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Get ready for a crash course in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGTB) cinema with this collection of vintage trailers that offers a look at every major queer-themed film produced between 1953 and 1977. After years of entertaining audiences at LGTB film festivals worldwide, this compellingly camp cinematic journey is finally available for home viewing. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
