Small groups of committed individuals and quiet people with big ideas are the subjects of this month’s films. Change often comes with compassion and empathy, and in these films, both can be found in the most unlikely places: a Satanic cult in Salem, San Francisco in the 1960s, the High Court of Australia and in dozens of neighbourhoods across the USA. This month, spend time with interesting people who made a big difference.
Hail Satan?
The subject of Penny Lane’s acclaimed documentary, The Satanic Temple, are not worshippers of the occult. Instead, the Temple formed as a counterpoint to the creeping of Christian values into public life. To the followers of The Satanic Temple, Satan is more a rhetorical device than a deity, and, as Lane shows, their charitable and compassionate actions are seeing the Temple grow.
The Cockettes
Arriving with the tagline “1969 ... San Francisco ... Sexual Anarchy”, Bill Weber and David Weissman’s award-winning documentary about the legendary performance group, The Cockettes, makes the most of this setup. An amorpheous group of performers who combined the faded glamour of golden era Hollywood with the lifestyle of San Francisco’s most ebullient hippies and queer outcasts, The Cockettes is an account of wild creativity of artists who rejected money and fame, but who would prove hugely influential.
Michael Kirby - Don't Forget The Justice Bit
Long regarded as one of Australia’s most incisive legal minds, Michael Kirby, proves a willing subject in Daryl Dellora’s documentary. Bucking the trend for judges to be conservative, cloistered individuals, Kirby explains how he grew from a shy gay teenager into one of Australia's most influential thinkers.
Between the Shades
Jill Salvino sets out to discover what it means to be “gay” in the US by speaking to fifty different Americans about how they define themselves, and how society has changed during their lifetime. Encompassing a diverse range of age groups, ethnicities, professions and genders, Between the Shades entwines these views into one affecting story.
Machete Maidens Unleashed
Far from the traditional film production meccas, during the 1970s and 80s, the Philippines became the home to some of the wildest and most hysterical genre films produced during the era. Mark Hartley, director of Not Quite Hollywood, gathers producers, stars and appreciative Americans including Joe Dante, John Landis and Roger Corman, to talk about his vibrant chapter of film history.
