Though eclipsed by filmmakers like Andy Warhol, Jack Smith and Kenneth Anger, José Rodríguez Soltero is one of the leading exponents of the queer Latino acid-head division of New York’s film underground in the mid-sixties.
The two films in this session were made with super-saturated Kodachrome II. Whereas Jerovi is a sexual interpretation of the myth of Narcissus, in Lupe Soltero recreates the story of well-known actress Lupe Vélez. In contrast with Warhol’s film, he chooses to restore Lupe’s Latin essence with a performance by Mario Montez. Far from demonising her, Soltero empathises with the character in this voluptuous collage of a tribute. The vivid colour and the sensual use of the sound and song slowly intoxicate the spectator’s senses.
Programme:
- Jerovi, 1965, 11 min
- Lupe, 1966, 49 min.
16 mm screening.