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Thursday, March 30th, 2023

Queerguru reviews FIONA CLARK : UNAFRAID an affectionate profile of an unlikely queer icon @Wicked Queer

 

 

 

Fiona Clark Unafarid is an affectional profile of a rather eccentric photographer who is something of a queer icon in her native Aotearoa’s (New Zealand) that the rest of the world …….. particularly the LGBTQ+ one … should know about.

Back in the 1970’s  Clark captured images of the fringes of the local queer community: drag queens, transgender, and outrageous activists.  It was all too much for a conservative environment and it almost stopped her career before it could take off.  It was, she said, bad enough that photography has never been recognized as an art form,  but what was even worse was back then Auckland Council closed down a Gallery due to her ‘offensive” work.

Filmmaker Lula Cucchiara, a queer Latinx artist, had her cameras just aimlessly follow Clark,  now in her 60s and living on a deserted old dairy farm stacked high with ‘junk’ in the remote countryside.  She is every inch defiant about living her true life and unafraid of anyone/anything. 

Snippets of Clark taking to the camera often surprises you …. like the fact she had two lesbian lovers in the past …..one a weightlifter and the other a wrestler. Interestingly enough Cucchiara’s cameras picked up an abundance of  fascinating footage of Clark that she shot in 8 days, but then took two years to edit 

What is very satisfying is knowing that her early  work photographing  drag queens and transvestites which was vilified back in the 1970s/1980s is now celebrated and proudly shown in some of the very best galleries 

The film is a crucial part of queer history and we hope will encourage others to document the lives of LGBTQ+ figures that have unwittingly enriched our lives. Plus frankly, it’s impossible not to fall for Clark’s irrepressible humor and charm 
 

 

Review : Roger Walker-Dack

Editor in Chief : Queerguru 
Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and NLGJA The Association of LGBT 
Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributung Editor The Gay Uk &Contributor Edge Media 
Former CEO and Menswear Designer of  Roger Dack Ltd in the UK    
one of the hardest-working journalists in the business' Michael Goff of Towleroad

 

 

 

Wicked Queer Film Fest begins on 3/31 and will end on 4/9. To see the whole program and book tickets check out http://www.wickedqueer.org/ 

 

 

for full reviews of over 1500 queer films check out www.queerguru.com and whilst you are there be sure to subscribe to get all the latest raves and rants on queer cinema …best of all its FREE


Posted by queerguru  at  18:25

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Genres:  documentary, lesbian

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