Queercore (Canada/US, 1996, 25 minutes, directed by Scott
Treleaven)Back
Queercore (Canada/US, 1996, 25 minutes, directed by Scott
Treleaven)After hearing about this movie for some time from various sources, and missing a chance to meet the director this past summer, I was not going to miss its showing at Kingston's first Queer Film Festival (the first one organized and put on by queers themselves, as opposed to our late repertory cinema, supportive as it was - I know, I know - the idea reeks of identity politics, which I rail against daily - but I'm softening in my old age...and I hadn't heard of any of the films (among the others, I would recommend Out of the Past, a historical documentary about forgotten or neglected queers behind historical/artistic movements) besides this one, so I was curious.
In any case, for a twenty-five-minute documentary done on the cheap, it is quite an
informative piece. It does a brief overview of the whole rise of the 'homocore' movement
(it sort of began as a joke on the pervasive machoism of the hardcore scene, then took on
a life of its own), with references to such pioneers as G.B. Jones (if you're
scrupulous about obeying the law, and you live anywhere other than Quebec in this
wonderful country, it is the only way you would see work from this
musician/film-maker/'zinester's retrospective book, since it is banned by Canada Customs);
Anita Smith (a producer/musician who was in the original line-up of the
Canadian dyke-punk-pop band Fifth Column and is, to put it conservatively, a
visionary); Larry-Bob (the editor of the
superlative Holy Titclamps, which you should kill (or get in touch with me about,
without killing me) to read - even the mere sound of his voice is inspiring...)...and,
yes, Bruce LaBruce. There is performance/interview footage with Pansy Division and the now defunct Los
Crudos. Most of it is in a rapid-edit, animated style reminiscent of other DIY
film-makers (
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