We talked with Christine Vachon about the birth and evolution of the NEW QUEER CINEMA movement, revisiting some of the most iconic works she has produced: from POISON (Todd Haynes, 1991), GO FISH (Rose Troche, 1994), BOYS DON'T CRY (Kimberly Peirce, 1999), FAR FROM HEAVEN (Todd Haynes, 2002), and CAROL (Todd Haynes, 2015), to the recently released miniseries PRIDE (Disney+, 2021).
Christine Vachon -together with other names such as Todd Haynes, Cheryl Dunye, Isaac Julien, Gus Van Sant, Tom Kalin, Derek Jarman, Gregg Araki, and others- was one of the driving forces behind the NEW QUEER CINEMA movement on the US indie film scene as far back as the early 1990s.
At that time, specifically in 1992, journalist and feminist critic B. Ruby Rich coined the term in order to refer to the radically political and aesthetically innovative film and video movement being pushed forward by queer artists, filmmakers, and activists that were demanding greater sexuality and gender diversity, a perspective free from prejudice that dignified queer communities, and greater LGBT representation on screen.
That same year was also a decisive one for independent queer cinema, reaching an unusually high level of representation on the film festival circuit. These films could be found everywhere from the New York Film Festival, to the Toronto Film Festival, Sundance, and others. In Vachon’s own words “a spotlight was placed on these films, and it showed that they could be commercially viable” (New Queer Cinema, B. Ruby Rich, Duke University Press, 2013).
From this context emerged KILLER FILMS, the independent film production house created by Vachon, and -today- the renowned brand behind many of LGBTQ film’s most important works of the last 30 years, including Far From Heaven, Boys Don't Cry, Go Fish”, and Kids.
We talked with Christine Vachon at Tabakalera about the context out of which this NEW QUEER CINEMA movement emerged, and how it has evolved since. We also discussed how the industry has been transformed in terms of production, all of which while revisiting some of her most iconic work.
