Queer and Uncensored: Fuses at MoMA (Second Screening)

Salomé (1923, directed by Alla Nazimova) and Fuses (1965, directed by Carolee Schneemann) at part of "Queer and Uncensored" at MoMA, Floor T2/T1, The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

Salomé. 1923. USA. Directed by Alla Nazimova. DCP. Silent. 74 min. With live piano accompaniment.

Legend has it that openly lesbian filmmaker Alla Nazimova assembled an all-queer cast for her highly stylized adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play Salomé, in which she also starred. Genuinely avant-garde in design and performance, this tale of a “girl who is unafraid to kill and does it as a form of affection” is famed for the character’s “Dance of the Seven Veils” and demanding her love interest’s head on a platter.

Fuses. 1965. USA. Directed by Carolee Schneemann. 16mm. Silent. 23 min.

Of Fuses, critic B. Ruby Rich wrote, “Schneemann’s film … is devastatingly erotic, transcending the surfaces of sex to communicate its true spirit, its meaning as an activity for herself and, quite accurately, women in general.”

About "Queer and Uncensored":
Guest curators MM Serra, longtime head of Film-Maker’s Cooperative, and Erica Schreiner—both filmmakers themselves—write, “Since the inception of queer cinema, artists have faced censorship and invisibility, a challenge that persists today. Queer and Uncensored showcases a powerful selection of rarely seen, suppressed films that are crucial milestones in the evolution of queer filmmaking. Each program focuses on a topic that is relevant to the development and expansion of queer identity and its diversity. These films explore gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and the emergence of the epidemic.”