The Queer Lens

In July and August, Rialto De Pijp presents a new programme: The Queer Lens, a programme featuring films by Chantal Akerman, Xavier Dolan and John Waters, three renowned queer filmmakers whose films have left an indelible mark on modern film history. They are Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles and Les rendezvous d'Anna by Akerman; Laurence Anyways and Mommy by Dolan; and Cry-Baby and Pink Flamingos by John Waters.

Each of them contributed in his/her own unique way to what is today called Queer Cinema; sometimes lurking under the surface, as in Akerman's Les rendez-vous-d'Anna, sometimes fully in view, as in Dolan's Laurence Anyways and sometimes exuberantly and provocatively, as in Waters' Pink Flamingos.

What is clear is that these three directors have created a new cinematic language through which they have freed themselves from traditional and one-sided representations of gender - they have broken open the power structures of cinema and developed new narratives. In other words, they have rewritten and recaptured their often concealed place in film history.

Recently, Céline Sciamma, herself an important queer filmmaker, was a guest at Rialto. In the interview she gave here, she emphasised the value of this new cinematic language. Akerman's work, for example, had inspired her enormously - not only in terms of storytelling and cinematic language; she also greatly admired the fact that Akerman had shot her 1975 masterpiece Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles with an almost all-female crew, still a rarity today.

The fact that these makers view the world through a queer lens does not mean that all their films are also distinctly queer, think Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Mommy and Cry-Baby. But the maker's hand is effortlessly evident in each of these films, and that is precisely what makes the work of these queer filmmakers so special.