Reel Affirmations Presents: Jason and Shirley

50 years before RuPaul… there was Jason Holliday. The most fabulous and controversial black queen you’ve never heard of! December 1966, Jason was known throughout the New York pre-Stonewall gay world as the hottest mess around. Shirley Clarke was Jewish, wealthy and a rare female film director of her era to gain national prominence. Shirley invited Jason to her Chelsea Hotel penthouse to film him telling wild stories from his turbulent life, determined to find a groundbreaking “truth” in documentary. This footage became “Portrait of Jason,” (1967), and was hailed a masterpiece, as Jason tells stories of racism, homophobia, abuse and prostitution with Shirley urging him towards a tangled emotional breakdown that is unforgettable. But what really happened that day? With dreams, musical numbers and graphic emotions, the NEW film “Jason and Shirley” revisits that fateful meeting and blows the lid off this true story of power, destiny and “truth.” After the screening join us for cocktails and conversation with the co-writer Jack Waters!!!