PLAYLAND

USA | 2023 | COLOR | DCP, 72’ | ENGLISH, GERMAN

Neither fiction nor documentary, perhaps not even a movie. More like an invitation of souls engraved in sublime, eerie tableaux vivants. ‘Playland’ takes place at a legendary Boston gay bar the night before its demolition. For 60 years it offered refuge to the town’s queer population, standing as cultural and social relic of years past. And now, the ghosts of its people answer to the calling of a drag queen for one last time. What follows is a dreamy, marvelously haunted happening of stylized images, performance art, audio documents and music, all as if at a station to the afterworld. Dazzling, otherworldly, imaginative, complex in concept and execution, ‘Playland’ films history like a rendezvous of spirits. L.K.

DIRECTOR: Georden West
SCREENWRITER: Georden West
DoP: Jo Jo Lam
MUSIC: Aaron Michael Smith
EDITORS: Russell Sheaffer, Georden West
PRINCIPAL CAST: Lady Bunny, Danielle Cooper, Maine Anders, Aidan Dick, Gatekeeper Adrian, Jet Sprat, José Lapaz-Rodriguez

GEORDEN WEST
Queer media and installation artist based in Boston. Their work has screened at Outfest, the International Fashion Film awards, and has won the student Academy award.

FILMOGRAPHY
2023 Playland