Dear Shaded Viewers,
Queer video-maker Glenn Belverio will be at Epsilon Spires—a women-run multi-media art space in a dramatic, former church—screening three of his drag activist videos and doing a Q&A with moderator Ben Shields.
Tickets and info: https://bit.ly/3wgMdhm
Originally produced and co-hosted by Glenn Belverio (as drag activist Glennda Orgasm) for Manhattan Public Access TV, “The Brenda and Glennda Show” and “Glennda and Friends” were talk shows that took the art of drag out of nightclubs and into the streets to address queer and feminist issues with campy humor.
Three of the videos, which were recently digitized and preserved by Video Data Bank in Chicago, will be screened at Epsilon Spires in Brattleboro, VT. Housed in a beautiful former church, this innovative art space hosts performances, multi-media exhibits, film screening, panel discussions and more.
The program will include:
Bad Grrrls (1993, 29 mins) In this episode of Glennda and Friends, Glennda Orgasm and Fonnda LaBruce (gay punk filmmaker Bruce LaBruce) attend a Riot Grrrl conference on New York’s Lower East Side. At the conference, they conduct interviews with punk women, performers and artists, including Penny Arcade and Sadie Benning. In doing so, Glennda and Fonnda navigate a range of perspectives on feminism, punk, and underground activism.
Fagtasia Solstice (1992, 20 mins) Brenda Sexual and Glennda Orgasm attend a Radical Faerie event in NYC to commemorate the Summer Solstice and to witness the modern, urban equivalent of the Stonehenge solstice phenomenon: the sun positioning itself between the towers of the World Trade Center. Through interviews with Faeries and footage of their walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, the group proposes to reclaim the city as a safe space for queer people, and discuss reorienting queer consciousness toward spirituality.
On the Campaign Trail with Joan Jett Blakk (1992, 29 mins) In this episode of The Brenda and Glennda Show, Glennda meets up with guest co-host Joan Jett Blakk to discuss Blakk’s 1992 presidential run. The pair interview people on the street outside of the 1992 Democratic Convention, held at Madison Square Garden in NYC. They discuss topics including the police state, weaknesses of the two-party political system, feminism and political elitism.
