Portrait of Jason

Shirley Clarke's 1967 documentary was shot in a single night. Clarke set the camera up in her apartment at the Chelsea Hotel and got Jason Holliday, born Aaron Payne, talking; twelve hours of footage was cut down to roughly two. Holliday had worked as a houseboy, tried to break into cabaret, and describes himself openly as a hustler; he is Black and gay. What he says is entertaining, then it starts to hurt, and as the night goes on the drink and the pressure from the people behind the camera leave him exposed. That is also the most argued-over thing about it: at a certain point Clarke and the others provoke him, and the viewer is left to think about whose hands this portrait was made in. The original material was lost for forty-five years before being restored in 2013. Who it's for: viewers interested in documentary ethics, queer history and sixties American independent film. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a comfortable watch; the film is built to unsettle the audience too.