The Fortune Teller, History of Modern Gay Man in 5 Mins, Dir by Leo Herrera, Decode the Clips at http://www.homochic.com/fortuneteller
The Fortune Teller” is comprised of over 50 years of imagery and footage. The 5-minute clip took six months to film and assemble, and is made up of 100 carefully selected clips.
The Fortune Teller is a film by gay artist/activist Leo Herrera, chronicling milestones and icons of the modern gay man. The story is told through the trance of The Fortune Teller (played by Stanley Frank) and created using archival and modern footage. The film is a documentary and time capsule, paying homage to psychedelic films of the 1960′s and the modern art of the YouTube Montage film. From Mapplethorpe to Lohanthony, Uganda to Burning Man, Vogue to Sissy Bounce, AIDS to The Berlin Patient, meticulously edited clips create a kaleidoscopic five-minute journey through more than 50 years of gay history.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“This film was created with the hopes that every gay man can find something to identify with. The Fortune Teller does not attempt to be an all-encompassing history; the clips in the Fortune Teller were curated based on icons and moments that personally defined me as a gay man. Mexican singer Juan Gabriel was the first gay person I identified with as a child, I’ve sat many nights laughing at Kid Fury’s preacher-like passion and razor wit, I still remember the first time I saw the androgynous Karis perform in the Scissor Sister’s Filthy/Gorgeous video and thought “I can be that?!” or the moment Hedwig sang Wicked Little Town and reminded me of the unrequited love of high school. My work in HIV Criminalization has made me see how deeply ingrained the stigma of HIV is within our community and my wild nights in San Francisco’s nightlife has shown me that a party can be a cathartic communal experience.”
“I grew up an illegal Mexican immigrant in Republican Arizona, as far from “gay” as possible. Yet, the challenges and hopes I’ve faced as a gay man are the same as all of my peers across the world, as if homosexuality can transcend culture, geography and race. Homophobia is the same in New York City as it is in Russia, HIV and its stigma are as devastating in the South as they are in San Francisco, our sexual freedom is as reviled in America as in Uganda…and yet we are all moving forward on a global scale: our contributions to nightlife and the arts are as pronounced in Berlin as they are in Provincetown, the legalization of our unions is spanning continents, the unmistakable softness of our gestures transcends language. I don’t know if these universal similarities make homosexuality a culture, a race or a shared experience. What I do know is that they stir a deep pride in me that is almost religious.”
Cool
impressive
this was fabulous well done xx
Excellent work!! There is no doubt that, although we still have a long way to go, we have come a loooong way!!
I grew up in Arizona in a barrio where I was the white minority and the only known queer in all of south Tucson. In the 50s and 60s. rape, beatings, suicidal tendencies, poisoned self esteem its a complete miracle I survived because rough doesn’t begin to describe what I endured. A deep spiritual realization allowed me to understand that they were, all of them, wrong. I knew I was born with my sexuality. It was not something I chose. I was at a gay pride parade in Chicago, probly 1998…I looked up and realized I was looking at gay youth marchers…children and teenagers..I began crying…how beautiful. I’m so humbly proud of us all, and so gratefully, today, gay.
Thank you Leo Herrera. This clip provides a microscopic reflection on what has been a tragic, brutal and unjust history with heroes and heroettes who “served” while I was too afraid.
This out look on the life of a gay person is a great story. But NOW is the time for us to get started to make sure that the people that follow us will have the right to live in the sun light of freedom and not the shadow that we had to live in our life time. It is the time that all GODS people be treated the same. WE ARE PEOPLE THAT LOVE AND WE WANT TO LOVE WHO WE WANT. THIS IS OUR RIGHT.
This has been done very well, I am a 60 year old gay man that has been called every name in the world buy many people even struck, but here I am and I will never go away never never, and YOU will have to stand aside of me and even let your son marry me in the eyes of the world, no doctor or police or laws can stop me know…
Happy Pride to everyone . Everyone will be very careful and safe.
Inspiring film. But not as inspirational as garyaz’s testimony.
Thank you for sharing, sir.