Prior to the movie, QP curator Renkse Diks speaks with Chris Belloni, director and initiator of Stichting Art. 1 and the International Queer & Migrant Film Festival.
Queer
Drugs, death and homosexuality are themes that feature frequently in the work of influential American writer William S. Burroughs. In 1953, he published Junkie, his first novel in which Burroughs's alter ego William Lee struggles with his drug addiction. At the same time, he was working on the novel Queer, which was more or less supposed to complement Junkie. But that book was too controversial because of âhomosexual obscenitiesâ. It was not published until 1985. Italian director Luca Guadagnino (including Call Me By Your Name) has now filmed it, starring Daniel Craig.
Mexico City, 1950: to drive away the emptiness and loneliness, American expat William Lee (Craig) spends a lot of time in all kinds of bars, where he also regularly picks up men for fleeting sex. One day, his attention is drawn to Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey), a young ex-military man. Initially, Allerton is not interested in Lee, but after a few booze-fuelled nights, the two get closer.
