A night at the movies with Buffer Fringe and Queer Wave

Free screening of The Cockettes at 20:00 on Thursday 7th of July, 2022, at Home for Cooperation

In preparation for its 9th edition in October 2022, Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival is exploring possible artistic reactions to its Pockets (beyond) theme, aiming to initiate a discussion on who is visible, invisible and why. As part of this discussion, Queer Wave, the Cyprus LGBTQIA+ film festival, responds to Pockets (beyond) with a film suggestion: a 20th anniversary screening of The Cockettes, the first screening of the film in Cyprus.

The Cockettes (2002) is an entertaining – and political – documentary named after the flamboyant, avant-garde, psychedelic, hippie theatre group decked out in gender-bending drag in 1970s San Francisco.

Buffer Fringe 2022 Organising / Creative Team member Ellada Evangelou notes: “Buffer Fringe welcomes experimental artists and their work, a process that we understand as an ongoing dialogue with other community stakeholders, from Cyprus and internationally. The performance-based experimentation and vivacity of 1970s group The Cockettes is important to see as part of that engagement.”

Queer Wave Artistic Director Diego Armando Aparicio adds: “It’s been 50 years since the formation of The Cockettes, and over 20 years since this documentary premiered at Sundance. Queering up spaces across the creative sector today remains as vital as ever. The presence of the invisible is always felt regardless: though we may not see it, the inside of a pocket can be the carrier of change much needed; all we have to do is turn things inside-out. This collaboration with Buffer Fringe is part of our efforts at Queer Wave to build a year-round presence beyond our main festival dates, to embrace local audiences and creatives from different sectors. The aim is to strengthen our ties with and extend our support to all local queer artists.”

The screening will take place – free of charge – at 20:00 on Thursday 7th of July, 2022 at Home for Cooperation, accompanied by music, cocktails and food.

More about the film:

The Cockettes (2002, USA)
A film by David Weissman and Bill Weber
Film duration: 1h 42min
Dialogues: English

Sundance Film Festival Official Selection 2002
Winner: Best Documentary of 2002 (Los Angeles Film Critics Award)

2022 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Sundance Premiere of THE COCKETTES, the documentary about the original gender revolutionaries, “The Cockettes.” The film has been digitally re-mastered and re-released on the international film festival circuit.

As the psychedelic San Francisco of the ’60’s began evolving into the gay San Francisco of the ’70’s, The Cockettes, a flamboyant ensemble of hippies decked themselves out in gender-bending drag and tons of glitter for a series of legendary midnight musicals at the Palace Theater. These all-singing, all-dancing extravaganzas featured elaborate costumes, rebellious sexuality, and exuberant chaos. The Cockettes created a unique burst of cultural experimentation and artistic outrageousness, influencing the worlds of theater, music, fashion, gay politics and spirituality, and urban club life.

Thursday 7th of July 2022, at Home for Cooperation, Nicosia:

19:00 Cocktails on the veranda
20:00 screening starts!
21:40 Music, food and drinks

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1383318232189424/