Superbia Cinema returns to Ducie Street Warehouse Mini Cini this month for two special screenings of Todd Stephens' comedy drama, Swan Song!
Superbia Cinema is a celebration of queer filmmaking, and each month we showcase films by talented LGBTQ+ creatives.
Superbia Cinema is a great way for film enthusiasts and those interested in LGBTQ+ arts to come together and immerse themselves in queer culture, and our events offer an excellent opportunity for attendees to learn more about each film's production process, directors, actors, filmmakers and more.
We want to make sure that LGBTQ+ arts & culture is accessible to all - that's why all of our Superbia Cinema events are completely free to attend.
Join us Thursday 26th May as we present this fantastic international feature-length comedy drama - a Superbia Cinema first!
SWAN SONG
A Film By: Todd Stephens
Starring: Udo Kier, Jennifer Coolidge, Linda Evans, Michael Urie
Retired hair stylist Pat Pitsenbarger (Udo Kier) escapes his nursing home to embark upon an odyssey across his small town to style the hair of his dead ‘frenemy’ for her funeral, confronting the ghosts of the past and rediscovering his sparkle along the way.
Swan Song is a comical and bittersweet journey about rediscovering oneself, and still looking gorgeous even at death.
UDO KIER – Mister ‘Pat’ Pitsenbarger
Beginning his life with the same flare for the dramatic that would come to define his career, Udo Kier was born in Köln, Germany near the end of the second world war. The hospital was bombed and buried Kier and his mother in the rubble. Both survived, and Kier would later move to London as a young adult to study English. Kier was discovered in London by Michael Sarne, who cast him in his first role as a gigolo in Road To Saint Tropez.
Kier entered the American independent cinema scene many years later after meeting Gus Van Sant at the Berlin Film Festival. Van Sant offered Kier the role of Hans, the lamp-singing john in My Own Private Idaho with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. Kier’s recent renaissance has seen him play memorable roles in the Activision game Call Of Duty, numerous television roles in the north America and Europe, and in the films Iron Sky, Brawl In Cell Block 99, Downsizing, American Animals, Bacurau, The Painted Bird, The Blazing World and Swan Song, among many others.
JENNIFER COOLIDGE – Dee Dee Dale
Jennifer Coolidge has been a Hollywood mainstay ever since playing Stifler's mom in the 1999 comedy classic American Pie. She is beloved for her role as "Paulette" in the iconic film Legally Blonde, opposite Reese Witherspoon, and well-known for her frequent collaborations with director Christopher Guest in films such as Best In Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003) and For Your Consideration (2006).
Originally from Boston, Coolidge studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City and was a nine-year veteran of The Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles. The actress and comedienne has made scene-stealing appearances in A Cinderalla Story, Pootis Tang, Zoolander, Sex And The City, Friends, Nip/Tuck, Party Down, Napoleon Dynamite, The Secret Life Of The American Teenager, Glee, Inside Amy Schumer, 2 Broke Girls and more.
LINDA EVANS - Rita Parker Sloan
Award-winning Actress Linda Evans has personified beauty and grace to American television viewers for over five decades, from her role as Audra Barkley on The Big Valley to the glamorous Krystle Carrington on Dynasty, To Hell’s Kitchen, the British competitive cooking-reality show she won in 2009.
Linda became one of the most celebrated female television stars of the 1980s. For her role as Krystle, wife of an oil multimillionaire played by John Forsythe, Linda was nominated five times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a TV Drama series and she won the Golden Globe in 1982. Linda has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the television industry.
TODD STEPHENS (Writer/Director)
Todd wrote, produced and directed Another Gay Movie and Gypsy 83 and also wrote and produced Edge Of Seventeen. All four of his previous features won numerous festival awards and were released theatrically all over the world. Todd is currently a Professor of Film at School of Visual Arts in NYC.
Director's Statement
Back in 1984, I walked into my small-town gay bar for the first time -- The Universal Fruit and Nut Company. There he was, glittering on the dancefloor. Wearing a teal feather boa, fedora and matching pantsuit, “Mister Pat” Pitsenbarger was busting old school moves straight out of Bob Fosse. I was seventeen, and Pat was a revelation.
Years later, when I set out to write my autobiographical EDGE OF SEVENTEEN, I immediately thought of Mister Pat. I went back home to hunt him down, only to discover Pat had just suffered an aneurism and was temporarily unable to speak. But his lover David told me stories about how Pat was once the most fabulous hairdresser in Sandusky, Ohio, about his legendary drag performances and about how he used to shop at Kroger’s dressed as Carol Burnett - in 1967! This was a man who always had the courage to be himself, long before that was safe.
The truth is, Mister Pat inspired me to write EDGE OF SEVENTEEN. I wrote a significant “Pat” character as my protagonist’s mentor, but midway through the shoot, the part got cut. I always knew my muse would return someday in my writing, and when he finally did many years later, I looked for Pat again only to learn he just passed away. Sadly, Pat’s legendary hand-beaded rhinestone gowns are all lost to time. Only a shoebox remains - filled with some tarnished jewellery and a half-smoked pack of Mores.
SWAN SONG is a love letter to the rapidly disappearing “gay culture” of America. As it has become more acceptable to be queer, what used to be a thriving community is rapidly melting back into society. Thanks to assimilation and technology, small-town gay bars like The Universal Fruit and Nut Company are becoming extinct. SWAN SONG is dedicated to all the forgotten flaming florists and hairdressers who built the gay community and blazed the trail for the rights many of us cling to today. But, above all, for me this film is about learning that it’s never too late to live again.
- Todd Stephens