* Sexuality of A Nation: Lionel Soukaz and Liberation Politics, led by Paul Clinton

The presentation of Sexuality of a Nation: Lionel Soukaz and Liberation Politics included a series of films by queer activist filmmaker Lionel Soukaz that were produced in the context of the sexual liberation movement in 1970s France. In addition to the presentation of Soukaz’s work at Park Point, a series of online forums led by Paul Clinton tested the work’s relevance for intersectional and anti-capitalist queer debates in the present day.

Films Screenings: Royal Opera (1979), Your Asshole is Revolutionary, Tino (1985), Marche Gaie (1980) Maman Que Man (1982) and IXE (1980).

Supported by Ambassade de France en Irlande.

Lionel Soukaz is one of the pioneers of French queer cinema. His work, especially in the first part of his career, reflects a synthesis of the various avant-garde movements he was drawn to in the 1970s and 1980s. Soukaz was affiliated with the activists and intellectuals of FHAR (the Homosexual Front for Revolutionary Action) and the magazine Gai Pied, such as Guy Hocquenghem and Copi. He was also active within the experimental film scene, working to promote Super-8mm filmmaking at the Festival des Cinémas Différents, Hyères and Cinémarge, La Rochelle..Ultimately Soukaz organised his own event in 1978, the first Gay and Lesbian film festival in Paris, Écrans roses et nuits bleues. His works have recently been shown at Gasworks/LUX and Studio Voltaire, London, and Anthology Film Archives, New York. Soukaz was the subject of a solo exhibition at University of Paris VIII.

Paul Clinton is a writer based in London, UK. He was Associate Editor at frieze and Frieze Masters magazines, before taking up the post of lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is also the Royal Academy Fellow in Critical Practice, Royal Academy Schools 2019-21. Regular magazine contributions include for frieze, Mousse, Art Review, Art Monthly, London Review of Books, amongst others, while catalogue essays include Hayward Gallery, Secession Vienna, Kunstmuseum Basel, and Musee le Locle. Exhibitions he has curated include duh? Art & Stupidity with Anna Gritz at Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea; Forbidden to Forbid, Galerie Balice Hertling/Goswell Road, Paris; Militant Desire Gasworks/LUX, London; LIMP, Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna.

[Presenting in Phase 3, 39th EVA International, 2021]