17 Reasons Why
1985-1987, 16mm, color/silent, 19 minutes
17 REASONS WHY was photographed with a variety of semi-ancient regular 8
cameras and is projected unslit as 16mm. These pocket-sized relics enabled
me to walk around virtually "unseen," exploring and improvising
with the
immediacy of a more spontaneous medium. The four image format has built-in
contrapuntal resonances, ironies, and beauty, and in each case gives us an
unpretentious look at the film frame itself ... the simple and primordial
delight of luminous Kodachrome and rich black and white chugging thru
these timeworn gates. -- Nathaniel Dorsky
How To Be a Homosexual
Part I 1980, 16mm, color/so, 35 min.; Part II 1982, 16mm, color/so,
15 min.
HOW TO BE A HOMOSEXUAL began, said Jacoby, as "excerpts from a
compilation journal work begun in 1979. It is an ironic title - there's
nothing sexually explicit about the film." But the film is richly
sensual .... In every scene, the emulsion captures the images, enhances,
then betrays, overpowers and destroys them, as the patterns and color
reshape the filmed reality into a different landscape. - Kathleen Tyner,
Cinematograph v.2
575 Castro St.
2009, video, 7 minutes
from the film:
In February 1977, the San Francisco Gay Film Festival was born when a
self-described "ragtag bunch of hippie fag filmmakers" got together and
projected their Super 8 short films on a bed sheet. [...]
Most of these films passed through Harvey Milk's Castro Camera Store at
575 Castro St. for processing.
In 2008 the Castro Camera Store was recreated at that address for Gus Van
Zant's film Milk. This film was shot on that set.