Selected by the Documentary Branch.
On December 3, 1966, documentarian Shirley Clarke and her partner, actor Carl Lee, spent 12 hours interviewing cabaret performer Jason Holliday about his life, in Clarke’s Hotel Chelsea apartment. The end result is a milestone in documentary filmmaking, touching upon such issues as race, sexuality, and the relationship between documentarians and their subjects, as well as introducing an unforgettable personality to the screen.
DIRECTED BY: Shirley Clarke. WITH: Jason Holliday, Shirley Clarke, Carl Lee. 1967. 105 min. USA. B&W. English. DCP. Portrait of Jason was preserved by the Academy Film Archive with funding by the Academy Film Archive, Milestone Films, the Toronto International Film Festival, and a Kickstarter campaign. It was restored from the original 16mm fine grain master positive and a 35mm print.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
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