Round three of Butch Boots' residence at Transmissions brings a rare short, and an all-time classic to our humble basement screen.
William Friedkin (The Exorcist, Sorcerer) reached a great many heights in his storied career, but perhaps the filmmaker's most fascinating achievement is Cruising (1980), a dark and seductive thriller starring Al Pacino as a NYC cop sent undercover to find a serial killer targeting men in the city's underground of gay kink, where he must disappear into the fetish clubs, meat markets, and cruising grounds that populate the night-time landscape.
Whether he'll survive, and if he'll still be the same person if he does, remains to be seen.
Throughout it's production in 1979, Cruising was dogged by protestors from New York's gay community who believed the piece to be so homophobic that there were numerous elaborate disruptions during filming, which continued upon theatrical release.
But despite the controversy of the day, Friedkin's film has only become more and more beloved in subsequent years by queer audiences who have found it impossible not to appreciate its nuances, grime, and invaluable nature as a time capsule of the leather scene.
There's a lot you don't know about me.
Before Cruising, not only you can join us for a screening of Hardy Haberman's documentary short Leather (1996), which captures testimonies from various leather lovers on the freedom found in the dynamics of BDSM, you'll also be able to purchase custom leather pieces by Dalston royalty Malwina, ranging from cuffs, to studded bracelets, to harnesses and more.
Find all this downstairs at Dalston Superstore, it's gonna be quite a night.
Subtitles will be displayed throughout the film.
Seating is a mixture of benches, backed chairs, bar stools, and floor space, and is first come, first served.