(2018, 87 min)
Country: U.S.
Director: John Scagliotti
Studio: First Run Features
Language: English
SYNOPSIS: John Scagliotti, executive producer of the landmark film Before Stonewall, guides us in a wondrous tour of erotic history, poetry and visual art in his new documentary on same-sex desire - from ancient times to Victorian crimes. Traveling all over the world and talking with dozens of experts, he revels in lesbian love spells from ancient Rome, censored chapters of the Kamasutra, Native American two-spirit rituals and much more. A prequel to Before Stonewall, Before Homosexuals unearths the diverse and fascinating garden of human same-sexual desire.
REVIEW:
The world premier of John Scagiotti's new documentary took place at the Museum of Fat Arts in Boston as part of the Wicked Queer Film Festival on April 8, 2017 and is a very important film.
We are taken on a tour of "same-sex desire from ancient times to Victorian crimes". The idea for the film was inspired by gay liberation and here historians and artists join Emmy Award-winner Scagliotti on recent erotic discoveries. This continues Scagliotti produced many now-classic documentaries including "Before Stonewall" and "After Stonewall" and created the first LGBT radio show ("The Lavender Hour") and the television series "In the Life" which ran from 1991 until 2012 on PBS.
The film explores how the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the growth of LGBT political power in the 1990s opened. We learn of lesbian love spells from ancient Rome, censored chapters of the Kamasutra, Native American two-spirit rituals and more. The unearths the garden of human sexual delights and the endurance and creativity of "an army of lovers". The film begins on the Greek island of Astypalaia where we see same-sex graffiti from 2,500 years ago and learn of the naturalness of homosexuality among the ancient Greeks. I really cannot think of a better way to spend a couple of hours than being entertained and educated.
-- Review by Amos Lassen, Reviews by Amos Lassen (http://reviewsbyamoslassen.com/)
