Four Favorites with Elizabeth Purchell: Trans menaces, Chocolate Babies, mulleted lesbians and radical cinema

Film historian and Letterboxd “adult task force” member Elizabeth Purchell joins hosts Slim and Gemma to unearth four absolutely under-seen historic favorites on The Letterboxd Show for Pride Month: Rosa Von Praunheim’s City of Lost Souls, Jack Deveau’s Drive, Stephen Winter’s Chocolate Babies and Juliet Bashore’s Kamikaze Hearts, along with a chat about her Ask Any Buddy film and podcast.

Plus: radical cinema, radical portraits, radical activism, the prolific Rosa Von Praunheim, the best mullet ever seen on film, wangs in jars, trans icons, adult films about Jesus, the endless joys of Jess Franco movies, and the film that has just one fan on Letterboxd. This episode contains plentiful discussion of adult cinema. P.S. “Watch Lady Terminator as fast as you can.”

Lists:
The Letterboxd list of films mentioned; JF’s Turn the gaze around list; Saige’s queer films that are *chef’s kiss*; Sam P’s Solo Blasters: Directors Who Made One Film in Their Career

Reviews:
Elizabeth’s Sleepaway Camp review; reviews of Ask Any Buddy by John Robinson, Be Brave Morvern’; reviews of City of Lost Souls by Michael and David; reviews of Kamikaze Hearts by Sally Jane Black and Joan; Starboy’s Chocolate Babies review

Other Links:
NY Times profile on Elizabeth; Spectacle Theater’s Rosa Von Praunheim series

Bruno Araujo on Letterboxd (the one fan of Drive); Austin Film Society; Interview magazine feature on Stephen Winter and Lee Daniels

Credits:
This episode was recorded in Auckland, Austin and Pennsylvania, and edited by Slim. Facts by Jack. Booker: Linda Moulton. Transcript by Sophie Shin. Theme: ‘Vampiros Dancoteque’ by Moniker.