Cultural anthropologist and proud lesbian Esther Newton was years ahead of her time when she studied Midwestern drag shows in the 1960’s. A pathbreaking cultural anthropologist, dog-agility enthusiast, and iconic butch lesbian, Esther Newton is now entering her eighth decade writing about queer communities. Inspired by Margaret Mead and Gertrude Stein, Newton forged a path for queer studies in academia, her life’s work influencing generations of activists and scholars. In a light and fluid style, the film tells her story, of awakening to gay life in the 1950’s, the women’s liberation movement and lesbian-feminism, drag culture, and forging a butch identity which for her is now in conversation with trans-masculinity. ~OY
***Followed by an in-person talk with Debra Zimmerman , recipient of VTIFF’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to American Cinema, sponsored by CSE Holding Co., with additional support by the UVM Film & Television Studies Program***