audio/video ~ 72 min.
first feature-length film
World Premiere: International Film Festival Rotterdam
North American Premiere: Tribeca Festival
Boston Premiere: Wicked Queer Film Festival @ Museum of Fine Arts
collaboration w/ Georden West
produced by Russell Sheaffer
acquired by Juno Films
"A raucous work of queer fantasy and history, conjuring a time-bending night in Boston’s oldest and most notorious gay bar."
2023
Playland is fiscally sponsored by the Dorchester Art Project - make a tax deductible donation here!
Subsequent Screenings:
Frameline Festival, July 2023, San Francisco, CA, USA
OutFest, July 2023, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Rockaway Film Festival, August 2023, Queens, New York, USA
Montclair Film Festival, October 2023, Montclair, New Jersey, USA
Special Jury Prize Winner
Tallgrass Film Festival, October 2023, Wichita, Kansa, USA
Film Fest Gent, October 2023, Gent, Belgium
American Film Festival, November 2023, Wrocław, Poland
Zinebi (International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao), November 2023, Bilbao, Spain
Cucalorus Festival, November 2023, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Bright Lights Cinema Series, Emerson College, December 2023, Boston, MA, USA
Queer Screen's 31st Mardi Gras Film Festival, February 2024 Sydney, AU
Ann Arbor Film Festival, March 2024, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Oxford Film Festival, March 2024, Oxford, MS, USA
Queer Haunts, Tufts University Art Galleries, April 2024, Boston, MA, USA
With an eclectic ensemble of queer performers, including drag icon Lady Bunny and Pose’s Danielle Cooper, Playland is transdisciplinary in every sense of the word: music, dance, archival footage, tableaux, opera, and performance art are layered into an ethereal piece subverting all boundaries.
Artist-filmmaker Georden West’s debut feature is an expressionist and very queer bricolage, focusing on an atemporal night in the renowned Playland Café. Following its employees and others who have haunted the space, weaving together a tapestry of personal and community anecdotes across the bar’s existence.
The Playland Café, Boston’s oldest gay bar, was established in 1937 and was a vital queer hub in the city until 1998, when rampant ‘urban renewal’ projects led to its closure. Demolished but never forgotten, it acted as a meeting ground for an exceptionally diverse crowd — throughout its lifespan, it featured acts from drag performances to DJ sets and was connected to Pride rallies and underground gay newspapers. As a gathering place for outsiders, it was also a target for police raids and zoning.
Alluding to experimental works like that of Derek Jarman and Sally Potter, West has crafted an uncanny and inventive film that boldly transcends physical space, reminding us that though certain pioneering queer spaces may be gone, their memories cannot be erased.
– Sophie Tupholme (International Film Festival Rotterdam)
from Filmmaker Magazine:
"...ambitious, nearly uncategorizable..."
"Bits of archival footage of the bar and its surrounding Combat Zone neighborhood are woven throughout, and the film’s vintage soundtrack would thrill the most avid musical hauntologist. There’s a bit of an Overlook Hotel bar vibe, even as West’s work recalls David Lynch and acknowledged inspirations such as Derek Jarman and Jack Smith."
"...Playland feels as much dreamscape as historical location..."
"One of the Ten highlights from the 2023 Rotterdam Film Festival."
“You cannot categorize the genre to which West’s Playland belongs… It is a piece of art…. Like fine wine, [PLAYLAND] promises to age well with time.”
“Mixing music, dance, archival footage, opera and more, PLAYLAND is a sensorial experience that greatly benefits from its inventive work of costume and production design.”
“Haunting and heartfelt… West honours real and specific history of targeted oppression.”
“PLAYLAND defies easy definition, just as queer history does… PLAYLAND makes you feel as if you are walking through a performing museum, interacting with those whose made the history happen, those who normally are ignored, but whose lives make queer history possible.”
"Few films in 2023 will surprise like Tribeca 2023 feature Playland. The documentary/dramatic recreation astounds with the creativity packed into every frame....
There are few films quite like Playland. The most recent feature to inspire similar feelings was Will-o’-the-Wisp, which played last year’s Toronto Film Festival. Yet Playland chooses to stray even further from traditional narratives. Instead, the assembly of images and characters bends space-time and rarely participates in dialogue....
Whispers, the occasional opera singer, and a harrowing score from composer Aaron Michael Smith deliver a transcendent auditory experience....
While Playland will not be for everyone, any fans of artistic and non-traditional cinema will be impressed. The pure emotion and artistry of Playland make it an undeniable experience. The choice to finish the feature within seventy-five minutes speaks to the strong vision by West. When the final credits roll, we are still in love with the premise and in love with the spectacle delivered to us. The fact that West pays homage to LGBTQ+ history helps remind us to celebrate the stories and spaces of the past."
