Second Run DVD - Portrait of Jason

USA 1967 - 99 minutes
Certificate: Exempt*
Warning: Whilst this documentary title is exempt
from certification it should be noted that it
contains adult themes and strong language.
Black & White 1.33:1
Language: English

PAL R0 £12.99
Release Date: 3rd October 2005

Portrait of Jason is the raw record of a confessional conversation with an African-American gay hustler recounting his life and times. A disturbing and fascinating document, it unflinchingly observes Jason Holliday - conversing, performing, confessing, dissolving.

Shirley Clarke was a key figure in the American avant-garde and has been an influence on filmmakers and video artists over the last 40 years. Available for the first time ever on DVD, Portrait of Jason is a counter-culture classic and a landmark in American independent cinema.

- New digital transfer of the fully-restored film print prepared by the Film Department of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.

- Introduction to the film by artist Wendy Clarke, daughter of Shirley Clarke.

- Wendy Clarke’s acclaimed video project Love Tapes, including Shirley Clarke’s personal Love Tape.

- Booklet featuring a new Essay on the film by Tony Rayns; and an Essay by Tom Sutpen.

- Optimal quality dual-layer disc

Himself -Jason Holliday
Interviewer (voice) - Shirley Clarke
Interviewer (voice) - Carl Lee

Director - Shirley Clarke
Producer - Shirley Clarke
Photography - Jeri Sapanen
Editor - Shirley Clarke
Production Assistant - Robert Fiore
Sound - Francis Daniel
Assistant - Jim Hubbard

"The most fascinating film I've ever seen"
- Ingmar Bergman.

"Shirley Clarke's study of a black male prostitute, Jason Holliday, was a pioneering study of the cinema verite movement - a record of Jason conversing, performing, confessing, dissolving" - Chicago Reader.

MovieMail Podcasts
Graeme Hobbs reviews two landmark works of cinema verité, both made in New York in 1967: Shirley Clarke's Portrait of Jason and Jim McBride's David Holzman's Diary.