Sonoma Film Institute Presents Restored ‘Portrait of Jason’ Film

On the night of Dec. 2, 1966, Shirley Clarke and a tiny crew convened in her apartment at the Hotel Chelsea to make a film. There, for 12 straight hours, they filmed the one-and-only Jason Holliday as he spun tales, sang, donned costumes and reminisced about good times and bad behavior as a gay hustler, sometime houseboy and aspiring cabaret performer. The result is a mesmerizing portrait of a remarkable, charming and tortured man, who is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking.
The Sonoma Film Institute will present the newly restored version of Clarke’s LGBT film on Friday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 8, at 4 p.m. in Warren Auditorium, Ives Hall on the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park.
Ingmar Bergman called it “the most extraordinary film I’ve seen in my life.” When it first screened in a sneak preview, the audience included Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Frank, Thomas Hoving, Amos Vogel, Norman Mailer, Andy Warhol, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Rip Torn, Geraldine Page and Terry Southern.
Almost 50 years after it was filmed, “Portrait of Jason” is also a potent reminder of what the world was like for black gay men in the heat of the Civil Rights movement and before the Stonewall Uprising.
Admission is $7, $6 for non-SSU students and senior citizens, $5 for SFI members and children under 12, and free for SSU students. There is a $5 parking fee on all SSU lots. For more information or to receive a schedule of SFI events, visit www.sonoma.edu/sfi or call 707-664-2606.             
— Eleanore Williams