“Hunky Jesus” is the name of an event and a documentary about an Easter celebration that’s been taking place in San Francisco since 1995. The film looks at the legacy of the event’s founders, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a global, secular order of queer and trans “nuns” who combat guilt, shame, and exclusion through joy, humor, activism, and irreverence. It’ll be playing at this year’s Virginia Queer Film Festival (Oct 2 – 4 at the University Theatre on the campus of ODU). Director Jennifer Kroop and I had a lively conversion (as you might imagine), including:
– The inspiration for the opening animation
– Her other docs on “gay geezers” like Armistead Maupin and George Takei
– A background on the Sisters
– Since they’ve been around since the 70s, why a doc now?
– There’s not much about the Sisters’ personal lives
– Shooting the big event and in churches
– When and why Foxy Mary was added
– Using “Do Lord” and “The Vatican Rag”
LINKS
Virginia Queer Film Festival
Hunky Jesus doc website
RIFF podcasts
Edward Burns “Beneath the Blue Suburban Skies”
“Last Shot”
Heather Waters before RIFF
Andy Edmunds talks about “The Cashier”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:51 — 63.8MB)