Q Classic PINK NARCISSUS from 1971 Playing at This Year’s QFest St. Louis to Celebrate it’s Golden Anniversary

The 14th Annual QFest St. Louis — presented by Cinema St. Louis (CSL) — will take place from April 16-25. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, CSL will offer all programs virtually, protecting the health of patrons. Programs can be streamed at any time during the festival’s dates. Recorded introductions and Q&As will be available for most film programs. For the full schedule of screenings, including trailers and descriptions of the films, visit the festival website at www.cinemastlouis.org/qfest.

One of the eclectic array of 24 films (14 shorts, six narrative features, and four documentary features) that are part of this year’s QFest St. Louis is the 1971 film PINK NARCISSUS, an experimental and artistic ‘erotic poem’ set in the fantasies of a young male prostitute.

This year’s Q Classic, PINK NARCISSUS — which is celebrating its 50th anniversary — is a breathtaking and outrageous erotic poem focusing on the daydreams of a beautiful boy prostitute who, from the seclusion of his ultra-kitsch apartment, conceives a series of interlinked narcissistic fantasies populated by matadors, dancing boys, slaves, and leather-clad bikers. Amid the sumptuous pink satin, teenage beauty Bobby Kendall falls into a deep slumber of erotic reverie, entering the glorious realm of sexual fantasy — living in a dream world of fantastic colors, magnificent music, elaborate costumes, and strikingly handsome men. The film was shrouded in mystery following its 1971 release, its creator credited only as Anonymous. The film was falsely attributed to such filmmakers as Kenneth Anger and Andy Warhol before being rediscovered and revealed as the work of artist and photographer James Bidgood. It was shot in a haphazard, piecemeal fashion between 1964 and 1970 on 8mm, mainly in Bidgood’s small apartment. Its cult status endures, as does adoration for its gorgeous and enigmatic star. With its highly charged hallucinogenic quality, atmosphere of lush decadence, and explicit erotic power, PINK NARCISSUS is a true landmark of gay cinema.

Film critics have praised PINK NARCISSUS:

Rich Cline at Shadows on the Wall called it:

“A bracing, gorgeous combination of beefcake images, artworld photography and experimental cinema that’s essential for any true film fan.”

Matt Bailey of Not Coming to a Theater Near You says:

“In addition to its intense, lyrical eroticism and fantastic beauty, the film evokes a genuine sense of sadness for its hero who remains the proverbial bird in a gilded cage.”