Welcome to the outrageous world of visionary filmmaker Jack Smith, an artist who beat Warhol to the invention of the superstar. This insightful documentary tours the fantasy realm of one of the most influential filmmakers to inhabit New York’s underground scene in the sixties.

Tracing Smith’s often overlooked legacy, his role in shaping the counter-cultural revolution, and his influence on relative art world insiders like Warhol, director Mary Jordan, in her feature length debut, weaves together interviews with those who knew Smith’s genius firsthand and those who doubted his vision. Smith, an avant-garde mystic fueled by Technicolor dreams of 40s screen goddess Maria Montez, B-grade horror
movies, and Busby Berkeley musicals, created films that were anarchic and liberating in their brazen eroticism. His baroquely dense set pieces are orgiastic feasts; beautiful boys and naked girls are woven into lush landscapes, both decadent and decayed. Best known for the scandal that surrounded his master work, Flaming Creatures (1963) - a series of loosely connected tableaux filled with ambiguously gendered creatures, crafting an uninhibited romp through a garden of earthly delights - the film was seized by the district attorney’s office, subsequently banned in the state of New York, and initiated a highly charged debate about censorship and high art, championed by notable critics Jonas Mekas and Susan Sontag.

Not to disappoint, for the uninitiated Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis features generous excerpts from Smith’s films, performances, and early photographic works. This documentary celebrates Smith, a conflicted artist who lashed back at the very critics who celebrated his work, and whose legacy is still surprisingly obscure. More than simply sexual, Smith’s work is strangely erotic and perversely joyous, equally trashy and queer.

Director Mary Jordan will attend the screening to discuss the film with the audience.

Mary Jordan was born in Nova Scotia of Albanian heritage. She grew up in Toronto and the Bronx. At the age of 16 she left home for film school. At age 18 she began documenting to film the rituals of female circumcision throughout North Africa. When she finally settled in Sydney, Australia where she formed Indigo Blues, a production company that produced and directed music videos and commercials. She hosts and curates the annual Burmese Tea Ceremony, an international performance event. Jordan is a graduate of the London School of Economics with a Masters Degree in Anthropology. Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis is her first documentary feature.