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Sébastien Lifshitz

Casa Susanna

Director Sébastien Lifshitz Cast Katherine Cummings, Diana Merry-Shapiro, Betsy Wollheim, Gregory Bagarozy
100' - 2022 - Documentary, LGBT+ - Dialogue: English
After Bambi and Petite fille (Grand Prix for Best Film in 2020), director Sébastien Lifshitz sends another moving message from the trans community. This time he digs up a fairly unknown American history.
Not in New York City, but deep in the American countryside at the foot of Catskills in an old Victorian house, a sexual revolution took place in the 50s. What would later be known as Casa Susanna was a sanctuary for cross-dressers. Susanna herself said that the target audience was heterosexual men (who regularly brought their wives). But Casa Susanna shows us more than that. Director Sébastien Lifshitz interviewed visitors Kate and Diana, now in their eighties, who refer to the place as a refuge for anyone who questioned their gender. At the time, they could barely talk about it. what the two of them remember most is the joy of being able to be who you really are in a safe space. The meetings would continue into the 1960s. Lifshitz illustrates this story with a lot of unpublished and excellently preserved archive material.
“In the 50s and 60s, deep in the American countryside, a small wooden house was home to the first clandestine network of cross-dressers. Diane and Kate are now 80. At the time, they were men and part of this secret organization. Today, they relate this forgotten but essential chapter of the early days of trans-identity.” - Unifrance

Image gallery

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Credits

Directors

Sébastien Lifshitz

Co-director

Isabelle Bonnet

Cast

Katherine Cummings, Diana Merry-Shapiro, Betsy Wollheim, Gregory Bagarozy

Scenario

Sébastien Lifshitz

Director of Photography

Paul Guilhaume

Editors

Tina Baz

Producers

Muriel Meynard

Production studios

Agat Films

More info

Dialogue

English

Countries of production

United States of America, France

Year

2022

Filmography

Sébastien Lifshitz
Il faut que je l'aime (short, 1994), Claire Denis la vagabonde (1995), Open Bodies (1998), Cold Lands (1999), Come Undone (2000), The Crossing (2001), Wild Side (2004), Les temoins (2006), Jour et nuit (short, 2008), Going South (2009), The Invisibles (2012), Bambi (2013), The Lives of Therese (2016), Adolescentes (2019), Little Girl (2020), Sensitive Boys (2021), Bambi, a French Woman (2021), Casa Susanna (2022)