CASA SUSANNA
Sébastien Lifshitz’s Touching Look at a 1960s Haven
for Trans Women and Cross-Dressers
Receives World Premiere at the 2022 Venice Int’l Film Festival;
North American Premiere at Toronto Int’l Film Festival
Agat Films, ARTE France and American Experience Films, in association with BBC Storyville, are going to present the World Premiere of CASA SUSANNA at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival (Giornate degli Autori) on September 2 followed by its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF Docs) on September 9. A moving look at a secret mid-century refuge for gender non-conformists, the film is directed by the critically acclaimed French filmmaker Sébastien Lifshitz (Wild Side, Little Girl, Bambi).
In the 1950s and ‘60s, an underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills region of New York. Known as Casa Susanna, the house provided a safe place for them to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed—dressed as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalized for their self-expression. Told through the memories of those whose visits to the house would change their lives, the film provides a moving look back at a secret world where the persecuted and frightened found freedom, acceptance and, often, the courage to live their lives out of the shadows.
Agat Films, ARTE France and American Experience Films present a film by Sébastien Lifshitz. Producer: Muriel Meynard. In collaboration with Isabelle Bonnet. Executive Producer for American Experience Films: Cameo George. Cinematography: Paul Guilhaume. Editing: Tina Baz. International Sales: PBS International. (97 min., France/USA, Agat/ARTE/American Experience Films)
Sébastien Lifshitz’s first feature film, Come Undone (2000), was acclaimed by critics and distributed worldwide. It was followed by the documentary The Crossing (2001), selected for the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes, then Wild Side (2004) and Bambi (2016), both of which won awards at the Berlin Film Festival. After The Invisibles (2012), an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, and The Lives of Thérèse (2017) at the Directors’ Fortnight, he directed the documentaries Adolescents, winner of the Louis-Delluc Prize for Best Film and of three Césars in 2021, and Little Girl, presented at the Berlin Film Festival in 2020 and distributed worldwide in 2022.
TIFF Screenings
Friday, Sept. 9, 9:15 pm – Scotiabank 14
Saturday, Sept. 10, 3:10 pm – Scotiabank 7
Tuesday, Sept. 13, 10:00 am – Digital Bell Lightbox
Friday, Sept. 16, 10:00 am – Scotiabank 14
