liz brown

The only film ever directed by author/poet/playwright/activist Jean Genet, 1950s legendary Un chant d’amour was long suppressed by censors for its explicit homosexual content. In 1964, filmmaker Jonas Mekas was arrested on obscenity charges after a screening of the film alongside Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures. Mekas recalls how he smuggled the film into the U.S. in the first place:

"The film was in 35mm and it was bulky. I was afraid that if I went from Paris to New York the film would be confiscated. Customs was very strict. Twice when I came to New York from Paris I had some Olympia publications in my pocket and they were seized. So I said, ‘If I go to New York with this, I have no chance. I have to go first to London.’ And that’s what I did. I cut the film into three pieces and put them in my raincoat pockets, and went to London. When you come from Paris, [US] Customs says, ‘Oh, Paris, hum, Paris.’ If you come from London, well that’s more conservative and you have a chance to pass through.