Novo Dextro: Purity & Danger (2024 Preservation Print)
Identifier
F.2005-08-0345
Date Of Production
1982
Abstract
Novo Dextro: Purity and Danger is a Super-8 documentary focusing on an “anti-queer, pro-life” rally by the American Nazi Party during Chicago’s 1982 Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade. Bill Stamets tracks the movements of the far-Right contingent of about 25 as they travel to Lincoln Park, where they are met by roughly 2000 protesters. Stamets interviews several young neo-Nazis as well as a handful of anti-Nazi protesters and confused passersby, juxtaposing the day’s events with a collage of images of pollution, television screens, and animals going about their day in the park.
Novo Dextro is among Stamets’ most widely-exhibited films; the Super-8 original showed locally at the 1982 Chicago Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and later traveled to the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and Los Angeles Filmforum. Art critic Lucy R. Lippard wrote, “Novo Dextro is disarmingly straightforward. It captures the repellent undercurrents of ‘fascinating facism’ with grim tenacity, set off by unexpected sight gags, intercuts of Psycho, the harmless recreation of those in Lincoln Park not indulging in political theater, and menacing shots of jets over a churning lake.” The Los Angeles Times called it “a raw, vital record” when it showed at Filmforum in 1992. Film scholar Chuck Kleinhans wrote of the film, “Thus while [Novo Dextro] falls outside the typical boundaries of the social-political documentary, it illuminates something else which is not dealt with very well, if at all, in other modes. It shows the emotional bonding of declaring that one is part of a rule-bound group. It depicts the need to demonstrate belief in a public theatrical event. It represents the special state of community or threshold experience gained in collective public behavior.”
Novo Dextro is among Stamets’ most widely-exhibited films; the Super-8 original showed locally at the 1982 Chicago Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and later traveled to the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Cinematheque, and Los Angeles Filmforum. Art critic Lucy R. Lippard wrote, “Novo Dextro is disarmingly straightforward. It captures the repellent undercurrents of ‘fascinating facism’ with grim tenacity, set off by unexpected sight gags, intercuts of Psycho, the harmless recreation of those in Lincoln Park not indulging in political theater, and menacing shots of jets over a churning lake.” The Los Angeles Times called it “a raw, vital record” when it showed at Filmforum in 1992. Film scholar Chuck Kleinhans wrote of the film, “Thus while [Novo Dextro] falls outside the typical boundaries of the social-political documentary, it illuminates something else which is not dealt with very well, if at all, in other modes. It shows the emotional bonding of declaring that one is part of a rule-bound group. It depicts the need to demonstrate belief in a public theatrical event. It represents the special state of community or threshold experience gained in collective public behavior.”
Description
In voiceover, musician Laurie Anderson talks to Studs Terkel about violence over footage of accidents and soldiers practicing with their guns in a parade. Connie Summers from the American Nazi party announces that they, and the KKK, will be holding an "anti-queer rally" in Lincoln Park. Footage of anti-protestors in the park. A gay man talks about eliminating stereotypes. A man from Michigan talks about his decision to come to Chicago to support the Nazi rally. Various young members supporting the Nazi Party talk about their ideology. A local woman asks why the group is in the neighborhood, and says they are not welcome. Nazi voices speak about their strategies over footage of the lake. Footage of the Nazi group preparing set Laurie Anderson's "O Superman." The Nazi contingent arrives at the park, where they are met with counter-protestors. Footage of the two groups and the police at the park. A few counter-protestors explains why they have come to the park, including a German man and a young boy. Signs from the rally. Singers perform for the counter-protest. A man talks about how the counter-protest went.
Format
16mm
Extent
1,270 feet
Sound
Optical
Reel/Tape Number
1/1
Notes
This 16mm preservation print was made from the Super-8 original in 2024, thanks to a Basic Preservation Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Language Of Materials
English
Element
Preservation print
Genre
Form
Subject
Preservation Sponsor
Related Collections
Related Places
Main Credits
Stamets, Bill (is filmmaker)
Additional Credits
Anderson, Laurie (music)
Participants And Performers
Byrne, Jane (is depicted in)
Jones, Art (is depicted in)
Gross, Steve (is depicted in)
Drummond, John (is depicted in)
Summers, Connie (is depicted in)
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