Dirty Looks has dug deep into documents of trans history to assemble a program of archival trans portrait films that spool from experimental cinema of the 1970s, activist video, and personal portraiture. Spanning an early decade of production, illuminating (lost?) queer histories and liminal spaces across America, The Girl Can’t Help It screens poignant testimonials and early rhetorics of trans-femme ideation. 

 

Dirty Looks Inc is a platform for queer film, video and performance founded in 2011 by Bradford Nordeen. Using film and time-based art to illuminate queer histories and liminal spaces across Los Angeles and New York City, Dirty Looks traces contemporary queer aesthetics through historical works, presenting quintessential GLBTQ film and video, alongside up-and-coming artists and filmmakers. Dirty Looks exhibits a lineage of queer tactics and visual styles for younger artists, casual viewers and seasoned avant-garde filmgoers, alike. A nebulous collective, we have worked closely with Karl McCool, Clara López Menéndez, in addition to over 50 guest curators, through our month-long, city-spanning festival Dirty Looks: On Location.

 

Over the course of eight years, Dirty Looks has staged screenings at The Museum of Modern Art, The Kitchen, The Hammer, Participant Inc, White Columns, ONE Archives, Artists Space and Judson Memorial Church. DL began regular Los Angeles programming in January 2015, instating a national reach for our programs. This is further bolstered by our Dirty Looks Volume series, which accumulates writing and ephemera that reflects our year-round programming in slim publications issued annually.