Fri 24 - 30 June
Watershed
£5/8.50/11
Rating: 12 A
Comical and bittersweet journey about rediscovering oneself, and still looking gorgeous even at death
Retired hair stylist Pat Pitsenbarger (Udo Kier) escapes his nursing home to embark upon an odyssey across his small town to style the hair of his dead ‘frenemy’ for her funeral, confronting the ghosts of the past and rediscovering his sparkle along the way. With support from icon Jennifer Coolidge and Micheal Urie (Single All the Way, Ugly Betty).
‘Swan Song is a love letter to the rapidly disappearing “gay culture” of America. As it has become more acceptable to be queer, what used to be a thriving community is rapidly melting back into society. Thanks to assimilation and technology, small-town gay bars like The Universal Fruit and Nut Company are becoming extinct. SWAN SONG is dedicated to all the forgotten flaming florists and hairdressers who built the gay community and blazed the trail for the rights many of us cling to today. But, above all, for me this film is about learning that it’s never too late to live again.’ – Todd Stephens