The O-town Scene

Andy Warhol Superstar film to bring a flicker of glamour to Cherry Valley Upstate New York is typically cast as reserved, conservative and quiet. But this Saturday, little Cherry Valley will play host to a film about a very different culture with the showing of “Beautiful Darling: The Life and Times of Candy Darling, Andy Warhol Superstar.” An official selection of the 2010 Berlina- le Panorama, 2010 New Directors/New Films and 2010 Sydney International Film Festivals, “Beautiful Darling” is a feature- length documentary about the life and social impact of Candy Darling, scheduled to be shown this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Star Theater in Cherry Valley. Born James Slattery just outside New York City in 1944, Candy Darling, a male-to-female transsexual, turned herself into a blonde actress and fixture in the New York fashion and beat scenes of the 1960s _ eventually becoming one of the social personalities dubbed Andy Warhol Superstars. Darling passed away at the age of 29 in 1974, her cremated ashes interred in the Cherry Valley Cem- etery by her friend Jeremiah Newton, a producer of “Beautiful Darling.” Cherry Valley-based James Rasin is the film’s writer and director. Darling’s story is certainly off the beaten path for upstate. She starred in eight films and her stage career consisted of the Off-Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ play “The White Whore and the Bit Player,” where Darling portrayed The Whore _ a Hollywood actress char- acter based on Marilyn Monroe. Quickly rising to fame before illness tragically took her life, she is the subject of the Velvet Underground’s song “Candy Says,” is mentioned in The Rolling Stones’ song “Citadel,” and can be considered the basis for numerous other works of art from music to sculpture and film. The film is the culmination of years of work _ a labor of love _ for Cherry Val- ley-based Newton and Rasin. A Chicago Rasin said. “(About five years ago) Jeremiah approached me and told me it was time to make a film about Candy. So I started going through all these ancient audio tapes.” Along with Newton’s in- Contributed Warhol Superstar Candy Darling is the focus of a new documentary by Cherry Valley filmmakers that has been shown internationally. native, Rasin had been interested in New York, and as he became more interested in abstract expressionists like Warhol. When Rasin learned what “Candy Says” was about, it only stoked his passion. Rasin studied literature and art history at Tufts University, and wrote a novel after graduating, but was drawn to film despite not studying the subject. He be- friended Newton, the executor of Dar- ling’s estate, upon arriving in New York, and learned about the numerous materi- als Newton had saved from Darling. “After Candy had died, Jeremiah took a recorder and interviewed all these peo- ple like Andy Warhol, John Waters and several other people that knew Candy,” terviews, Rasin went out on his own and filmed his own interviews and hunted down footage to add video to the audio tapes. Another large portion of the film comes from Newton’s own personal diary, which often contains direct quotes from Darling. “One of the most important aspects of the film other than Candy and a lot of rare never- before-seen footage of her, are Jeremiah’s diary entries as read by Chloe Sevigny (of HBO’s ‘Big Love’),” Rasin said. “She does an incredible job of read- ing these entries and brining Candy to life, which is hard when someone’s been dead for over 30 years.” Rasin said once he and New- ton decided to do the film, it took more than four years of hard work to bring it to completion. “I’d worked on and directed or written short films, but this is the first feature I’ve directed,” he said. “It was a very long process. Of course we had no money and every time you run out of money you have to shut down. We had no idea if it was going to be good or if anyone would want to see it.” But people have seen it. Since pre- miering at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010, Rasin said he’s spent the last year touring the world and has participated in more than 30 festi- vals. Many times, demand has been so strong, the number of screenings have been increased. Earlier this year in New York, the film was supposed to show for a week, but was extended to a month and has recently been picked up for distribution. Now, after sharing Darling’s story with the world, Rasin and Newton are brining their film to Cherry Valley, a stronghold for the arts, to show at The Star Theater. Cherry Valley Artworks and Executive Director Jane Sapinsky has made the event possible after rehabbing the building, which was built as a foundry in the 1920s, became an important theater for the com- munity and served as a village hall, but had been in disuse since the 1960s. “One of our main founding principles is to support local artwork,” Sapinsky said. “Obviously, this subject is a little on the controversial side. It’s a film that wouldn’t normally get much play in this area. But it’s certainly an important film that’s won several awards, and we want to support our local artists with James and Jeremiah.” Sapinsky said she hopes that “Beauti- ful Darling” helps to raise money to continue the renovation of the space, as well as expose the community to art that has an impact. As the final resting place of Darling, both Sapinsky and Rasin see Cherry Valley as a fitting place to carry on the film’s run. “It’s an American dream story; it’s all about ‘Who am I really and how can I achieve what I want despite what soci- ety wants or tells me,’” Rasin said. “One thing I’ve heard from people all over the world is how moving the film is. They are surprised by it. She becomes something that is quite powerful.” _ Trevor Hayes “Beautiful Darling” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Star Theater at 44 Main St. in Cherry Valley. The screening will be fol- lowed by a Q&A with local filmmakers James Rasin and Jeremiah Newton. June 9, 2011 O-Town Scene 13

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