movies

[Home movie: Mario Perez Video Collection, 1995, 2003, New York City and Cuba]

Mario Perez

Synopsis A home movie by Mario Perez with a compilation of different scenes from 1995 to 2003. In 1995, Mario records several landmark places for the gay community, including gay bars and the piers. There is also footage of him, David and some friends hanging out by Christopher Street. On Easter Sunday, he and David document Downtown New York City. Finally, includes footage from a trip to Cuba in 2003, where Mario records his family and their domestic life. The original version of this home movie included nudity of men in the piers. This version has been edited to protect the privacy of the people involved. For inquiries about the original content, please contact Al Larvick Conservation Fund at: info@allarvickfund.org Collection description This film (Perez_0016) is part of the Mario Perez Video Collection . The Mario Perez Video Collection consists of 20 8mm videotapes and 28 mini-DV tapes. The tapes capture Mario and his friends in the gay community from about 1996 to about 2009. They are very personal and show Mario and his friends hanging out on Christopher Street, on the piers, at the Chelsea Gym and in the gay bar called Sneakers, which was on West Street at the corner of Christopher Street. The collection includes video on the following subject matter: Christopher Street and environs – gay bars, bookstores, and street life in the late 1990s including footage of bars with an ethnically and gender diverse clientele that no longer exist. These provide a view of gay life that has disappeared from Greenwich Village. 2. The Closing of the Chelsea Gym – the Chelsea Gym was an important part of New York City Gay Culture. Gym culture was a crucial corrective to the abuse and bullying that many gay men received in Phys. Ed. at school when they were children. It was a place that gay men could be themselves and assert their own particular brand of masculinity. 3. Funerals – the funerals/memorial services for 1 or 2 men who died of AIDS 4. Return to Cuba – an exile returns to Cuba 2001 – 2009. Footage of friends, relatives, and street hustlers. A rare documentation of ordinary life in Cuba. 5. September 11, 2001 – footage shot outside of St. Vincent’s Hospital after the attacks on the World Trade Center 6. Vacations in Texas, California, and Montreal Mario’s collection also contains a number of reels of Super-8 film that are not part of this grant. Mario first started filming on Super-8 in the 1980s. He was working as a nude dancer at the Show Palace on 42nd Street. Customers would give Mario and the other dancers Super-8 film. The customers would then give the dancers copies of the films. Mario is hesitant about having the Super-8 digitized because it contains footage of men who have died or who could not be located in order to obtain permission. This collection was conserved and digitally captured through the 2023 Al Larvick National Grant awarded to Mario Perez by the Al Larvick Conservation Fund in partnership with its lab partner Media Burn Archive. For more information about this collection, visit: https://www.allarvickfund.org/mario-perez-video-collection The mission of the Al Larvick Conservation Fund is to preserve historical and cultural heritage through conservation, education, and the public accessibility of American analog home movie, amateur cinema, and community recording collections. For more information, visit allarvickfund.org. *Please respect the Creative Commons licensing assigned to this collection. Featured People List : David Prestigiacomo: Mario’s husband. Orquídea Pérez: Mario’s sister, mother of Lisandra and wife of Pepe. Aniceto (Ani) Pérez: Mario’s brother, father of Yusleidy and Anetsy, husband of Odalys. Miguel Angel Pérez: Mario’s brother, father of Rosamarí and husband of Onelia. Esteban Valladares: Mario’s half brother. Martica: Mario’s cousin. Specifications: Collection Title: Mario Perez Video Collection Original format : Video8 and MiniDV, color, sound Digital format: Uncompressed Quicktime .MOV at original aspect ratio Collection size : 20 Video8 tapes, 28 MiniDV tapes Circa: 1 996-2009 Lab Sponsor: Media Burn Archive Label from Original Can/Box: Cuba 2003

View original