Co-Presented by Three Dollar Bill Cinema
USA | 1991 | 104 Min | Dir. Gus Van Sant
Set in the 1990’s runaway-dominated streets of the Pacific Northwest and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, this seminel film by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MILK) tells the tale of a narcoleptic street kid named Mike (River Phoenix) who befriends a fellow hustler (Keanu Reeves) on his journey to find his estranged mother.
Exhibiting a dreamlike world with surreal filmmaking themes, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO is deemed as a groundbreaking film in the lgbt cinema canon. Capturing the harsh realities that queer youth experienced during the 1990s runaway epidemic in our region while pioneering the “New Queer Cinema Movement” that continues on today.
This program is presented in collaboration with Seattle-based Three Dollar Bill Cinema, whose mission is to strengthen, connect, and reflect diverse communities through queer film and media.—Jess Byers