Capital Celluloid 2026 — Day 177: Fri Jun 26

A Taste of Flesh (Wishman, 1967): Barbican Cinema, 6.30pm

This screening, which is part of the Queer 60s season at the Barbican Cinema, will be followed by a discussion about Wishman and her legacy with Jaye Hudson and Selina Robertson, chaired by season curator Alex Davidson.

Barbican Cinema introduction:
Doris Wishman was truly a one-of-a-kind. She was a rare female director working in the exploitation subgenre, although there are few proto-feminist messages to be found in her films. She put a lesbian character centre in
A Taste of Flesh (1967), a sensational thriller made on the cheap and shot entirely in one apartment, featuring three women who are held captive by two male crooks planning an assassination on a visiting foreign president. The results have to be seen to be believed. One of the women is a predatory lesbian, who, despite the problematic nature of her character, is underestimated by the two men who threaten her. There is a jaw-dropping queer daydream sequence that is worth the ticket price alone. While it is first and foremost a sleazy exploitation thriller, this is one of Wishman’s most fascinating films.

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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