Queer Classics on Film: Salomé 

Join us for an entirely new venture at MoCA: a series of after-hours film screenings of queer films in our atmospheric Cast Gallery. Lose yourself in the silent cinema of the roaring twenties with our screening of Alla Nazimova’s Salomé (1923), often called one of the first art films of the United States.

Before the film starts, there will be a quick intro by Dr Frankie Dytor, a writer and researcher based at the University of Exeter. Their work explores queer and trans visual and literary culture at the turn of the twentieth century.

We’ll provide the popcorn, but you might want to bring a picnic blanket because we’ll be stretching out on the floor.

Salomé is unrated, but is generally recommended as PG.

Ticket booking is essential.

Arrivals: from 6pm

Intro: 6.15pm

Curtain up: 6.30pm

A commercial flop, and forgotten for decades, Nazimova’s queer retelling of a New Testament story has become a cult classic of early lesbian and queer cinema. With its French spelling, Salomé signals its allegiances to Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name, banned from British stages since 1892. This queer lineage is further played out in the stripped-back set and costumes, designed by Nazimova’s partner, Natacha Rambova, after Aubrey Beardsley’s daring illustrations for Wilde’s play. By the 1920s, the story of the princess who danced for the head of St John the Baptist was firmly connected with same-sex desire – the dancer Maud Allan had even been put on trial for ‘unnatural practices’ following her performance as Salome in 1906. 

Salomé does not shy away from this history, featuring a rumoured all-gay cast and several characters in drag. Nazimova, then in her mid-forties, herself plays the part of the teenager Salome, dressed in outré outfits including a white mini-skirt and lamé tunic. Filmed on one set and coming in at a cool 74 minutes, the film is a far cry from the historical epics then being produced in Hollywood: in length and design, it is closer to a work of avant-garde performance than narrative drama, leading some critics to call it the first art film. It has enjoyed a critical revival since being screened at New York International Festival of Lesbian and Gay films in 1989.

• The Cast Gallery is on the first floor.
• We provide step-free access via our lift. To use the lift please call 01223 330402 on your arrival and we will send down a member of staff to assist you.
• An accessible toilet is available on the ground floor.
• This event will take place seated on the floor, however we do have chairs available. Please let us know either when you book tickets or on arrival if you would like us to provide a chair for you.
• Find out more about Museum Access.
• Please contact us on 01223 330402 or email museum@classics.cam.ac.uk if you have any questions or concerns about accessibility.

What: film screening in our atmospheric Cast Gallery

Who: Adults

£££: free

Booking: essential