Sunday, October 6, 7:15pm; UNCSA’s ACE Theatre Complex
Director: Rachel Mason | USA | 2019 | 92 minutes | English
In 1976, Karen and Barry Mason, looking for a way to support their young family, answered an ad in the Los Angeles Times. Larry Flynt was seeking distributors for Hustler Magazine. What they expected to be a brief sideline led to their immersion in the LGBT community as they bought a local adult bookstore, Circus of Books. They became the biggest distributors of gay porn in America. The film focuses on their double life, trying to maintain the balance of being parents at a time when LGBT culture was not yet accepted. They faced jail time for a federal obscenity prosecution and let their store be a place of refuge at the height of the AIDS crisis. Circus of Books offers a rare glimpse into an untold chapter of history and is told through the lens of daughter, Rachel Mason, an artist, filmmaker and musician.
Q & A with Rachel Mason and special guests, moderated by Rex Welton