I know I haven't posted recently but there is a good reason for that (this time anyway) in that I have been moving house which is something I do mean to post about shortly but before I do I wanted to get in a quick mention, before I forget, to a documentary I watched last week.
Casa Susanna is a 2022 American-French documentary directed by Sébastien Lifshitz which takes a look at a refuge in the Catskills near New York which was a haven for crossdressing men in the 1950s and 1960s. The documentary tells the story with contributions from some of the participants, now in their 80s and some of which have since transitioned, alongside those from relatives as a group returns to the now dilapidated resort to talk about what it meant to them.
It's a fascinating look at what life was like for crossdressers back then especially when it was against the law. Throughout the documentary we see a variety of old photographs which apparently brought the refuge to light after their discovery at a flea market and it's a shame we don't find out more about this aspect as it peaked my interest but to be fair that's not the story here. The vintage look of the photos also has an appeal of its own to me as you rarely see images of crossdressers from this time.
How Casa Susanna brought people together is a wonderful story too in this day and age of the internet and so much connectivity. There was a specialist magazine that people put ads in and then gradually word of mouth got around the community about the place and it ended up drawing in people not only from the USA but other parts of the world. It shows how intoxicating it can be to find a safe space within which to be yourself and the lengths people will go to in order to feel like they belong if only for a few hours on the weekend. Sometimes the best feeling we can receive in any walk of life is that we are not alone and that someone else thinks like we do and accepts that side of us which, as I've said before, is something I wanted to do with writing this blog.
Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a full review but I just thought I would mention it as it was a fascinating look at a forgotten piece of trans history. Here in the UK, the film is still on the BBC iPlayer under its Storyville strand and if this short piece has peaked your interest then please try and track down the documentary.
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| Promo poster for Casa Susanna (2022) |
