This is the sixth of a series of reviews of movies showing at the New Haven Documentary Film Festival, or NHDocs, which runs through June 9 at the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale, the main branch of the New Haven Free Public Library, Cafe Nine, and the State House. Click here for a full schedule of screenings.
Filmmaker and artist Rachel Mason directs Circus of Books, a touching and thought-provoking film about her parents Karen and Barry Mason and their West Hollywood-based store, which for years was one of the largest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States — a secret they kept for years from many in their lives, including their three children.
The story of the Masons is primarily told through in their own words and through footage of them, at their home and managing their business. The film details their early life together up until the closing of the store in 2018. It also contains commentary and perspective from their children, as well as from their employees, customers, and others in the industry and community, each offering their own insights — and occasionally humorous glimpses — into the struggle between the personal and professional sides of the Masons, as well as their roles in and contributions to the culture of the time. Many of the interviews and conversations caught on film are intimate; it often feels as if you are witnessing moments that are revelatory to the family as well as to the audience.
Mason has made a film that is as multifaceted as her parents, who contended daily with keeping their business and family intact but separate from each other. With commentary on censorship, family dynamics, sexuality, and religion, Circus of Books resonates on multiple levels that will be felt and discussed long after its viewing.
Lori Miller directs Day One, an inspirited exploration of the Nahed Chapman New American Academy, a two year transitional K‑10 public school in St. Louis, where enrollment is 100 percent immigrant and refugee children from all over the world. Through interviews and in-depth storytelling, the lives of the faculty and the students both in and outside of the school, including the roles they play in altering each other’s paths, comes to light. The film is at its most revealing when documenting the stories of these children, mostly told by the children themselves, including the events that led to them coming to the United States and the repercussions of these incidents on their personal lives, social interactions, and academic progress.
You will find yourself also rooting for the dedicated adults in this film, as the entire staff of this school collaborates to create an environment for these children to not only learn and succeed, but to feel safe and loved while charting a course for a more positive future. The themes of working together and helping one another become more than acts of kindness; they become revolutionary. This film will leave you hopeful for the possibilities of what all of us, whether child or adult, can offer the world when given the opportunity and the inspiration to do so.
Circus of Books screens on June 5 at 9 p.m. at The State House, 310 State St. Note that no one under 21 will be admitted. Day One screens June 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St.
