QFFU x Roze 50+: Gerontophilia

Gerontophilia refers to the primary attraction to elderly people. The film Gerontophilia, directed by Bruce LaBruce, delves into this topic and portrays an 18-year-old boy who falls in love with an elderly man. Bruce LaBruce’s works typically deal with themes of sexual taboo and are criticized for blending explicitly pornographic depictions of sex with more conventional narrative and filmmaking techniques. His films address topics often dismissed by mainstream audiences due to their shock factor, such as sexual fetish, BDSM, racially motivated violence, amputee fetishism, and twincest. This film on gerontophilia follows this trajectory. However, what sets this work apart is that it is one of the few in his oeuvre that is not sexually explicit, a choice that has both garnered praise and criticism.

Although LaBruce has often been associated with the New Queer Cinema movement of the ’90s, he himself has consistently rejected this classification. According to him, he aligns more with the queercore movement that emerged in the late ’80s. This movement was an avant-garde and unapologetically gay response to the punk movement, expressing similar discontent with society and the status quo.

Rosa Oomen, QFFU

After the movie a talk with Han Bosman with guests of Roze 50+, Sebastiaan Kes (filmmaker) en people from the Bartholomeus Gasthuis Utrecht.

This screening is organised together with Roze 50+.

Stichting Roze 50+ Nederland aims to improve the living situation and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT) over-50s by pooling knowledge and experience and advocacy.