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Thursday, Feb 20, 2025
7:00 PM (86 mins)
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BAMPFA
Something Special
(Willy/Milly)
35mm Archival Print
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Introduction
Jenni Olson is a Berkeley-based queer film historian, writer, and filmmaker who is the proud proprietor of Butch.org, which features more information about all of her work as a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ cinema.
Pamela Adlon, Patty Duke, Eric Gurry, John Glover,
Pamela Adlon (Better Things) stars in this whimsical 1980s teen comedy as a girl whose wish to become a boy is fulfilled overnight. When their parents insist they must now choose between being male or female, they sagely quip, “Can’t I be both?” After a crash course in maleness, Willy starts at a new high school, where, of course, complications ensue. Adlon is uncannily butch and boyish as Willy/Milly, while Patty Duke and out gay actor John Glover are in fine form as his parents. Briefly released in 1986, Something Special quickly disappeared from view and has been virtually unseen since.
FILM DETAILS
Screenwriter
- Walter Carbone
- Carla Reuben
Based On
the story by Alan Friedman
Cinematographer
- Dominique Chapuis
Print Info
- Color
- 35mm
- 86 mins
Source
- Jenni Olson Collection at the Harvard Film Archive
Permission
- Park Circus
Event Accessibility
If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at bampfa@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 642-1412 (during open hours) with as much advance notice as possible. More information on accessibility services.