Suitcase of Love and Shame

Filmmaker Jane Gillooly purchased a suitcase on eBay filled with a collection of reel-to-reel tapes of audio letters between a midwestern married man and his lover dating to the early 1960s, before the sexual revolution. Using this new technology, they recorded the intimate details of their affair, from the office to the bedroom, the mundane to the erotic. Armed with these compelling exchanges, Gillooly set about reconstructing their story adding minimal, evocative images. As we eavesdrop on secrets from over fifty years ago, for Gillooly, “a lot of what you’re seeing is your own imagination.” She reflects on her film, “You can’t help but compare it to what’s happening now—to how people are exchanging these private moments today. But where it differs radically is that this couple were inventing the form. The technology was so new and what they were doing with it was unique. What’s so startling about these tapes is they really do feel real. It’s so real, and it’s so raw.”