March 21: Yoko Ono and Satan’s Bed

Tonight we explore the cross-fertilization between the avant-garde and trash cinema. A selection of Ono's films is highlighted by Rape (1969, 70 min.), in which a crew hired by Ono follows an Austrian woman around London. As the subject becomes more and more irritated, then frightened, the film forces the audience to confront not only their own positions as spectators, but also the problem of the social responsibility of art.

Michael and Roberta Findlay's film Satan's Bed (1965, 72 min.) stars Ono as an innocent young Japanese girl kidnapped and raped by drug dealers. This film is combined with portions of another film altogether (Judas City), which depicts three addicts brutalizing women. Dealing with some of the same questions as Rape (if perhaps not intentionally), Satan's Bed is the perfect grindhouse complement to Ono's own shocking but decidedly artier fare.