Jason and Shirley

December 3, 1966, Oscar winning filmmaker Shirley Clarke invites Jason Holiday, a black gay hustler, drug addict and transient to her Chelsea Hotel penthouse in New York City to film him for 12 hours nonstop telling stories from his turbulent life. This became ‘Portrait of Jason,’ a pioneering documentary hailed for its unflinching look at race and sexuality. Yet some accused Shirley Clarke of exploitation, as she and her partner Carl Lee, a brilliant African American actor and heroin user, hint as a love triangle between the three of them, as they goad Jason into a terrible on-screen nervous breakdown. We go behind the scenes of that day, and tell the story from Jason’s intoxicated yet completely self-aware and surreal point of view.