Casa Susanna: Directed by Sébastien Lifshitz, 2022

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | In the 1950s and ’60s, an underground network of transgender women and cross-dressing men found refuge at a modest house in the Catskills region of New York. Known as Casa Susanna, the house provided a safe place to express their true selves and live for a few days as they had always dreamed—dressed as and living as women without fear of being incarcerated or institutionalized for their self-expression. Told through the memories of those who visited the house, the film provides a moving look back at a secret world where the persecuted and frightened found freedom, acceptance and, often, the courage to live out of the shadows.

Although the director is French, the film is in English

Supported by Cultural Studies and Languages; The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and Albertine Cinémathèque, a program of FACE Foundation and Villa Albertine; with support from the CNC / Centre National du Cinema; and SACEM / Fonds Culturel Franco-Américain.